-9999
Floor Speech
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, this week, the Senate faces one more test to complete its annual appropriations process, and the stakes really couldn't be higher for Americans' security at home and abroad.
The work we have outstanding amounts to nearly 70 percent--70 percent--of the discretionary budget. Once again, I am grateful to our colleagues on the Appropriations Committee for their commitment to regular order. I am especially grateful to Senator Collins for fighting to advance Republican priorities throughout the process, particularly in the Defense appropriations bill.
Predictable annual allocations are essential to meeting national defense responsibilities. They allow for effective investments in modernizing our forces, developing new, cutting-edge capabilities, and expanding the industrial capacity that will drive long-term strategic competition. Needless to say, investments like these are especially critical right now as the gulf between the threats we face and the Biden administration's willingness to address them seems to be growing wider. President Biden has just turned in his fourth straight budget request that would cut defense funding after inflation. So the work before us is gravely necessary, and I am encouraged that we are beginning this week with an agreement in hand to actually complete the process.
Congress has secured a path forward to fund the Department of Homeland Security, which will allow us to complete the fiscal year 2024 appropriations process in the coming days. As always, making headway depends on serious cooperation, and I am grateful to our appropriators and negotiators for their commitment to working in good faith. Providing for the common defense is among our most basic constitutional responsibilities, and we need to be honest with ourselves: Growing threats and increasing military requirements make fulfilling this responsibility even more critical.
The legislation in front of us will not be Congress's last word, but it represents an important down payment, and I look forward to working with my colleagues to complete the annual appropriations process very, very soon.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Source