Floor Statements

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it recess until 12 noon on Saturday, September 30; that following the prayer and pledge, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day and morning business be closed; that upon the conclusion of morning business, the Senate resume consideration of H.R. 3935.

Madam President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask that it stand in recess under the previous order.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to modify the previous order in relation to the veto messages on S.J. Res. 9 and S.J. Res. 24 so that, beginning at 2:20 p.m. today, there be up to 20 minutes for debate, concurrently and equally divided between the two leaders or their designees, prior to rollcall votes on the passage of S.J. Res. 9 and S.J. Res. 24 in the order listed, the objections of the President to the contrary notwithstanding.

Mr. President, we all know we are down to the wire right now, so we need to keep moving with this CR so we can avoid a damaging and completely unnecessary shutdown.

This is a straightforward, bipartisan CR that simply keeps the government funded so we can continue work on our full-year bills. It includes absolutely essential, time-sensitive reauthorizations for the FAA and others and extends urgently needed funding for disaster relief and our allies in Ukraine.

I worked closely with the Senator from Maine and leadership in both parties to put together a truly straightforward bill that can pass the Senate, pass the House, and be signed into law. I am confident there is enough support for this to pass the Senate and the House just as soon as we put it up for a vote. The question is how quickly we can all work to get this done.

I understand there are Senators who don't think there is enough in this bill, but this is not meant to be the end-all, be-all when it comes to legislating; it is meant to prevent a devastating shutdown. I think we all understand there is more work to do on many of these issues.

Many of you want to do more on disaster relief--something we must do after we prevent a shutdown that cuts off relief to communities in the middle of a recovery. I want to address the childcare funding cliff head on, which we have got to do after we pass this so we can save parents and kids from a shutdown that would mean they would lose their access to Head Start. I know there are colleagues concerned about doing more on border security--something I am willing to continue to discuss--but time is of the absolute essence here, and a shutdown would mean the folks who are working at our southern border would be forced to work without paychecks.

A shutdown is no solution to anything. We have got 12 bipartisan appropriations bills I have worked with many Members on both sides of the aisle to pull together, and I want to get them passed and address all of these critical issues, but we need to prevent a shutdown first.

So let's not act like this CR is the last bill Congress is ever going to pass. Let's get this done so we can avoid a shutdown that hurts our families, hurts our economy, hurts our national security, and more. Then let's get back to work on the other issues that are important to everyone here and to the folks we work for back home. I urge all of our colleagues to vote yes now on the motion to proceed.

I yield the floor.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. President, I urge that we go to the vote.

Vote on Motion to Proceed

Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. President, reserving the right to object, I share my colleague's concern about making sure our national parks stay open. In fact, I don't want any Federal facilities to close their doors, any Federal workers to miss a paycheck, or any programs families rely on be undermined by a completely unnecessary shutdown, which is why I am working around the clock to make sure we do pass this bipartisan CR package, which we released yesterday.

So I hope the senior Senator from Utah will reconsider his recent vote against moving forward on that CR and start working with us to get this straightforward CR across the finish line so we can avoid this shutdown and get back to passing our 12 bipartisan appropriations bills because that is the only serious solution here. That is the best way to make sure families are able to keep enjoying our national parks and park rangers and all of our public servants can do the work the American people are counting on and get the paycheck they deserve.

There are a lot of programs that we all care about that will be hurt by a shutdown, so we are not going to solve this problem one by one, carve-out by carve-out. As I said earlier, you don't stop a flood one drop at a time; you build a dam.

We have a straightforward, bipartisan CR package to avoid a shutdown and keep our national parks open. Let's get our jobs done and get that passed.

So I object.

Mr. President, reserving the right to object, I share my colleague's concern about making sure our servicemembers don't miss a paycheck because of a potential government shutdown. In fact, I don't want

any of our Federal workers to miss a paycheck or any of the programs families rely on to be undermined by a completely unnecessary shutdown, which is why I am working around the clock to make sure we pass the bipartisan CR package, which we released yesterday, because that is the only serious issue and solution here. That is the only way we make sure that everyone is able to keep doing the work the American people count on and get the paycheck they deserve.

