Dick Durbin: “I come to the floor today in support of the Energy and Water Appropriations bill. I am pleased to see Senators Alexander…”

“I come to the floor today in support of the Energy and Water Appropriations bill. I am pleased to see Senators Alexander and Feinstein working to put together a good, bipartisan bill with no ideological or partisan policy riders. They remind us of the way that we should be doing business here in the Senate. This legislation provides increased funding for infrastructure across the Nation and in my home State of Illinois, and I was proud to support it in the Appropriations Committee. The bill provides strong funding for the National Labs through the Department of Energy, including critical research programs at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory and Argonne National Laboratory in Illinois. These labs are supporting thousands of scientists from across the country and around the world as they perform pioneering research and transform technologies for science and industry. Lab facilities in Illinois perform cutting-edge research and are a bright example of American innovation. The Energy and Water Appropriations bill would invest $6 billion in the Army Corps of Engineers, which will help support important investments in Illinois infrastructure. Waterways in Illinois, including the Mississippi River, are critical to commerce around the country. They provide access for shipped goods, connecting the Great Lakes with the Gulf of Mexico.…”