Political Quotes

“I want to thank Chairman Frelinghuysen, Chairwoman Granger, and Ranking Member Visclosky for their hard work and cooperation. Today's bill is the product of good faith bipartisan and bicameral negotiation. Each Member of this body will need to determine whether positive aspects of this bill outweigh uncertainty about the prospects of 10 other critical funding bills languishing without a clear path forward. Unlike the Defense Appropriations bill passed by the House last June, this bill keeps faith with existing caps on discretionary spending. It does not use a budget gimmick to create a mid-year shortfall in funding, which would have affected salaries and mission support for men and women serving bravely in harm's way. I thank the chairman for increasing cybersecurity operations by nearly $1 billion; fully funding the European Reassurance Initiative in response to Russian aggression; investing in the intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance resources combatant commanders clamor for; and assisting men and women in uniform by increasing pay by 2.1 percent, adding $25 million for sexual assault prevention and response, and providing $33.8 billion for the Defense Health Program. Despite these positive attributes, I would be remiss not to remind this body that the 2017 appropriations process can be described as nothing but a failure that continues to this day, more than 5 months into the fiscal year.…”