Floor Statements

Madam President, today I wish to call attention to the special significance of the year 2019 in our great State of Alabama. This year we celebrate the 200th anniversary of our State and my hometown, the city of Tuscaloosa.

Tuscaloosa was incorporated on December 13, 1819, which was one day before the State of Alabama was admitted to the Union. Beginning in 1826 and extending for more than two decades, Tuscaloosa was the State capital of Alabama. This period marked the historic opening of the University of Alabama, the construction of a stately capitol building, and the city's transformation as a center for education, healthcare, and industry. Strategically situated on the banks of the Black Warrior River, Tuscaloosa became a thriving hub for foundries, cotton mills, forestry, and marine commerce.

Founded in Tuscaloosa in 1831, the University of Alabama, which is the beloved alma mater of my family along with countless others, has become one of America's premier public research universities. The Capstone of education, the University serves the citizens of Alabama as well as students, faculty, and staff who come from throughout the United States and around the globe to pursue a world-class education at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. The university proudly partners with Stillman College and Shelton State Community College, as well as an abundant community of K-12 schools, to hold stature as a major center for educational excellence.

Today Tuscaloosa is recognized as one of the region's most economically prosperous cities. International corporations join homegrown industries and businesses to provide a robust climate for job creation, industrial expansion, and a quality of life that is envied and admired by one and all. Recreational amenities, cultural gems, and championship athletic teams are legendary.

On December 13, 2018, the Tuscaloosa Bicentennial Commission dedicated Bicentennial Square in Government Plaza, located in the heart of the city's burgeoning downtown district. Over the next 12 months, citizens will join together in a diverse calendar of events and programs that will educate, celebrate, and feature 2019 as a year to remember.

I share in the Record a schedule of events for ``Tuscaloosa 200,'' together with the names of the bicentennial commission members who, along with dozens of other volunteers, have devoted countless hours to planning and organizing the bicentennial commemoration, as well as the companies whose generosity made possible the extensive, yearlong celebration: dedication of Bicentennial Square at Government Plaza, December 13, 2018; ringing in Tuscaloosa 200 bicentennial fireworks, December 31, 2018, at the Tuscaloosa Amphitheatre; Tuscaloosa 200 bicentennial launch ceremony, January 31, 2019, at the Tuscaloosa RiverMarket; the Bicentennial Bash Family Activities and Music Saturday, March 30, 2019, at the Tuscaloosa Amphitheatre; ``Tuscaloosa Through Time'' history expo, April 24-27, 2019, at the Bryant Conference Center; ``Welcome Back to T-Town Celebration'' in conjunction with the Druid City Music Festival, Friday and Saturday, August 23-24, 2019; community book experience, ``the History of Tuscaloosa,'' by Dr. Guy Hubbs, September 22, 2019, Federal courthouse; and Tuscaloosa 200 birthday party and holiday parade, Friday, December 13, 2019, preceded by ``200 Voices for Tuscaloosa,'' December 12, 2019, Moody Concert Hall.

Members of the Tuscaloosa Bicentennial Commission: Lyda Black, Robert Ennis, Kari Frederickson, Sarah Elizabeth Heggem, Shelley Jones, Elizabeth McGiffert, Pam Parker, Tim Parker, Cathy Randall, Kellee Reinhart, Don Staley, and Harrison Taylor.

Bicentennial Sponsors and Donors: Presenting Sponsors--Mercedes Benz USI, Coca Cola, DCH Health System; Capital Donor--city of Tuscaloosa, the University of Alabama; Chief Tuskaloosa Donor--Tuscaloosa Tourism and Sports; Druid Oaks Donor--Harrison Family Foundation, Hunt Refining Company, Nucor Steel, Parker Towing Company, PECO Foods, Inc., Reese Phifer Memorial Foundation, Randall-Reilly, TotalCom; Black Warrior Donor--Bryant Bank, College Station Properties, Harrison Construction Company, Industrial Warehouse Services, Inc., McAbee Family Foundation, McGiffert and Associates, LLC/Price McGiffert Construction Co. Inc., Regions, Synovus, Westervelt; City Champion Donor--Cadence Bank, Chamber of Commerce of West Alabama, BF Goodrich, Jamison Money Farmer, PC, Junior League of Tuscaloosa, R.L. Zeigler Company, Inc., Tuscaloosa County Parks and Recreation, Tuscaloosa Rotary Memorial Foundation.

