Jon Tester: “this is supposed to be the greatest deliberative body on earth. This body is supposed to be a body that works for the…”

“this is supposed to be the greatest deliberative body on earth. This body is supposed to be a body that works for the American people and exemplifies what the greatest Nation in the world should exemplify and lead in that vein. I rise today to highlight that we are not living up to expectations. I want to highlight the very real consequences of this body's failure to deliver a Defense appropriations bill that would provide urgently needed resources to our men and women in uniform and keep this country safe. As most folks know, I am a farmer. We are getting winter underway, and I am planning for what I am going to plant next spring in the fields. I will tell you that when spring planting time comes, I will have to do that job. And I will work 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, to get that job done. Because if I don't, I lose the farm--literally. If I don't tend to business, I go broke. I want you to take a look at this body. We should have had a Defense bill, Defense appropriations bill, done the end of September, 3 months ago. And instead, we did a continuing resolution, then we did another continuing resolution, then we did another continuing resolution--keep kicking the can down the road. And the result of that is uncertainty, and the result of uncertainty is putting this country at risk. By the way, what I do on the farm is what people do every day in their businesses.…”