Let's be real. There are a lot of programs I care about, a lot of programs we all care about, that would be hurt by a shutdown. So we are not going to solve this problem one by one, bit by bit, carve-out by carve-out. You do not stop a flood one drop at a time; you build a dam.

We do have a straightforward, bipartisan CR package to avoid a shutdown and keep our military paid. We should do our jobs, get that done, and get it passed. That is principle, Mr. President, not politics. Do our jobs and pass this bill so we don't have a shutdown.

I object.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to complete my remarks before the vote is called at 5:30.

Mr. President, I have been working nonstop, reaching out to my colleagues, who have heard from me all hours of the day and night this past weekend, to put together a straightforward, bipartisan CR package that we can pass quickly to prevent a completely unnecessary government shutdown.

I am pleased to say the senior Senator from Maine and I have put together a bill that keeps our government funded while we continue to work on full-year appropriations. It provides critical dollars for communities that are struck by disasters and Ukraine, which is at a pivotal moment in its defensive efforts against Putin's brutal, unprovoked war of aggression. These are important downpayments as we continue to work now on a full-year bill, but we have more to do.

Importantly, this CR also ensures that wildland firefighters will not see a pay cut. It prevents critical laws from lapsing to make sure the FAA and community health centers can continue operating and more.

I hope that all of our colleagues in the Senate and the House will work with us to get this signed into law as soon as possible so we can avoid a shutdown that would be nothing short of devastating for our economy and for families everywhere.

This should not be hard. We have a simple, bipartisan CR, a truly reasonable bill. We have the support to get it signed into law if it is put up for a vote in both Chambers. We do not have a moment to waste. Let's get this done and get right back to work on passing the 12 bipartisan appropriations bills that are ready to come to the Senate floor.

Mr. President, I am here tonight to urge a ``yes'' vote on the motion to invoke cloture.

Mr. President, reserving the right to object, I share my colleagues' concern with making sure the men and women of the Coast Guard get the pay they deserve in a timely way. In fact, I don't want any of our Federal workers to miss a paycheck. But this bill, which essentially says the Coast Guard gets paid as long as other members of our armed services are being paid, won't actually stop anyone from missing a paycheck in a few weeks because the looming shutdown would also stop pay for the military.

I appreciate that my colleagues want to talk about how Coast Guard pay is handled compared to other branches of our armed services, but, respectfully, the pressing issue right now is making sure everyone gets paid, and we prevent a completely unnecessary shutdown that would hurt our families across the country, which is why I am working around the clock to make sure we pass a bipartisan CR and supplemental package. And I would urge all of my colleagues to join me in that effort.

And I object.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Madam President, last week, an overwhelming 91 Senators voted to begin debate on the bipartisan appropriations package--a package of bills that each passed the Appropriations Committee unanimously. But then a few Senators decided to object to a run-of-the- mill procedural request, threatening to derail our months of hard work, halt our return to regular order, and prevent the full Senate from having a chance to debate and offer amendments and vote on our appropriations bills.

The senior Senator from Maine and I have been working hard to make sure we have a robust amendment process with amendments from Democrats and Republicans. And so many Senators have been working with us in good faith so we can debate their ideas for how to make these bills stronger. That is how this process should work.

But in the wake of continued obstructions from a very small handful of Senators, we can't get started discussing those amendments without this vote on a motion to waive rule XVI.

So I hope all of our colleagues who voted to move forward last week will join us for cloture and for this motion so we can avoid an omnibus and keep our bipartisan process on track, because that is really what this vote is. It is a vote to keep us on track, and that should be a really simple choice.

Do you want to continue our return to regular order and move forward with the appropriations bills that we have all spent months putting together in an open, bipartisan way, or do you want to halt the Senate's appropriations bills and essentially set up another massive 12-bill omnibus at the end of the year?

I have heard the complaints from a very small handful of Members who are trying to derail this process, but I have not heard any--any-- realistic alternatives from them for us to pass the Senate's funding priorities in a more open and bipartisan process than what the senior Senator from Maine and I have worked so hard to provide.