Madam President, just a few months ago, we stood here on the Senate floor celebrating the progress we had made together in the appropriations process, as Senator Leahy has just alluded to. I believe we are all tired of lurching from crisis to crisis amid partisan bickering. Both sides resolved then to put aside partisan differences and work together for the good of the American people, and it worked.

Together, we funded 75 percent of the government on time. While we would have preferred to have funded 100 percent, it was considerably more progress than we had made in decades. Yet we find ourselves here today more than 1 month into the longest partial shutdown of the government in American history. It is enough to give you whiplash.

Funding the remaining 25 percent of government is a task before us here today. Homeland security, border security, is the linchpin. We know that. Are our differences really as insurmountable as they seem? They should not be, and I want to discuss why.

Last May, the Appropriations Committee considered the fiscal year 2019 Homeland Security bill. That bill included money for a physical barrier at the southern border. In fact, it included an increase in funding over the 2018 level for a physical barrier.

Our Democratic colleagues made no attempt to strike this funding, just as Republicans made no effort to strike funding for Democratic priorities in the bill. The bill passed with overwhelming bipartisan support in the committee--a vote of 26 to 5. There were no fireworks or histrionics in the hearing room that day. There was no demand to delay the Homeland Security bill until the rest of the Federal Government was funded. Rather, the committee simply decided together, on a bipartisan basis, to increase funding for a project that Congress funded the previous year. The fireworks and demands for delayed consideration came later.

It boggles the mind at times how we return so quickly to a standoff mode--to a zero-sum mentality--after making so much progress together. It is particularly perplexing to me considering bipartisan support is exactly what underpinned the very thing that now divides us so bitterly.

Just a few months ago, funding for a physical barrier in the southern border was part of a bipartisan deal, and now we cannot even really discuss it. That was then. I understand that. But where do we go from here? Who is offering real solutions, comprehensive solutions to end this impasse?

The President, for his part, has proposed a serious and, I think, a reasonable compromise--a comprehensive solution. I commend him for that. He is doing what the American people expect, I think, showing a willingness to work together to find common ground.

I encourage my Democratic colleagues to reciprocate here. We have in the past. If this proposal today is unacceptable, I ask my colleagues on the other side to put something on the table that could help move us off the dime. Work with us. Propose a comprehensive solution to get us moving in the right direction. But simply saying no, demanding that we deal with border security later, is not going to cut it today.

What do we do about solving our crisis? This is a real crisis. If not now, when? When will be the time to secure the border? What good will more time or talking do?

The American people have been promised that border security will come later since the Simpson-Mazzoli amnesty in 1986. Look at where we are today--still waiting, still talking. The drug smuggling, the human trafficking, and the chaos are a real crisis. We know what must be done. It is a question of what will be done.

I say this afternoon in the Senate, let's come together. Let's put the bitterness behind us and do what is right for the American people-- end the shut-down and secure the border. The real question before us today is this: Is this the beginning of the end or is it just the end of the beginning? We shall find out.

Mr. President, I wish to start here this morning by thanking my good friend, Senator Orrin Hatch, who happens to be in the Chamber, for his more than four decades of service in the U.S. Senate. We have served together in the Senate for 32 years; he was here before then.

I remember that Senator Hatch was first elected to the Senate in 1976 when I was still serving in the Alabama State Senate. This was his first run for public office but more to come.

Senator Hatch, as we know, is the longest serving Republican Senator in U.S. history. He is one of only two sitting U.S. Senators to have served during the Presidency of Gerald Ford. He is one of only two remaining Republican U.S. Senators who served during the Presidency of Jimmy Carter.

Senator Hatch, as we all know, serves currently as the President pro tempore of the U.S. Senate--one of the highest honors in the Senate. He has chaired three Senate class A committees during his tenure in the Senate, including the Finance Committee, of which he is currently the chairman. He has chaired with distinction the Judiciary Committee and the Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions.

