Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2016

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, let me give everyone the state of play.

First, I will be offering a consent request to set the continuing resolution votes at 10 o'clock.

Having said that, I ask unanimous consent that not withstanding the provisions of rule XXII, at 10 p.m., the Senate vote on the cloture motion with respect to the House message to accompany H.R. 2028. I further ask that if cloture is invoked, all time postcloture be considered expired and Senator McCain or his designee be recognized to offer a budget point of order, and that if the point of order is raised, the motion to waive be considered made and the Senate vote on the motion to waive without any intervening action or debate. I further ask that if the motion to waive is agreed to, the motion to concur with further amendment then be withdrawn and the Senate vote on the motion to concur in the House amendment.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, let me explain before my colleague, the Democratic leader, addresses the matter. What this does is set up votes in connection with the CR at 10 p.m., but then I want everybody to understand that if we can't get an agreement to move the WRDA votes up to that series of votes, they will occur 3 hours later, at 1 a.m.

Failure to consent to including WRDA will only delay the Senate until 1 a.m. in the morning.
Let me go over that again. At the moment, I understand there is an objection to adding the WRDA votes to the stack that we just agreed to.

So without consent, we will be here another 3 hours or so, voting at 1 a.m. Everybody should understand we are going to finish all of these votes tonight, and that is the schedule for the rest of the evening.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

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 Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, the day after the election I said that we had two main priorities for this postelection session of the Senate: Pass the 21st Century Cures bill and fund the government.

We passed the Cures bill already, and we will be voting shortly to keep the government running. Soon after that vote, we will pass the bipartisan water resources bill, which directs assistance to families in Flint and supports important waterways projects in nearly every one of our States. It is testament to the hard work of so many and Chairman Inhofe, in particular.

Under the leadership of Chairman McCain, this week we also passed the Defense authorization conference report, which addresses many of the national security challenges facing our country. I would also like to point out that the Cures bill, which passed earlier this week, simply would not have happened without Chairman Lamar Alexander. And it is impossible to overlook the unending, unyielding work of Senator Murkowski on the Energy bill, as well, or our indispensable Finance Committee chairman, Senator Hatch, who has been involved in almost every bill from the doc fix to the tax extenders that come through this Chamber.

I would like to note the great work of the Appropriations Committee, specifically for its efforts to ensure that individual bills and an omnibus were prepared for consideration. We know they have been putting in long hours, especially this week, and for that we are certainly thankful.

This Congress, the Senate has passed nearly 300 bills, and nearly 200 of those are now law. But what really matters isn't the number of bills passed; it is what we can achieve on behalf of the American people, and by that standard, I am incredibly proud of what we have been able to accomplish for our country.

Over the past week I have had the opportunity to pay tribute to many colleagues who have made such a lasting impact on the Senate during their tenure. But as the 114th Congress comes to a close, I would like to take a moment to recognize another set of individuals whose work makes the business of the Senate possible in the first place.

It goes without saying that keeping the Capitol running is a vast undertaking. It requires a passion for service, round-the-clock work, and great sacrifice by everyone employed. The legislative process simply wouldn't be possible without the dedicated work of so many. On behalf of the Senate, I would like to acknowledge their efforts and say thank you to the following:

To my leadership team for their wise counsel; to our committee chairs
and ranking members for so much great work over the past 2 years; to the many, many colleagues in both parties for working so hard to make this Senate a success; and, to those we are saying farewell to-- Senators Coats, Boxer, Mikulski, Reid, Vitter, Kirk, and Ayotte--for your service to our country, I say thank you.

To my chiefs of staff, Sharon Soderstrom and Brian McGuire, for their indisputable talent and for leading a team that is second to none, every member of which I would thank individually if I could, I say thank you.
To the floor staff, Laura Dove and Gary Myrick and their teams, for keeping the floor running, for running it smoothly, and for making it look effortless every single time--even though we know it is anything but; to the Parliamentarians and clerks who sit on the dais whenever the Senate is in session, making sure our operations are smooth and by the book; to the Secretary of the Senate and her team for protecting the rich history of this body and for overseeing so many different legislative and administrative operations, I say thank you to all of these folks.

Off the Senate floor there are so many more to thank too: the Capitol Police, for putting themselves in harm's way to protect everyone who works in or visits this institution; the Sergeant at Arms staff for overseeing a dizzying range of efforts--from setting up rooms and enacting security protocols to preparing for next year's inauguration; the Architect of the Capitol staff, which is always hard at work making the Capitol the best it can be--from the conservation of these illustrious hallways to the extensive restoration of the Capitol dome; and to literally countless others: the doorkeepers, the legal counsels, the committees and their staff, the pages, and all those whom I have not mentioned, we appreciate what you do. Please know that your service and your dedication does not go unnoticed.

Let me also again recognize the Democratic leader for his more than three decades of service. As I said yesterday, Harry and I clearly have had some different views on many things throughout the years, but we have shared similar responsibilities as the leaders of our respective parties, and I think we can both agree that none of this would have been possible without the support of our staff. I want to recognize Harry's team, past and present, and thank them for many years of partnership with my office.

We now turn the page on one Congress and get ready to write a new story in a different one.

I am proud of the work this Republican-led Senate has done the past 2 years. My colleagues should be proud of their work as well. It has been incredible to see what we have been able to achieve already. We know our work doesn't end here, though, and I know each of us is eager to get started in the 115th Congress. For now, I want to thank my colleagues for a productive Congress, and I want to wish each of you a happy holiday season and a happy New Year.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source