We held nearly 50 hearings in the committee. We televised those markups for the first time ever so people back home can follow along-- complete with debate and amendments--and see what we are doing here. We were transparent. Our doors have been open the whole time--in fact, they still are--for Members who have ideas on how to make these bills stronger.

The vice chair and I went through great pains to give every single Senator the chance to weigh in on them. And I am pleased to say a lot of our colleagues took that opportunity. You shared your thoughts, your ideas. You shared the needs, the concerns of your families back home-- all of which helped to make all these bills stronger.

That is why, even though the Appropriations Committee has everyone, from strong liberals to staunch conservatives, all 12 of our funding bills passed with overwhelming bipartisan support. In fact, every bill in the package before us passed the committee unanimously.

That is a very different process from where we ended up in the past few years and from what we will end up with again if we can't keep these bills moving forward.

To everyone who wishes these bills came to the floor even sooner--and I think we all understand how it feels to wish things moved faster around here--I hope you will vote with us today to prevent any further delays that will derail this process and would lead us, then, of course, to an omnibus. After all, wishing the Senate was faster is no reason to slow us down now.

And to those saying the bills spend too much money, these bills are written to the bipartisan deal that was struck by the President and Speaker McCarthy that we all voted on just a few months ago. These aren't the bills I would have written. They enact cuts across so many of the programs that I care deeply about. But that was the deal that the President and the Speaker shook hands on. If you don't like them, vote no on the bill.

I have heard from so many colleagues, including in speeches given right here on the Senate floor, about how they hate getting jammed at the end of the year with a 12-bill omnibus, about how we have got to return to regular order. And I have worked really hard with the senior Senator from Maine, with all of our chairs and ranking members on the Appropriations Committee, all of our committee members on both sides of the aisle, and every Member of this body who has come to my door to get us moving in that direction, to keep up our return to regular order.

I think we can get there. And I think moving forward with this package will show the American people we are serious about getting there. But it depends on this vote because if, after all the work we have done over the last months to make sure every Senator can have their voice heard, moving all 12 appropriations bills through our committee in an open, bipartisan way and having 91 Senators vote to move forward with this package--if after all of that--we let a handful of Senators toss out months of hard work to move us closer to regular order, abandon an overwhelming bipartisan effort to do something as basic as funding our government, and cause chaos that puts us all on a collision course for another omnibus, well, frankly, I think that sends a very bleak message for the future of this body and whether we will ever be able to truly break through the pattern of dysfunction and partnership that we all hate.

We have got to get back to regular order. We have got to get back to bipartisanship. We have to get back to helping people in solving problems, just like we all came here to do.

This vote is our chance to break that pattern, to avoid another omnibus, and to make sure the Senate and all of its Senators and all the people we represent have their voices heard and concerns addressed in our Nation's funding bills.

So I urge my colleagues who joined me in putting this bill together, all of my colleagues who voted with me last week to get started with debate and amendments, to join me in pushing back against a small handful of Senators who are objecting to moving forward and who want to stop us dead in our tracks.

I hope everyone votes for cloture, votes for the motion to suspend rule XVI, and keep us on track.

I ask unanimous consent to begin the vote.

Madam President, I thank the majority leader.

Let's be clear. The three bills in that package are not partisan bills. This was not some secretive process. We drafted these bills through an open, bipartisan process. We held hearings. We held markups for the first time in years. We kept our doors open to any Member with thoughts or concerns. So it is very frustrating to see that this bipartisan effort got derailed today despite all of that work and despite the overwhelming consensus last week that we wanted to all get started on this package.

All of our colleagues and their staffs who spent long hours working on these bills in good faith deserve better. More importantly, all of our constituents who sent us here to advocate for them, to work together, and to solve problems deserve better.

I will keep fighting to make sure we do right by our constituents and keep our regular appropriations process moving here in the Senate. As my colleagues know, I don't give up easily, and I am not going to give up here either. I am going to keep pushing with everything I have got to pass the spending bills that so many of us have spent so much time working on to get our communities the resources they need.

