Department Of Defense Appropriations Act, 2010 - Resumed

Floor Speech

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Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, those who are following the business of the Senate may be surprised to find us in session a little after midnight. This is a decision made by the Senate just a few hours ago, to postpone the continuation of our session into a new day. The purpose is parliamentary, so that a motion which we have filed can be voted on. It is an important motion. It is a cloture motion. We often have them. It is a motion that closes debate on the floor and moves us forward to the consideration of a measure.

There are very few measures the Senate would consider any more important than the one on which we are about to vote. In about an hour or less, we will be voting on the Defense appropriations bill.

This is a bill which is critically important to our Nation's defense and security, as Secretary Gates reminded us today in a letter to the Senate. It is also a bill that is important to the men and women in uniform, those who are in harm's way overseas literally risking their lives while we meet in the safety of this Senate Chamber.

The bill contains a 3.4-percent pay raise for our military, richly deserved, for the men and women who serve us. It also will be a pay raise appreciated by their families, many of whom wait patiently for the return of their loved one. There is money in this, as well, for military families, to make sure that not only the servicemembers but their spouses and children have health care. It is a very basic requirement of life and one we want to provide for all of our men and women in uniform and their families.

There is certainly an allotment and allocation here for equipment, which our men and women in uniform will need to perform their missions and come home safely. Readiness and training--it covers a wide range of important expenditures for our national security.

There is no more important bill when it comes to the safety of our troops and for our endorsement and support of what they are giving for our country.

In addition to that, there are provisions added by the House which are critically important at this moment in our history. We extend for several months the unemployment benefits for the millions of Americans who have lost their jobs during this recession. Although we see things getting a little better in the economy, there are still a lot of people suffering because of unemployment. They have not only lost their jobs, many have expended their savings. They have lost their health insurance. They may lose their homes. They are struggling. This bill extends for a short period of time those unemployment benefits and some help to pay for health insurance.

It is also a bill that provides for food stamps. I wish this Nation did not need food stamps, but we need them desperately. One out of six people in the State of Michigan is on food stamps because of the state of their economy, and many States with high unemployment rates are near that. The food stamps provide literally the basics and necessities of life for these families.

You would think, as I describe this bill, that it would pass in the Senate by the same overwhelming margin it just passed in the House 2 days ago. In the House, the vote was, if I recall correctly, in the range of 393 to 35 or something close to that. It was an overwhelming bipartisan vote. Mr. President, 164 Republican Congressmen voted for it, and it is understandable why. It was a vote of confidence in our men and women in uniform. It was a vote of support for them. And it was a vote of compassion and caring for all the people suffering in this great recession.

Yet we may find--I hope it is not true--we may find that in just a few moments this will become a strictly partisan vote. I hope that does not happen. It should not. It was not a partisan issue in the House of Representatives. But many have said on the other side of the aisle that they will not vote to support our troops with this appropriation, nor provide money for the unemployed. I do not question their patriotism or their commitment to our men and women in uniform. They are doing it because of a political or procedural approach they want to use to try to stop or slow down health care reform. I think they picked the wrong bill for it. I think we have had a healthy debate, a vigorous debate, and we are likely to have that debate continue for the next several days. But why are we putting the men and women in uniform in the middle of this debate? They did not ask for that. They asked to serve our country, to be respected for that service, and to have some help so they come home safely. That is what this bill does.

I hope at 1 a.m., in just a few minutes from now, those on the other side of the aisle will reconsider their opposition to the Department of Defense appropriations bill. If there was ever a time when we should stand together in solidarity for those who defend our country, it is now. And I hope many on the Republican side of the aisle will join us in that effort, in a bipartisan effort, in a show of support for these men and women in uniform.

There is plenty of time for debate, but there is also a time for debate to end. There comes a moment, after we have tried our best and engaged in debate and amendments, when a vote should be taken and the Senate should decide.

We are dragging this series of votes out on health care reform I think to a degree which is unnecessary. At some point, and some point soon, we should take the vote and see if there are literally 60 votes in the Senate for health care reform. Having done our best on our side of the aisle to argue the case, those on the other side have argued against it, and now the people of America should have the last word through their elected Senators.

I urge my colleagues on the other side of the aisle, who tried yesterday to stop the proceedings or at least slow them down by requiring the reading of an amendment and are trying now through the attempt to postpone this vote on the Department of Defense appropriations bill, to accept the verdict of the Senate. There should reach a point when we should do that. And we should do it in a timely fashion. Denying Members of the Senate on both sides of the aisle an opportunity to be home with their families--not to mention our poor staff, people around here who work night and day to support our efforts--denying them a chance to be home with their families in one last, perhaps, vain effort to stop a vote on health care reform really does not speak as well of this institution as it should.

I hope those on the other side of the aisle will have reached a conclusion, after 2 days in trying to stop this process, that it is better for us to have a record vote. If they believe this bill is so bad, they have a chance to vote against it. Those of us who support it will be on record for it. Then let the American people decide. Let them decide in the next election or let them decide in response to us.

But I hope that come 1 o'clock this morning, when we vote on the Department of Defense appropriations bill, we will have a solid bipartisan vote in support of our men and women in uniform. They deserve no less.

I yield the floor.

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Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, it is difficult to reconcile the statements made by the Republican whip and the Republican leader. The Republican whip says we are not stopping the Defense bill. The Republican leader says because of actions that have been taken here, this bill cannot pass.

I made a unanimous consent request to end this debate immediately and pass this appropriations bill and fund our troops, which I think both Republican leaders have said they want to do. But, unfortunately, the Republican whip objected to it.

We know why we are here. We are here because, as Senator Levin of Michigan, the chairman of the Armed Services Committee, said, there is a Republican filibuster against the funding bill for our troops. There will be an opportunity in a few moments for Members on both sides of the aisle to vote, and I hope all of the Senators of both parties will vote--a vote of confidence in support for our men and women in uniform by voting for this cloture motion, and then I will renew my unanimous consent request that we pass that bill immediately.

So there will be no questions, we will have had a rollcall vote, the Senate expressed its sentiment, and we move forward. I do not think there is any reason for us to delay this another minute. The fact we are here early in the morning may be part of a strategy I hope the Republicans have abandoned.

It is time to stand behind our troops and not abandon them during the course of war.

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