Some of his major accomplishments--these are just a few--include

passage of the historic progrowth, middle-class tax reform, the most significant tax reform in a generation. His accomplishments also include confirmation right here in the Senate of conservative judges to the Federal bench--hundreds and hundreds--including playing an instrumental role in the confirmation of Supreme Court Justices Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, and Brett Kavanaugh, as well as, as I said, scores, if not hundreds, of district and circuit court judges.

One of Senator Hatch's particularly noteworthy achievements, among others, on the Judiciary Committee is the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993, a bill he authored and cosponsored with the late Senator Ted Kennedy. It was landmark legislation allowing Americans to live, to work, and to worship in accordance with their beliefs.

Senator Hatch's reputation as a statesman and his record of fiscal responsibility even earned him the nickname ``Mr. Balanced Budget'' from President Reagan.

Senator Hatch is also widely known for his musical career and film appearances. He plays the violin, the piano, and the organ. Think of the talent this man has.

Senator Hatch and his wife, Elaine, have been married for more than 50 years. They have 6 children, 23 grandchildren, and many great- grandchildren. Think of a lifetime achievement, and he has, I believe, many years left.

He will be truly missed here in the Senate, and I wish him all the best in the next chapter of his life.

I yield the floor.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, I want to thank my colleagues, particularly Leaders McConnell and Schumer and Vice Chairman Leahy for their help in moving this package. The conference report before the Senate accelerates the rebuilding of America's military and provides our men and women in uniform with the largest pay increase in nearly a decade. It also increases NIH's budget by $2 billion and provides critical resources to combat the opioid epidemic. And, it contains no poison pill riders.

On the whole, the conference report tracks very closely with the Senate version of this package, which passed by a vote of 85 to 7. I hope it will receive the same level of support today and urge my colleagues to vote yes.

If this conference report is signed into law next week when the House returns, we will have funded 75 percent of the Federal Government before the end of the fiscal year. And it will be the first time in a decade that our military will not be operating under a continuing resolution at the beginning of a new fiscal year.

What a remarkable turn of events from just 6 months ago, when the entire government was funded in one omnibus spending package--6 months behind schedule.

I think it is important to give the President some credit here for the progress we are making. He has been adamant about the need to rebuild our military and fund the government in a deliberate manner. Not only do I agree with him, but I believe most Americans agree with him, and with this package we are taking an important step in that direction.

I say to my colleagues, this is the most significant step we have taken yet, but we still have work to do. This conference report contains a continuing resolution to account for the appropriations bills not yet signed into law. I want to stress that my colleagues should not read this as a sign that we have reached an impasse with the House on the remaining bills in conference. To the contrary, we are very close to an agreement on four additional bills: Interior, Financial Services, Transportation, and Agriculture. While we still have differences to resolve on each of the bills, none of them are insurmountable, in my judgement.

So we will continue to work diligently and hopefully return to the floor soon with yet another conference report in hand.

In closing, I want to thank my colleagues once again for their help on this conference report. This is a big deal. Let's keep working together to accomplish even more.

Mr. President, I want to take a few minutes and briefly explain to the Senate where we are on appropriations, where we have come from, and where we hope to go.

Thanks to the work of my colleague on the Appropriations Committee-- and many others but especially Senator Leahy--we have hung together, as the Presiding Officer knows, to make the Appropriations Committee work again. It hasn't worked by regular order in years and years. But today, if we pass this minibus dealing with Defense and HHS, that will be 74.9 percent of all appropriations money in these five bills, including the three we passed and the two we hope to pass in a few minutes. It is 75 percent, if you want to round it up, that we have pending.

As the Presiding Officer knows, we have another minibus consisting of four bills, and if we are able to move those bills, and we hope we will--dealing with the House now--that will be 87 percent of the whole appropriations.

We know that is progress, but it didn't happen by itself; it happened because people worked together. We worked to bring regular order.

Back in the spring, I talked to Senator Leahy about bringing the Appropriations Committee back to where it used to be, and he said: Let's work together to do it. The only way we can do it is to do it together. I talked to Senator McConnell, Senator Schumer, and Senator Durbin. I talked to everybody, including the Presiding Officer and everybody on our committee.

