Mr. President, I want to thank the Senator from Alaska. I also want to thank Lieutenant Colonel and Senator Ernst for her service to our Nation. Senator Ernst is the first female combat veteran to ever serve in the Senate. It is an honor to serve with her, and I thank her for her service to our country both as a soldier as well as a Senator. As I speak today, my friends from across the aisle have already--not once, not twice, but three times--blocked consideration of the Department of Defense Appropriations Act of 2017, which will deny our troops the proper funding and support they deserve. I am proud to be standing here with some of my freshmen colleagues, imploring my friends on the other side of the aisle to stop the political games and get back to work, and that starts with funding our military. We shouldn't be playing these petty political games on legislation that is and should be historically bipartisan. In fact, this bill, the Department of Defense Appropriations Act, passed the House of Representatives in June on a bipartisan vote of 282 to 138, and that included 48 Democrats. That is a very strong bipartisan vote. Over on the Senate side--as a member of the Committee on Appropriations, I recall it clearly--it passed our committee 30 to 0. That is called running up the score--30 to 0 out of the Committee on Appropriations on May 26. Not one Democrat opposed this bill in committee. I ask my colleagues: What in the world has changed?…
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