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Floor Speech
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Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, on Friday, the Senate completed its work on annual appropriations for six major areas of the Federal Government: agriculture and rural development; commerce, justice, and science; energy and water development; interior and environment; military construction, veterans' affairs; and transportation, housing, and urban development.
The Senate's vote was a major milestone in a process our colleagues on the Appropriations Committee began the better part of a year ago. Thanks to Senator Collins and Senator Murray's commitment to operating in good faith and adhering as much as possible to regular order, a significant portion of the Federal Government's discretionary budget is complete.
As I mentioned last week, the agreement before the Senate includes a number of conservative accomplishments that Vice Chair Collins fought for upfront. I am especially pleased that it will advance priorities near and dear to the hearts of my fellow Kentuckians--from rural transportation to military readiness to stopping the flow of illegal drugs.
I am proud to represent three military installations in Kentucky that are vital to America's national defense strategy. And the bill the Senate passed last week will fund critical construction projects at each of them. It green-lights the construction of top-of-the-line training and operational capabilities at Fort Knox and Fort Campbell, both home to a number of our Nation's most storied Army units. And it resurrects resources from a National Guard training range in Greenville, KY, a long-overdue project that has fallen by the wayside for nearly two decades.
Hundreds of millions of dollars will also go toward helping rural Kentuckians and the rest of Middle America: urgent funding to overhaul aging roads, bridges, and river ports that hold back Main Street; investments for clean, reliable water infrastructure; funds to continue environmental cleanup efforts in Paducah; and resources to expand broadband access to every corner of the Commonwealth. It also empowers law enforcement with new resources to combat the opioid crisis that has devastated my home State and remains a top killer of young Kentuckians.
So I was glad the Senate finished the job on a major portion of our government funding responsibilities, and I was especially proud to deliver on some of my fellow Kentuckians' top priorities.
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