Yet I do have to say today that I am deeply disappointed. I am not new to politics. I am not new to tough votes or setbacks. I know that this work is never easy, but it is really unfortunate that this overwhelming bipartisan process and this package of bills that passed unanimously has been stymied by the objections of just a few Senators. That is upsetting, and it is pretty hard to square with a lot of the talk that we hear all the time about wanting to work together, wanting to break the pattern of partisanship, wanting to help people, wanting to solve problems, to say nothing of how some of our loudest complainers who have been talking big about their commitment for us to return to regular order and who have been railing against these omnibus bills at the end of the year have led the effort to halt our best shot in years of actually getting closer to regular order and, instead, possibly setting us on a collision course for another massive omnibus.

While this full package may not be moving forward right now through this process, I will not stop working to return this process back to regular order and keep things moving. I will keep talking to colleagues about how we get all 12 of our bipartisan spending bills across the finish line here in the Senate. I will keep working to see if we can get that consent agreement that will allow us to move forward on this package.

As we get closer to September 30, I am working hard to make sure we chart a bipartisan course for a CR and supplemental funding package so that we can avoid a damaging and completely unnecessary shutdown and reject the devastating cuts from the House Republicans that would gut everything from heating assistance to FAA funding, to the Social Security Administration, and so much more, and that will provide critical resources for things like disaster relief and wildland firefighters and our allies in Ukraine.

I came to Congress to help people and solve problems. That is what gets me up every day in the morning. It is what I am focused on at every meeting I have, in every bill I write, and in every vote I take. And while this vote a few minutes ago sent a disheartening message about the state of things, it will not be the last word, because I won't let it be, and I know many of my colleagues will not either.

One thing I have seen over and over again in my time here is, if you want progress, you don't leave the table, and you keep working. So I am going to stay at the table. I will keep working. Right now, we have to get a bipartisan CR and a supplemental package done. That is a priority.

But I hope and I believe, through the work that we do, that we will show the American people there are still Senators on both sides of this aisle determined to get our work done.

I yield the floor.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Madam President, having notified the Senate under rule V of the Standing Rules of the Senate, I move to suspend rule XVI for consideration of amendment No. 1092 to H.R. 4366.

Cloture Motion

Madam President, I send a cloture motion to the desk.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the mandatory quorum call for the cloture motion filed today, Monday, September 18, be waived.

For the information of all Senators, last week, an overwhelming 91 Senators voted to begin debate on the bipartisan appropriations package. This is a package of bills which--each one of them passed the Appropriations Committee unanimously.

We have been working very hard in a bipartisan effort and in good faith to set up a very robust process for amendments and for debate. Unfortunately, a few Senators decided to object to us last week, and now we are moving forward.

I would say a lot of Senators have come to me and others and spoken on the floor about how much they hate doing a gigantic omnibus at the end of the year. We have been working really hard on this package to make sure we don't get stuck doing that once again. So if everyone is serious about wanting to show that this place can actually work, well, now is the time to come together to make sure we can do that.

We cannot let a few Senators toss out months of hard work to move us closer to regular order and abandon an overwhelmingly bipartisan effort to do something as basic as funding our government and then put us on a collision course for another huge omnibus. That is why we are filing for a necessary procedural vote today that we will vote on later this week that will keep this bipartisan process on track.

Madam President, I would inform Senators that as we wait for this vote to ripen, we are continuing to work through a list of amendments and a package of amendments that we can approve as soon as we can get the necessary votes to get back on the bill.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. President, I urge all of our colleagues who have come to me and to the Senator from Maine to talk about the need for regular order to vote yes now on this motion to proceed. I will have more to say about what we all need to do to keep this process moving, but this vote is important if we want to make sure that Senators will have the opportunity to speak out for their values and their constituents.

So I urge a yes vote on the motion to proceed, and let's get going on an agreement, as soon as possible, so Senators can vote and debate and act on amendments. That is what regular order is, and that is what everyone has told me is exactly what they want and what I have been hearing all year from Senators on both sides of the aisle.

Let's keep up the bipartisanship. Let's get to work.

