Political Quotes

“Mr. President, sometime soon the Senate will be voting on the first fiscal year 2019 appropriations minibus. It has been a long time since we have brought conferenced bills to the floor, and I am pleased that the Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations bill is a part of this package. This bill is the result of a bipartisan commitment to return to regular order, and I thank Chairman Shelby and Vice Chairman Leahy for leading the Senate in this process and providing all Members a voice in determining how taxpayer dollars are spent. We have worked hard with our House colleagues over the past two months to develop a thoughtful and responsible conference report that took into account the input of Members on both sides of the aisle. The conference committee made thoughtful decisions about how to provide maximum readiness for the warfighters and prioritize investments at the Department of Veterans Affairs so it can take care of our veterans. This bill provides $97.1 billion in discretionary spending, which is $5.1 billion over last year's level. Within that, the VA is provided a record level of resources at $86.5 billion in discretionary funding. That is $5 billion over last year's level and $1.1 billion over the President's request. These resources will provide healthcare and other important benefits earned by U.S. servicemembers.…”