National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017

Floor Speech

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Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I move to disagree in the amendment of the House, agree to the request from the House for a conference, and appoint the following conferees: Senators McCain, Inhofe, Sessions, Wicker, Ayotte, Fischer, Cotton, Rounds, Ernst, Tillis, Sullivan, Lee, Graham, Cruz, Reed, Nelson, McCaskill, Manchin, Shaheen, Gillibrand, Blumenthal, Donnelly, Hirono, Kaine, King, and Heinrich. Cloture Motion

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Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I understand there are four bills at the desk due for a second reading.
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Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, it is hard to understand why our Democratic friends continue to filibuster the funding needed to fight Zika.

We have already shown the reality behind various claims and half- truths about the compromise anti-Zika conference report: the idea that it would underfund Zika; the idea that it would prohibit funding for or deny access to birth control; the idea that it would actually weaken clean water protections; the idea that its offsets don't have any bipartisan support; the idea that it would cut funding for veterans. We have shown that all of these claims just don't stand up to scrutiny.

Despite all this, Democrats now say they will only accept the Zika bill if it limits health care funding in the territories that need it most, drops critical funding for our veterans, and even restricts the ability to kill mosquitos. That is apparently their position. My friend the Democratic leader warns that these mosquitos are ``vicious,'' ``awful,'' and ``ravaging.'' He is just not all that interested in killing them.

So I would like to echo the words of the senior Senator from Texas, who said that our Democratic colleagues seem to be operating in a ``logic-free zone'' when it comes to Zika. It is time to get back to reality. This is a serious crisis that demands serious solutions. It is time for our friends to start worrying less about pleasing outside political groups and start worrying more about actually helping the Americans who are counting on all of us.

We have a conference report. It is before us. It contains the exact level of funding to fight Zika that Democrats already agreed to--$1.1 billion. It includes more health care funding than the bill that originally passed the Senate. It does not prohibit funding for or deny access to birth control. It contains bipartisan offsets that move money from lower priorities to higher priorities. It contains temporary but meaningful reforms that actually allow us to fight mosquitoes in an effective way. It also honors our veterans with record levels of funding.

This compromise conference report offers the only way to get this done now. The only way to achieve the outcome is to pass this conference report now. We could pass it today.

I am urging our colleagues to please look within themselves and make the right decision. Otherwise, what will they say to pregnant mothers this summer? What will they say to our veterans the rest of the summer?

I hope our friends will think about what they will say to our Active- Duty troops as well. As every colleague knows, there are two types of bills necessary to fund our military. First is the Defense authorization bill, which authorizes the many things our military needs. Democrats voted with us to pass that important bill last month. Second is the Defense appropriations bill, which actually funds the things the Defense authorization bill authorizes. That is the bill Democrats have been filibustering since last week. In other words, Democrats are happy to make promises to our men and women in uniform with the Defense authorization bill, but they are not prepared to keep those promises by actually passing the Defense appropriations bill.

Both the current and incoming Democratic leaders essentially just made this point themselves. Here is what the senior Democrat from New York said just yesterday:

[A bill] without actual appropriations . . . is like a Hollywood movie set: Something that appears real on the surface but has no substance and no life behind its false facade.

Here is what my friend the Democratic leader said:

Authorizing legislation is a start, but without resources, it's very, very meaningless.

Very, very meaningless. A false facade. Harsh words from Democrats about their own actions on defense funding.

In an attempt to make a misleading political point about the CARA bill--a point that doesn't hold water, of course--these Democratic leaders inadvertently stepped on their own party's message for opposing the funding bill our military needs. If they really believe what they said to be true, then why are Senate Democrats blocking the Defense appropriations bill when they talk about how important it is to actually provide ``real funding''? This is a defense funding bill that the top Democrat on the Defense Subcommittee called ``a responsible approach to protecting our country.'' It is a bill that every single Democrat and every single Republican supported in the Appropriations Committee. It also respects the budget caps in place. It is the epitome of regular order--the epitome of regular order. Senate Democrats may try to spin their actions now, but it all boils down to one thing: This is just a partisan game.

At a time when we face an array of daunting challenges around the globe, it is imperative that the Senate take the next steps today to provide the resources and training our servicemembers need.

The CIA Director recently said he would be surprised if ISIL isn't trying to carry out an attack in the United States like the one we saw recently in Istanbul. And we are continuing to see terrorism hit home in Orlando and San Bernardino and across the world in places like Bangladesh and Baghdad and Saudi Arabia. These factors only underscore the importance of taking up and passing this defense funding bill as soon as possible. They also underscore the importance of our Commander in Chief finally leading a campaign to defeat ISIL, which is the only way to end ISIL-directed and ISIL-inspired terrorism once and for all.

It is clear that preventing future attacks inside our borders requires defeating ISIL where it exists--beyond our borders. Passing this defense funding bill is crucial to achieving that goal, just as it is crucial to fulfilling the commitment that President Obama made last week regarding the 8,400 troops who will remain in Afghanistan through the end of his administration. The President's statement represents another glaring example of why the Senate must pass this Defense appropriations measure. It is what is needed to fund the training to prepare forces for deployment to Afghanistan and the weapons they will carry and the spare parts and fuel consumed in training and operations and the ammunition they will need to execute their missions. It also includes resources to fund basic pay, deliver necessary medical services, and support quality-of-life programs that military families count on. The President has made a commitment to our allies, and we must meet our commitment to the force.