We made great progress, and I want to again thank the people-- starting with Senator Leahy, Senator McConnell, Senator Schumer, and Senator Durbin--who really helped this come about. I want to take a second to thank some of the staff of the Defense Subcommittee, headed by Brian Potts and Eric Raven, along with Senators Durbin, Blunt, and Murray, for their work on these bills that are imminent here today.

This is a good start for us. We are not there yet, but we are getting there. If we keep on the road and keep the trains running, we are going to make the Appropriations Committee work again.

Thank you very much.

Mr. President, I will try to be brief. It is getting late.

A few months ago, I came to the floor and urged my colleagues to set aside partisan disputes so that we could focus on our most basic constitutional responsibility: funding the government in a deliberate and timely manner.

Most observers deemed the prospect dubious at best. Who could blame them? Like so much in Washington, the appropriations process was broken, but at the urging of Leaders McConnell and Schumer and with the help of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle--Vice Chairman Leahy, in particular--we began to put the pieces back together.

Steadily, methodically, we passed 9 of the 12 annual appropriations bills in the Senate by overwhelming bipartisan margins. Today, I am pleased to present my colleagues with the first dividends of their cooperation.

The conference report before the Senate tonight contains the 2019 appropriations bills for Energy and Water Development, Military Construction and Veterans Affairs, and the Legislative Branch. It contains very critical funding to help transition our veterans to the new healthcare program they deserve and have earned under the VA Mission Act. It funds nearly 200 construction projects that are very important to America's military. It does a lot of other things, but I can say that this is an important package, and it is very important in what this package does not contain. It contains no poison pills--none of the partisan riders that have taken down appropriations bills in recent years in this package. As a result, the conference report looks a lot like the package that passed the Senate a few months ago by a vote of 86 to 5.

We have a long way to go, but we are getting there with this first batch of appropriations bills. I want to take a second and thank the leaders of both sides, Vice Chairman Leahy, the members of the Appropriations Committee, and all of my colleagues for their cooperation in this effort. I look forward to continuing to work together and urge you to vote for the conference report.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that I be given 2 minutes before the vote and that Senator Leahy, from Vermont, be given 2 minutes if he so desires.

Mr. President, I will be brief here. I just want to mark what we have accomplished here today and thank the many folks--Senators and staff--who made it possible.

Mr. President, 1999--nearly 20 years ago--was the last time the Senate passed nine appropriations bills by the end of August--1999. Some of us are still here. This is the milestone here today that we are about to mark with the passage of two appropriations bills and with the most moneys than in any appropriations bill.

Earlier this year, we collectively called for a return to regular order in the appropriations process because it was broken. The leaders on both sides, Senator McConnell and Senator Schumer, provided us with the opportunity to follow through. So I take a moment to thank both of them for their leadership. I believe that we, together in the Senate, are demonstrating that they made the right call.

I also recognize the vice chairman of the Appropriations Committee, Senator Leahy, for his work in this regard. I can't say enough about the importance of his role in passing appropriations bills in a bipartisan manner, because that is the only way we are going to get them done. I thank Senator Leahy, the vice chairman.

Senator Durbin, Senator Blunt, and Senator Murray also played vital roles in what we have been doing here today. Their diligence and commitment to work in a bipartisan manner have been essential in passing the bills that are currently before the Senate. I thank all of them for their work.

Last but not least, I thank my staff on the Defense Subcommittee. I thank the majority clerk, Brian Potts, and his team: Jacqui Russell, Katy Hagan, Colleen Gaydos, Mike Clementi, Chris Hall, Hanz Heinrichs, Kate Kaufer, Will Todd, Carlos Elias, and Marisa Rhode. All of them worked day and night to make this happen. Without their dedication and expertise--and they have a lot of it--we would not be in a position today to send a Defense spending bill, on time, to the President's desk. I thank them for their work.

Finally, I thank all of my colleagues here on both sides of the aisle for their

cooperation in passing these appropriations bills. I think it shows what the Senate can do when it works together, and I hope we will continue to do this. We all know it is not easy, but it works. I believe it is the right thing for the American people.

Thank you.

Mr. President, I object.