Vote on Motion

I ask for the yeas and nays.

Madam President, I call up my amendment, No. 1205, and ask that it be reported by number.

I ask unanimous consent that the reading of the amendment be dispensed with.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the substitute amendment No. 1092 be considered an Appropriations Committee amendment for purposes of rule XVI, with no other rule XVI points of order waived by this agreement; that H.R. 4366, H.R. 4368, as reported in the House of Representatives on June 27, 2023, and H.R. 4820, as reported in the House of Representatives on July 24, 2023, serve as the basis for defense of germaneness under rule XVI for any floor amendments and that it be in order for floor amendments to amend the substitute in more than one place; further, that it be in order for the following amendments to be made pending and that, at a time to be determined by the majority leader in consultation with the Republican leader, the Senate vote on the following amendments to the Murray- Collins substitute amendment No. 1092, with 60 affirmative votes required for adoption and with no further amendments or motions in order to the amendments: Paul No. 1157, Vance No. 1125, Ernst No. 1123, Blackburn No. 1155, Lee No. 1121, Stabenow No. 1115, Peters-Cornyn No. 1122, Rosen No. 1117, Padilla No. 1139, and Schatz No. 1120.

Mr. President, let's be clear. To all of my colleagues who told me and Senator Collins and the American people that we have to get back to regular order, that is exactly what we are working to do here. We have been working in good faith to set up amendment votes and to get the ball rolling on this bill. Now there are a few colleagues on the other side of the aisle who are dismissing all of this out of hand, any kind of reasonable agreement to move this process forward, and blocking all of the agreements we put together to move forward.

Listen to this. If we all want regular order, a key part of this is allowing Senators to come down, have amendments voted on, and moving forward

with an amendment process so Senators can make their voices heard on our funding bills. So we can't move at a glacial pace, and we can't have Senators obstructing this process needlessly.

I do hope they reconsider and work with us on a timely, serious process so all Senators, especially those who do not serve on the Appropriations Committee, can come here and speak up for their values and their constituents.

I know colleagues are ready to bring forward amendments, some of which I don't agree with and will likely vote against, all of which I am prepared, with my colleague from Maine, to discuss and debate. But the Senate should be allowed to work its will and to debate these issues here on the floor, and the American public should be able to see for themselves where their elected leaders stand on those issues as we consider the legislation that will fund the U.S. Government.

That is regular order, but that cannot happen until everybody in this body gets serious about coming to this agreement about how we move this process forward, period.

Now, I want to be clear. While there are a few Senators who are determined now to derail this process--this bipartisan process--the vast majority of our colleagues on both sides of the aisle have put forward serious efforts into crafting these genuine bipartisan bills. I know that because the Senator from Maine and I took great pains to make sure everyone could weigh in here. We made extraordinary progress in the Senate Appropriations Committee. I have heard about it from so many of you, on both sides of the aisle, all week.

How did we do it? We agreed early on to have an open, bipartisan process for our funding bills--exactly what many Senators have been calling for. We said: Let's stick to the bipartisan debt limit deal, which we all passed in July, and let's keep out partisan poison pills, and let's give Members a chance to weigh in and make their constituents' voices heard. In other words, let's show the American people Congress can actually work.

Let's be clear. The bills we are considering aren't Democratic or Republican spending bills. They are bills both sides--Democrats and Republicans--wrote after a lot of negotiation and compromise. Together, this package that we have reflects input from Senators from across the country and across the political spectrum, working on behalf of the people who sent them here. That is exactly why all of these bills in this package passed our committee unanimously.

The American people are watching. They are wondering can Congress still work, if we can actually come together and reach common ground, even on something as fundamental as funding our government. They do not want to see grandstanding or chaos. They want to see results. The vast majority of this body wants to show them that we take this job seriously, that we take their problems seriously, which the Senator from Maine and I greatly appreciate.

I hope that the few holdouts who are now keeping us from moving forward and reaching an agreement so we can line up amendments and votes will see reason. Let us show the American people that Congress is still capable of working in good faith to help people and solve problems, just like they sent us here to do.

