Political Quotes

“Madam President, I rise today in support of the final six government funding bills before us. These bipartisan, bicameral bills are the result of many months of hard work by the Appropriations Committees in both the Senate and the House. Let me start by thanking Chair Murray for her tremendous leadership and hard work throughout the entire appropriations process. She has really made a difference. Since Chair Murray and I took the helm of the committee over a year ago, we have been committed to an appropriations process that provided Senators with a voice in funding decisions through robust committee proceedings. Toward that end, we held more than 50 public hearings and briefings. We televised our committee markups for the first time ever. The Senate Appropriations Committee marked up and advanced all 12 bills individually for the first time in 5 years, and we did so with overwhelming bipartisan support. Every single bill--each and every one of them--was subject to robust debate and amendments. Many of them passed unanimously, I am pleased to say, and others with only one dissenting vote. This final package on the Senate floor today includes the fiscal year 2024 appropriations bills for the Department of Defense; State and Foreign Operations; Financial Services and General Government; Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education; Legislative Branch; and Homeland Security.…”