Mr. President, I just say that the Senator from Connecticut has a worthy amendment. We are all concerned about what is going on in Yemen. I would have hoped that we would not do it on this bill because we are trying to keep out a lot of riders and things, but this is something we are going to have to address.

I and others on both sides of the aisle would like to work with him because what has been going on in Yemen is atrocious. I object, though, at this point in time.

Mr. President, this afternoon, as most of us realize now, the Senate has begun debate on amendments to the fiscal year 2019 Defense-Labor-HHS appropriations bill. These are the two largest bills to come out of the Appropriations Committee as a whole. Both of them together make up a great part of all of the appropriations process and the numbers.

At the end of last week here, I offered a more detailed outline of the critical funding of this bill for America's military. So I will not repeat myself on that. Today, I simply wish to remind my colleagues of what is at stake with this legislation and our path to success, hopefully, this week.

First and foremost, our national security is at stake. Earlier this year, the President signed into law the largest increase in military spending in 15

years. This legislation accelerates that increase and provides our men and women in uniform with the largest pay raise they have seen in nearly a decade. So the No. 1 thing at stake here is rebuilding our military and taking care of our troops.

This bill also provides for a wide range of critical domestic priorities, including education, medical research, and funding to combat the opioid epidemic. All are very important to America.

Recent history suggests that we face a tall task in passing these bills on the Senate floor. The Senate has not passed a Labor-HHS appropriations bill in more than 10 years. It has been even longer since the President was able to sign a Defense appropriations bill into law before the end of the fiscal year, which ends September 30.

Why? Because in the past, poison pills have blown up the process or foreclosed it altogether. I appreciate that one Senator's poison pill is often another Senator's priority, but I strongly urge my colleagues today to focus on accomplishing the big picture priorities that I have underscored here. We know where the fault lines run, and I hope we can avoid them.

There are reasons to believe that this year will be a different year and that we will produce a different outcome. First among them, there is a unified desire to avoid another omnibus spending bill. Second, we come to the floor this week on the heels of a string of recent successes in passing appropriation bills. Third, each of the bills in this package passed the Appropriations Committee by a vote of 30-1.

These factors paved the way for the full Senate to consider this package, and I want to take a minute to thank the leaders on both sides, Senator McConnell and Senator Schumer, for agreeing to bring this bill to the floor.

I also want to thank the vice chairman of the Appropriations Committee, Senator Leahy, for sticking to the agreement he and I made to move these bills in a bipartisan manner.

Mr. Vice Chairman, you are here on the floor. We would not be in this position without your efforts. I want you to know how much I appreciate that. I want you to know how much I believe that most of the Senate appreciates that.

I say to my colleagues, we collectively call for regular order in the appropriations process, and now we have it. I am optimistic that we will continue to show the American people that we are here to work, and that means debating and disposing of amendments, passing appropriation bills, and accomplishing the job they sent us here to do.

I hope my optimism is not misplaced. The stakes are simply too high. We have a lot to do this week, but we can do it.

I yield the floor.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, I call up substitute amendment No. 3695.

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

Mr. President, today, the Senate begins debate on an appropriations package that I believe is absolutely essential to the strength and security of this Nation. The package before the Senate marries the two largest fiscal year 2019 appropriations bills; that is, the Defense bill that funds all national security and the Labor, HHS, and Education bill. Each of these bills carries the near unanimous support of the Appropriations Committee, which is quite unusual.

Senator Blunt, the chairman of the Labor, HHS, Education, and Related Agencies Subcommittee, and Senator Murray, his ranking member, worked together to produce a strong, bipartisan bill that balances many competing priorities. I commend both of these Senators for their hard work, and I want to take this time to thank them for their continued efforts in this regard. If they haven't been here yet, Senators Blunt and Murray will soon come to the floor to discuss the particulars of the Labor-HHS division of this package, so I am not going to get into the details of that bill, but as chairman of the Appropriations Defense Subcommittee, I want to provide my colleagues here this afternoon with an overview of the funding it contains for America's military.

Secretary Mattis, the Secretary of Defense, as we know--a decorated general who commands deep respect on both sides of the aisle--has warned us that ``failure to modernize our military risks leaving us with a force that could dominate the last war, but be irrelevant to tomorrow's security.'' Think about that for a minute. We cannot allow that to happen.