Our men and women in uniform courageously put themselves in harm's way to help keep our country safe. They do so willingly. They do so voluntarily. They don't ask for much in return, and they never ever forsake their commitment. Senators shouldn't forsake their commitment, either.

Today, our Democratic colleagues will have the opportunity to join us in meeting the first part of that commitment by voting to go to conference on the Defense authorization bill. Then they will have the opportunity to join us in meeting the second part of that commitment by voting to end their filibuster of the defense funding bill so we can pass it.

America's men and women in uniform don't need ``false facades'' or ``very, very meaningless'' gestures from our Democratic colleagues. They need Democrats to put politics aside and join us in advancing a strong Defense authorization bill and a strong Defense appropriations bill because our servicemembers and our national security depend on both of these bills.

Despite Senate Democrats' efforts to put partisan politics before pressing issues like national security and Zika, the Republican-led Senate is working hard to advance solutions for the American people.

One newspaper recently declared that the Senate ``has settled into a new normal'' under Republican leadership, ``passing bills at [a] rate not seen in decades.'' That is good news for the American people, and here is why.

The new normal includes more than 225 bills that have been passed, along with more than 140 bills that have become law, and I am not just talking about bills from Republicans but bills from Democrats as well. For instance, the senior Senator from Delaware who has seen four of his bills become law; for instance, the senior Senator from California who has seen three become law; and, for instance, our Democratic colleagues from Rhode Island and Minnesota who saw the CARA bill they worked on with Republican Senators like Senator Portman, Senator Ayotte, and Senator Grassley pass yesterday.

CARA is a comprehensive legislative response to the prescription opioid and heroin epidemic that is ravaging our country. Legislation to address this epidemic languished under a previous Judiciary chairman, but Senator Grassley worked to change that. He made it a priority, and he moved it swiftly. CARA wouldn't have been possible without him, just as it wouldn't have been possible without Members like Portman and Ayotte, who have worked to drive this bill forward every step of the way. I would also like to thank Senator Alexander for his work in the conference committee to secure a strong final bill. The bill we passed will help protect Americans from addiction and overdose, and we expect the President to sign it into law soon.

Here is another important bill we passed yesterday and also expect the President to sign into law soon. It is the most comprehensive aviation security reform legislation in a decade, and it contains significant consumer protections for airline passengers as well. This important bill will help protect Americans at our airports and in our skies, and it would not have been possible without the good work of Senator Thune, who worked with Senator Nelson to guide it through to passage.

In just the past week or so, we saw the crisis in Puerto Rico, and we responded with responsible legislation designed to prevent a taxpayer bailout and at the same time help the Puerto Rican people.

We saw the threat of rising food prices for middle-class families, and we responded with science-based legislation designed to prevent confusing and costly laws in one State from raising grocery bills in another.

While Senate Democrats are now trying to make it impossible to get the basic work of government accomplished with some filibuster summer sequel, we have been able to make progress there too. The full Appropriations Committee has approved all 12 funding bills--at a record early time and with broad bipartisan support--many of them with unanimous backing from both sides. The full Senate has passed some on the floor, and if our Democratic friends would work with us, we could pass the others as well.

The Republican-led Senate set out to give these appropriations bills ample amount of floor time for Senators to debate the measures so more of the American people could be represented in the lawmaking process, and that is what we have done.

The Republican-led Senate set out to give colleagues from both sides more of a voice, allowing amendments and bills from both sides because better process leads to better results for the American people, and that is what we have done. We did so because this Republican majority is following through on what we set out to do from the beginning: open up the legislative process, get committees up and running again, empower Members from both sides, find areas of common ground, and advance legislation that can make a difference for people all across our country.

Just because Democrats are again reverting to their dysfunctional ways because they believe it suits them politically, it doesn't change the reality that we have made significant progress in restoring the Senate to significantly better health.

We have clearly put the Senate back to work too. There are so many other measures we have passed besides those I have mentioned already: groundbreaking reforms in education and in transportation, permanent tax relief for families and small businesses, trading more of Washington's annual patches and punts for real solutions. All of these good ideas and so many more are now law, which benefit the people we represent.

We have gotten so much done already, but there is much more we can do, as long as our Democratic colleagues aren't determined to obstruct for its own sake. I think many on the other side have much to ponder over this upcoming State work period. Think about Zika, my Democratic colleagues. Think about veterans over the summer. Think about our men and women in uniform. Then they will have to decide, do they want to continue with these partisan games on critical issues like Zika and National Defense or do they want to work with us to keep making progress for our country.

We will certainly give them more opportunities to make progress on appropriations. We will certainly give them opportunities to make progress on important issues like Energy and Defense. Even if Democratic leaders might prefer dysfunction and partisan games, Members from both sides know the Republican-led Senate has given them more of an opportunity to move legislation and their constituents more of a voice.

Let me say that again. This Republican-led Senate has given all Senators more of an opportunity to move legislation; thereby, giving their constituents more of a voice.

With continued hard work and cooperation from our friends across the aisle, we can continue to add to that record of achievement for the people, the American people all across our country. After all, isn't that what they sent us here for? Recognition of the Minority Leader
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