I yield the floor.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, I want to thank Senator Boozman for being such a great partner and for his work on this bill and all the appropriations bills. I look forward to working with him as we continue to try to bring this up and get it rolling and moving on the floor. So I thank him very much.

Mr. President, as I said, we are working in good faith to set up amendment votes and get this ball rolling on the bipartisan appropriations package that the senior Senator from Maine and I assembled, along with all of our colleagues on the Appropriations Committee, so we can return the Senate to regular order for the first time in a long time, which many of our colleagues have called for.

In the meantime, today, I want to talk about the Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies bill that is included in this funding package and why the investments in this bill are so important for our military readiness, for our military families, and especially for veterans across our Nation who have sacrificed so much for us.

As chair of the MILCON-VA Subcommittee, I worked closely with the senior Senator from Arkansas, who just spoke, to get input from our colleagues on both sides of the aisle and draft the strongest possible bill, even under tough top lines from the debt limit deal. I am very pleased that the bill we put together, which did pass our committee unanimously, makes crucial investments and gets our military and our veterans the support they need.

This bill provides $19.1 billion for military construction--that is an increase over the fiscal year 2023 level--and supports hundreds of construction projects at base installations so we can improve the quality of life for our servicemembers and families, modernize maintenance and training facilities, and make military installations more resilient against growing threats like climate disasters.

The $2.4 billion for quality-of-life improvements in this bill will support projects like building new barracks and housing and, just as critically, maintaining existing housing so that the

homes military families are living in right now do not fall into disrepair. I am proud that our bill provides funding for eight new child development centers so we can expand childcare access for our military families. These types of quality-of-life investments are essential to our recruiting and retention and overall readiness. More importantly, they are what our troops deserve and what we owe them for the sacrifices they make.

This bill also funds other essential military construction projects like training and vehicle maintenance, improving energy resilience on bases, and making sure that our installations are better prepared to face severe weather events because, as our generals and admirals have made crystal clear, climate change is a national security threat, and we absolutely cannot afford to let it undermine our troops and our military readiness.

The bill we are considering also includes investments to strengthen our alliances and partnerships around the world, including by supporting NATO infrastructure projects and providing funding to strengthen our global presence, including over half a billion for this work in the Indo-Pacific.

I am also glad we were able to include funding to address PFAS and other toxins--forever chemicals--at former installations that could put our communities and military families especially in harm's way. PFAS are a serious health hazard, and they have been found in the water supply at hundreds of military bases across our country, including in my home State.

Then, of course, there is the VA funding in this bill, which is just as essential. I am someone who previously chaired the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee. I specifically asked to be assigned to that committee as soon as I came to Congress, and I am really honored to have been the first woman ever to serve on that committee because, as the daughter of a World War II veteran, I take our Nation's commitment to care for our veterans personally.

When my father was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, which eventually forced him to stop working, his VA benefits were crucial to making sure he could get the care he needed. So I know firsthand how essential VA care is for veterans and their families, and I am constantly meeting with veterans in my State about their experiences too.

Living up to our obligation to those who served our country is simply nonnegotiable for me. I know many of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle feel the exact same way, and that is especially true for my partner across the dais on our subcommittee, the senior Senator from Arkansas. We have worked closely together for many years on the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee, so I knew when we started on this bill that he was someone who cares deeply about our men and women in the military and takes our obligations to our veterans seriously. In other words, he is exactly the kind of partner you want across the table to negotiate a bill like this with.

I am pleased to say we were able, together, to draft a bill that ensures that we keep our promises to servicemembers and veterans by fully funding the VA's budget request.

That means increasing funding for mental health and suicide prevention programs since we know, tragically, that suicide is the leading cause of death for veterans, especially our younger veterans.

It means increased funding for rural healthcare so veterans in every corner of the country can get the care they need, homelessness prevention programs that help with the challenges of returning to civilian life, and for the caregivers program, which I fought to expand along with so many of my colleagues last year.

Of course, it means increased funding for women veterans' care. Women are the fastest growing demographic of our veterans.

