Dick Durbin: “for several weeks, negotiations have been ongoing on a multitude of controversial provisions relating to the omnibus.…”

“for several weeks, negotiations have been ongoing on a multitude of controversial provisions relating to the omnibus. While those debates were raging in different parts of the Capitol, work on the Defense appropriations bill continued quietly and efficiently. I believe many Americans would be surprised to know about the exemplary level of bipartisanship that went into crafting this legislation, which provides the funding to take care of the women and men serving our country in uniform. This bill provides for the pay and benefits of each member of the Armed Forces, equips them with the tools they need, and develops the next generation of technology to improve our national security. Neither the chairman of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, Senator Cochran, nor I got everything we wanted out of this bill. Tough decisions had to be made. Chairman Cochran supported a number of my suggestions for the bill, we worked together on others, and we disagreed on a few. The end result is a good bill that meets the needs of our national security. The Defense appropriations bill provides all the needed resources for ongoing military operations, including the funds requested by the President to carry out anti-ISIL operations in Syria and Iraq. It adds $1.2 billion to the request to account for maintaining a larger presence in Afghanistan through 2016.…”