I think we must rebuild America's military to where it will be second to none in the world. We have to defend this Nation first and foremost. Here in the Senate this afternoon, I am pleased to report that this bill takes a big step in that direction. I will explain why.

It provides an additional $67.9 billion for overseas contingency operations. The fiscal year 2018 Defense bill, enacted earlier this year, contained the largest increase in military spending in 15 years. The bill now before us does even better by providing an additional $16 billion above the 2018 level. This funding sustains U.S. force structure and improves military readiness.

It also provides critical resources for a wide range of priorities that are essential to maintaining our technological superiority in an increasingly complex and competitive national security environment.

The bill before us includes substantial investments in the areas of basic research, hypersonics, directed energy, artificial intelligence, microelectronics, missile defense, cybersecurity, and our test and evaluation infrastructure, among many other priorities.

Just as important, the package before the Senate today provides our men

and women in uniform with the largest pay increase they have seen in nearly a decade, and they certainly deserve it. As we debate this bill over the coming days, the sacrifices of these brave men and women should be on the top of the minds of all of us. In light of their sacrifices, I believe it is our duty to ensure they are the best prepared and best equipped military in the world.

The American military is the most feared fighting force the world has ever known, and we want to keep it that way. This bill ensures that continues to be true. That is how we defend this Nation.

I thank the vice chairman at this time of the Defense Subcommittee, Senator Durbin, for his valuable input in crafting this bill. Together, I believe we have produced a balanced bill that meets the Pentagon's objectives and includes the contributions of Senators from both sides of the aisle. I am proud to present this legislation to my colleagues, and I urge their strong support.

I also want to recognize the vice chairman of the full Appropriations Committee and his work on the committee, Senator Leahy, and the leaders of both sides, including Senator McConnell and Senator Schumer.

At the outset of the appropriations cycle, the four of us met and agreed to work together in an effort to return the Senate to regular order. Since that time, the Appropriations Committee has passed all 12 bills before the July 4 recess, all with strong bipartisan margins--the first time, as the Presiding Officer knows, it has been done in 30 years.

The first minibus contained three bills and passed the Senate by a vote of 86 to 5. It is now in conference with the House. The second minibus contained four bills, two of which had not seen the light of day on the Senate floor in many years--Interior and FSGG. That package passed by a vote of 92 to 6. Hopefully, it will soon be in conference as well.

By August, the Senate had passed more appropriations bills than our counterparts in the House. That had not happened in the last 20 years. None of this would have been possible, as the Presiding Officer knows, without the partnership of Vice Chairman Leahy and the leadership of Senators McConnell and Schumer. I thank each of them once again.

Our work continues, starting now. We have a great opportunity to extend the success we have generated thus far. It has been more than a decade since the Senate passed a Labor-HHS appropriations bill, period, and it has been a dozen years since the President was able to sign a Defense appropriations bill into law before October 1. These two records, I believe, must be broken.

We must not only provide the resources necessary to rebuild our military, we must do so before the end of the fiscal year. There is no time to waste when it comes to our national security. With the confirmed cooperation of my colleagues, I am confident we will continue to get our work done in a deliberate and timely manner. I thank all Senators for working together to produce regular order in the appropriations process.

I yield the floor.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Madam President, I will be brief. I appreciate the Senator's amendment. On policy grounds, I would agree with Senator Cruz 100 percent. My position on this, though, is clear, and I have consistently voted to repeal ObamaCare and the individual mandate. So it is with reluctance that I support the motion to table this amendment. I do so, I believe, for the good of the appropriations process. We have been able to cut a path back to regular order here by working together in a bipartisan manner. This amendment, I believe, would poison this, would eliminate the bipartisan support we have forged for this package. If we go down this road, I believe we will soon find ourselves back on the path to disorder in the appropriations process. I don't believe any of us want that.

So, again, I support the motion to table this amendment not because I oppose it on policy grounds but because I want to maintain the progress we are making in the appropriations process to go to regular order.

I thank the Chair.

Madam President, I thank Senator McConnell and Senator Schumer for their kind remarks. I hope my wife was listening to that. What the heck.