I am also especially pleased to say this bill includes funding to expand the childcare pilot program that I helped establish because, as I always remind my colleagues, we have a childcare crisis in this country, which is why I worked to include funding to expand childcare sites at our VA facilities so lack of childcare doesn't keep our veterans from getting the care they need.

In addition to the VA funding in here, let's not forget that last year we actually passed the largest expansion of VA care in decades by passing the bipartisan PACT Act, and earlier this year, Congress worked to live up to that expansion by passing more than $20 billion in funding for the Toxic Exposures Fund, as part of the Fiscal Responsibility Act. This is already making a difference for veterans who were exposed to burn pits and other toxins.

Another crucial investment in this bill is the funding increase for VA infrastructure because we cannot let veterans' healthcare be undermined by the challenges related to VA's aging medical facilities or, for that matter, jeopardized by botched rollouts like we saw with the electronic health record modernization program. I was glad to see that the VA did put a pause on the rollout of the EHR earlier this year--something I had been pushing them to do--and we made sure that pause was reflected in our funding bill because I was raising the alarm from day one about how the botched EHR rollout was hurting Washington State veterans. It is a challenging situation now with EHR. We can't just flip on a switch and fix it, much as I wish we could.

But I am watching closely to make sure we see changes that provide real results for our veterans and our VA providers because, at the end of the day, these investments are not just about programs and contracts; this is about our promise to get our veterans the benefits they earned and need to stay healthy--prescriptions, mental health care, cancer screenings, and so much more--and to make sure every woman and man who serves our country in uniform gets the support and the training and the equipment they need to be at their best.

Before I wrap up, I also want to say a little bit more about some of the items in this bill I fought hard for that are especially important in my State.

When it comes to military construction, there are several projects that I worked very hard to get funding for, like new barracks and a parachute rigging facility at Joint Base Lewis-McChord; bulk storage tanks at the fuel supply in Point Manchester; updated electrical infrastructure at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard to help prevent unexpected power outages; and funding to advance other projects across my home State, like equipment, maintenance, and platoon training facilities.

When it comes to support for our veterans and our VA facilities, I pushed to make sure this bill includes funding to help the American Lake VA Medical Center upgrade its facilities and provide quality care and funding for the Tahoma National Cemetery and its work to ensure we honor the veterans we have lost.

It is worth noting that while those are some of the projects I am most excited about in my State, we made sure that all Senators on both sides of the aisle could weigh in on this bill, and I know many other Members worked very hard to support similar projects and get funding that is important to their States.

So I urge my colleagues to come to the floor and talk about some of the projects you have in this bill and why this funding is so important to your families back home. I also invite them to talk to me and the Senator from Maine about amendments and ideas for how we can make these bills better. Our staffs are working around the clock, and so are we.

We do want to set up a managers' package. We do want to set up votes on amendments. We want to get this funding package passed in the Senate and passed into law because--let's be clear--this is a bill that can actually be passed into law, and that is because of all of the hard work and careful consideration and, in many cases, compromise that went into producing this bipartisan bill.

This is a responsible bill that we wrote together, Democrats and Republicans. How? By listening to our communities and listening to each other so we can help people solve problems. That is how this process should work. That is what we were all sent here to do.

So let's work together and show the American people that Congress can do its job, that it can actually give our communities the resources they need in a timely and responsible way and help people and solve problems.

I yield the floor.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Madam President, I submit the following notice in writing: In accordance with Rule V of the Standing Rules of the Senate, I hereby give notice in writing that it is my intention to move to suspend Rule XVI for the consideration of amendment No. 1092 to the bill H.R. 4366.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. President, I want to start today by thanking Senator Collins once again for her partnership in putting together the package that we are now considering. I am very pleased she was able to join me on the floor yesterday as we both spoke about the effort that has gone into getting this bill off the ground.

At risk of repeating myself, I would like to speak again about how we crafted the bills before us and urge all of my colleagues to join us to debate and advance this package.

Today, we are doing something that many Senators have been calling for, for quite some time, something Senator Collins and I have been hearing about from our colleagues since the moment we took over the leadership of the Appropriations Committee. We are keeping our foot on the gas as we continue returning the appropriations process to regular order for the first time in years.

