Susan Collins: “I urge my colleagues to support the six-bill fiscal year 2024 appropriations package that is before us. I am pleased to…”

“I urge my colleagues to support the six-bill fiscal year 2024 appropriations package that is before us. I am pleased to report that the House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed this bill earlier today by a vote of 339 to 85. It was strongly bipartisan. And now the Senate should follow suit. I want to express my thanks to the Republican ranking members on each of the six subcommittees--Senators Murkowski, Moran, Hoeven, Boozman, Kennedy, and Hyde-Smith--for their tremendous work in assembling this package. I also want to recognize the chair of the committee, Senator Patty Murray, who has worked so hard--since she was named chair and I, vice chair--in order to bring us to this point. I also want to salute the Democratic chairs for their work. My point is that everyone involved, including our incredibly hard- working staff, has worked night and day to bring us to this point. The measure before us includes the following fiscal year 2024 appropriations bills: Interior; Commerce, Justice, and Science; Agriculture-FDA; Military Construction and Veterans' Affairs; Energy and Water Development; and Transportation and Housing. And, again--although I wish this had happened months ago--these are full-year appropriations bills. In other words, this is not another continuing resolution, not a short-term patch, but, rather, a package of bills that will fund these important programs and Agencies and Departments through the end of the fiscal year.…”