On the recordApril 23, 2024
Mr. President, the Senate will soon vote on a $95 billion supplemental spending package, and $95 billion--that is a lot of money, especially at a time when many Americans are unable to afford their rent or pay their mortgages, pay their bills, afford healthcare, struggling with student debt, and many other needs. Mr. President, $95 billion is a lot of money. All told, this package includes tens of billions of dollars in additional military spending and major policy changes, many of which are controversial, many of which are disagreed with by the American people. Yet, unlike the House of Representatives, the Senate will not have the opportunity to hold separate votes on the various components of this bill. I have heard from many of my Democratic colleagues--and I agree--who talk about the dysfunctionality taking place in the House of Representatives. In fact, I don't know if we are quite sure who the Speaker of the House will be in a couple of weeks or whether the extreme-right wing is going to get rid of Mr. Johnson. But what we can say about the House is that they at least gave their Members the opportunity to vote yes or no on funding for Ukraine, yes or no on aid to Israel, yes or no on TikTok, and yes or no on aid to Asian countries. That is more than can be said for the U.S. Senate right now. I remind my colleagues that this is supposedly the greatest deliberative body in the world--except we don't have very many deliberations around here. You have one bill, up or down.…
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