We have been working together, and we have to continue that to make the process work, to reach out to each other. Gosh, it is hard work. Senator Leahy and I differ on a lot of things, but we are together on bringing regular order to the Appropriations Committee because I thought all along we owe it to the American people. We are accountable--both parties, both groups. That is what we have been about.

Thank you again to the leader and Senator Schumer for your kind remarks.

Madam President, I want to say again that what we have been doing here, working together in a bipartisan way, is something that Senator Schumer and Senator McConnell were talking about hadn't been done basically in 30 years. We are on the right track. We want to stay there. I have said many times to both parties: It is in our interests. The American people expect it. Let's keep working together.

Madam President, before we vote, I want to thank my colleagues for their cooperation in moving this package. In particular, I want to thank leaders McConnell and Schumer for bringing these bills to the floor and Vice Chairman Leahy for his continued partnership throughout the appropriations process.

I also want to congratulate the bill managers and their staffs: Senators Murkowski, Collins, Lankford, and Hoeven on the Republican side; Senators Udall, Reed, Coons and Merkley on the Democratic side. These valuable members of the Appropriations Committee produced strong and balanced bills, and they have guided an open and disciplined process here on the Senate floor.

I thank them for their excellent work.

We are now making real headway in the appropriations process.

The Committee reported all 12 fiscal year 2019 bills to the full Senate before the July 4 recess all with strong bipartisan support.

The first three bill package passed the full Senate last month by a vote of 86 to 5.

The package now before the Senate contains four additional appropriations bills.

Hopefully--we'll see here shortly--this package will achieve the same level of bipartisan support as the last.

If that holds true we will have passed seven--yes, seven-- appropriations bills before August. With only five more to go, I think we can honestly say this train has considerable momentum behind it now.

Next up is the Defense-Labor-HHS package--a package I know senators on both sides of the aisle are very eager to debate.

I hope my colleagues are encouraged by what is happening here, by what we are accomplishing together.

Moving these bills in this way is the right thing to do--not only for this institution, but for our country; for the American people.

When we take up the next package I hope we will continue to work using this framework as our guide.

It is, after all, this framework that has allowed us to return to regular order.

This process is working, let's keep it going.

Again, I thank my colleagues for their cooperation. I urge a ``yes'' vote on this bill and with that I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I rise this afternoon to urge my colleagues to invoke cloture on the substitute amendment before us.

In debating this measure over the past week, we voted on several amendments. We hope to include dozens more in a managers' package that we are working with the Democrats on that continues to evolve. We sought to achieve a fair process on this package. The bill managers have gone to great lengths to accommodate Members' interests within the framework that has allowed us to make so much progress thus far in the appropriations process.

I want to thank my colleagues. I especially thank Senator Leahy for working together with us in a bipartisan way. We hope this will continue to be a constructive process because all of us benefit. In this light, I urge my colleagues to vote yes so we can continue to move forward on this package and build upon the momentum we have generated thus far.

Mr. President, I rise to urge my colleagues to oppose the Paul amendment.

While we all understand the desire to cut spending, the allocations in this package before us are based on caps that were set in a bipartisan budget agreement signed into law earlier this year. I think we cannot go back on our word and our agreement and expect bipartisan support.

We are working longer in the Appropriations Committee. I think we are doing well at this point. We have a long way to go, but if we start loading it up, the process will fall apart.

I urge you to vote no on the Paul amendment.

Madam President, this week the Senate takes another step toward regular order in the appropriations process in the Senate.

The package before the Senate today contains the fiscal year 2019 appropriations bills for the Subcommittees on Interior; Financial Services; Agriculture; and Transportation, Housing and Urban Development. We have not debated an interior appropriations bill on the floor of the U.S. Senate in nearly 10 years.

The Financial Services appropriations bill has not seen floor action in several years either. Why? Because year after year, party-line votes in committees represented the end of the line in the legislative process. Yet here we are today debating both of these appropriations bills and more on the Senate floor.

So what changed? What changed was the mindset of appropriators on both sides of the aisle who embraced a willingness to sacrifice partisan riders and priorities outside the committee's jurisdiction for the good of the process. Together we have committed to do what is good for the process because we want to do what is right by the American people.

