John Thune: “appropriations season is well underway. The Senate Appropriations Committee has, so far, passed six bipartisan…”

“appropriations season is well underway. The Senate Appropriations Committee has, so far, passed six bipartisan appropriations bills, and the Republicans are ready to consider a package of appropriations bills and have a floor process, one that involves serious amendments from both sides of the aisle, amendments designed to improve the bills, not score political points or sink the bills with poison pill measures. And there have been some encouraging signs that some of my Democrat colleagues are ready to come to the table on this. And I hope that will prove to be true and we will be able to finish an appropriations package in the coming days and then work with the House in August to get the legislation ready to send to the President. We are going to have a lot more appropriations work to do in September, and I will continue to push for a regular order process with debate and amendment on the Senate floor, and, hopefully, my Democrat colleagues will support that effort. It is in the interest of both parties to have a regular-order, bipartisan process, and at least some Democrats have acknowledged as much. It would be nice to see that attitude prevail in the Democrat Party, generally. I will say, it was disturbing to see the Democrat leader threaten to shut down the government a few weeks ago, and I hope--I really hope-- the Democrats will not embrace that position.”