Mark Pryor: “I rise to talk about the business on the floor, which is the Omnibus appropriations bill. Let me start by thanking…”

“I rise to talk about the business on the floor, which is the Omnibus appropriations bill. Let me start by thanking Chairwoman Mikulski for her leadership. She has put long hours in on this over the Christmas and New Year's break. When most people were home with families and doing things in their home State, on vacation, she never stopped working. Her team, her staff on the Appropriations Committee, never stopped working. The staff, as always, is kind of the unsung hero around here. They did so many great things to put this together, both Democrats and Republicans, House and Senate--everybody had to work together to get this done and I am proud they did. I am also proud to be one of the appropriations subcommittee chairs who was able to work on this legislation. As you know, I am chairman of the Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee. I have worked with my counterpart Senator Blunt, the ranking member of the subcommittee, to craft part of this bipartisan bill. Again, Senator Blunt has been wonderful to work with. We appreciate him and his staff as well. When people hear agriculture appropriations, they often think about farming. That is understandable. We all understand why. That is certainly a key part of the bill, but that is not all it does. Our bill helps farmers with operating loans, conservation practices, marketing.…”