Last night, we began the process to allow the Senate to consider a legislative package of three strongly bipartisan funding bills.

Let me just say this again: Getting to this point was no easy feat.

I am grateful to my partner on the Appropriations Committee, Vice Chair Collins, for working with me to make this happen and to all of our Members, especially the subcommittee chairs, who worked on the bills in the package before us today. Senator Collins and I knew from the start, if we wanted this to work, we had to write serious bipartisan funding bills that can actually be signed into law.

As I said yesterday, that meant a few things. First of all, we are going to have to abide by the topline numbers that were set in the debt limit deal, and I shared my personal concerns about that limit before. They have meant some tough choices because that was agreed on by the House and the Senate for all of us in these bills. But President Biden and Speaker McCarthy shook hands. They shook hands, and we passed this deal in Congress in a bipartisan way.

The reality is, we can't produce serious bills if we start by throwing that bipartisan framework out the window. So we didn't do that. We worked within the framework, and I pushed at every stage of the process with my colleagues to make sure we produced the strongest possible bills under those circumstances because we simply have to move forward, not back.

Secondly, we understood that we were going to have to work together to find common ground, including on some very tough and thorny issues, and compromise where necessary to produce spending bills that can make it through both Chambers and to the President's desk. That meant avoiding poison pills that could sink these bills.

Third, we understood it was important that we give each and every one of our colleagues the chance to weigh in on these bills and the American public the chance to see us work on them. So we held over 40 hearings this spring to assess our Nation's needs for the year ahead. We sought input from all of our colleagues, including requests for congressionally directed spending so Members could advocate for project they know are crucial for their States. Then we held markups with debate and amendments from Members on both sides, and we actually televised the markups for the first time ever so people could follow this debate from home.

The result is that we passed all 12 of our funding bills out of committee for the first time in 5 years, and we did it with overwhelming bipartisan support. In fact, all three of the bills that are included in the package we are now considering passed the committee unanimously.

As I detailed in my remarks yesterday, these bills provide essential investments for programs that all of our communities rely on. The MILCON-VA bill provides funding to shore up our military installations and improve quality of life for our servicemembers and to make sure that we live up to our obligation to get our veterans the care they need.

The Ag-FDA bill funds programs that are critical to making sure our food supply is safe and secure, getting families the support they need to put dinner on the table, and helping our farmers to stay ahead of global competition.

And the T-HUD bill, the third one, provides crucial investments to help keep people living in their homes, not on the streets, and to make sure we can get people and goods quickly and safely where they need to go.

I look forward to saying more about these bills and how these investments are crucial to supporting our families and growing our economy and securing our future as we continue to debate this package.

Just as importantly, I look forward to hearing from all of our colleagues during this time, as well. I hope that everyone will come to the floor to talk about these bills, what they will mean for your State, for your constituents, and what your priorities here are. And I invite all of our colleagues to talk to me and to talk to Senator Collins if you have amendments and ideas for how we can make these bills better, because Senator Collins and I are working now to clear a managers' package and set up votes.

Our staffs are still working hard on this, and we are happy to work with your teams--all of your teams--so we can pass the strongest bill possible. We have been working closely together from day one to run an open bipartisan process, to get input from all of our colleagues, and to make sure that everyone can make their constituents' voices heard.

We know our work is not done yet, but we are committed to showing the American people that this place can actually work, that Members with different viewpoints can actually come together in a timely, responsible way to get our communities the resources they need and to help people and solve problems, which is why so many of us got into politics in the first place.

The American people are watching. Let's show them we are listening. Let's pass this package and continue to get our job here done.

This summer, we produced a bipartisan roadmap to fund the government with serious bills that can actually be signed into law. I am glad that, here in the Senate, we are moving right ahead with several of these bills now. I urge our colleagues to work with us to get this done.

I yield the floor.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of S. 2795, introduced earlier today by Senators Tester and Moran.

Madam President, I ask that the bill be considered read a third time.

I know of no further debate on the bill.

I ask unanimous consent that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.