This approach is yielding meaningful results thus far. The Interior and Financial Services bills in this package both won the unanimous approval of the Appropriations Committee, which is generally unheard of--unanimous, Madam President. We haven't seen that level of support for these bills in quite some time around here.

The Agriculture and Transportation, Housing and Urban Development bills also garnered unanimous support of the Appropriations Committee.

I want to take a minute to commend the chairmen of these subcommittees--Senator Murkowski, Senator Collins, Senator Hoeven, and Senator Lankford--for their leadership in the process. I also, again, thank Vice Chairman Leahy and the ranking members of these subcommittees for their hard work. These Senators have worked together to produce strong and, I believe, bipartisan bills.

This broad bipartisan support paved the way for the full Senate's consideration of these bills, and I thank Leaders McConnell and Schumer for agreeing to bring this package to the floor.

As we begin debate this week, we can leverage our recent success in passing appropriations bills. Just last month, the Senate passed a package of three fiscal year 2019 appropriations bills with overwhelming support. This support was facilitated by an open amendment process and a willingness to work together to address legitimate Member concerns. As a result, the process was both open and, I believe, disciplined.

More importantly, it was successful, passing by a vote of 86 to 5-- yes, 86 to 5.

The bill managers on both sides of the aisle will seek to replicate this process and success with the package now before the Senate. We ask for the continued cooperation of all Senators in this effort.

Critical mass, that is what we are building in the Senate--critical mass for returning to regular order in the appropriations process.

By completing our work in a deliberate and timely manner on this package, we can turn next to the Defense and Labor-HHS-Education package. While completion of our work on the current package will mean we have passed more than half of the 2019 appropriations bills, the lion's share of discretionary spending, as my colleagues know, is contained in the Defense and Labor-HHS bills. That is very important to all of us here, very important to our constituents, and very important to our country.

Again, I encourage our colleagues to participate in this process and help sustain the momentum we have generated thus far. We have a lot of work to do, but we are making real progress. I hope my colleagues find this encouraging. I certainly do.

With that, I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that for the purpose of rule XVI in relation to the substitute amendment No. 3399, division A of H.R. 6147 serve as the basis for defense of germaneness for division A of the amendment; that division B of H.R. 6147 serve as the basis for defense of germaneness for division B of the amendment; that H.R. 5961, as reported by the House Appropriations Committee, serve as the basis for defense of germaneness for division C of the amendment; and that H.R. 6072, as reported by the House Appropriations Committee, serve as the basis for defense of germaneness for division D of the amendment.

Mr. President, I now call up the substitute amendment No. 3399.

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

Mr. President, before we vote this morning, I want to express my support for the appointment of conferees and my belief that this is yet another encouraging sign of a return to regular order in the appropriations process.

The package of appropriations bills that will be conferenced with the House received overwhelming bipartisan support in the Senate. This broad agreement was facilitated by a concerted effort by both parties to prevent partisan riders from poisoning the well. Thus far, we have been able to translate bipartisan cooperation among members of the Appropriations Committee into success on the Senate floor.

At this time, I want to recognize and to commend the continued efforts of the committee members in the process, especially the Republican and Democratic managers of this package. In particular, I want to thank Vice Chairman Leahy for his strong partnership in this effort and Senator Alexander, who is here on the floor, who has guided this process and will chair the conference committee.

We will continue to consolidate critical mass for a return to regular order, but we still have a long way to go. This is another step in the right direction. Senator Alexander, Vice Chairman Leahy, and I will have a strong slate of conferees joining us. On the Republican side, it will be Senators Boozman, Daines, and Lankford. On the Democratic side, it will be Senators Feinstein, Schatz, and Murphy.

Our objective will be to build upon the momentum we have generated in the Senate by urging the same type of bipartisan cooperation in the conference. We will aim to return to the Senate floor--hopefully, sooner than later--with a conference report that reflects bipartisan agreement and merits the support of our colleagues.

It is, I believe, the right thing to do for the American people. Whatever partisan fights may ensue in the coming weeks, I believe the appropriations process should not suffer those wounds, and we should continue our hope and work. Thus far, it has been immune from such a fate. It is my hope that we can continue on that path. That will be our goal in this conference committee. I hope others will join us.

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.