[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 4]
[Senate]
[Page 5003]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




            ENERGY AND WATER DEVELOPMENT APPROPRIATIONS BILL

  Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, the top Democrat on the 
Appropriations Committee recently said that the energy security and 
water infrastructure funding legislation before us marks an ``excellent 
kickoff'' to the appropriations process.
  This is the first bill of the ``Appropriations Committee to come to 
the floor,'' she said, and ``it signals that we are ready to do regular 
order.'' I share Senator Mikulski's sentiment. It has been good to see 
colleagues working across the aisle expressing an interest and working 
cooperatively this appropriations season because we know continued 
cooperation will be essential to a successful appropriations process.
  We have seen plenty of positive signs in the Appropriations Committee 
already. The committee has already approved one-third of the 12 funding 
bills on a bipartisan basis. With continued cooperation, we will have 
an opportunity to pass the first of these bills on the floor this week. 
The energy security and water infrastructure funding legislation before 
us is the result of many hours of hard work and research. It will 
reduce wasteful spending, it will bolster national security, and by 
advancing priorities like public safety, waterway infrastructure, 
economic development, and energy innovation it will impact all 50 of 
our States.
  This excellent kickoff to the appropriations season enjoys bipartisan 
support. It advanced out of committee by a unanimous vote. It 
represents yet another example of what is possible in a Senate that is 
back to work. I thank the subcommittee chairman, Senator Alexander, for 
working with Ranking Member Feinstein to move this important bill out 
of committee. Let's continue our work today to get one step closer to 
passage.

                          ____________________