Appropriations Bills

Floor Speech

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Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, last week the Senate turned to a critically important pair of appropriations bills--those which encompass the Departments of Defense, Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education. And we proceeded to this legislation by unanimous consent. That may seem like a small detail in the scheme of things, but it underscores a fact that should be a real source of pride for this Senate: Bill by bill, we are rebuilding a regular process for responsibly appropriating taxpayers' money. We are achieving what we set out to do, and we are doing it together.

Because of the leadership of Chairman Shelby, Senator Leahy, and our subcommittee chairs and ranking members, all 12 appropriations bills for this fiscal year were reported out prior to the July 4th recess. The process was so bipartisan that, cumulatively across all 12 bills, the committee votes were 363 to 9.

Here on the floor, we have already approved--with bipartisan support--measures to fund Energy and Water Development, Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, Interior, Environment, Agriculture, and other priorities.

We have had a normal committee process. We have had amendment votes here on the floor of the Senate. We have considered these bills thoroughly but efficiently and then passed each of them with bipartisan majorities. That is exactly the momentum we need to keep up right now.

The legislation now before us will be a major milestone. It addresses vital priorities: a pay raise for our troops, plus funding for their missions and work to restore combat readiness, training programs for American workers, and new tools for combating the opioid epidemic. These bills will bring billions of dollars and resources and relief to the families and communities that are fighting every day against the crisis of drug abuse and addiction that has inflicted so much pain on our country. I will have more to say this week on the important things this legislation will accomplish, but first I want to pause and take stock of our progress.

When we finish and pass the legislation before us, we will have approved 9 of the 12 bills to appropriate money for the government. Together, they will account for more than 87 percent of the discretionary spending for next year, and it will be the first time in 15 years that the Senate will have passed the Labor-HHS-Education appropriations bill before the start of the fiscal year.

I am glad we will be voting on a pair of amendments later this afternoon, and I hope that, with consent, we will be able to vote on more amendments this week. Then I will look forward to passing this legislation for our servicemembers and for middle-class families across our country.

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