Energy and Water, Legislative Branch, and Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Act, 2019

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. BOOZMAN. Madam President, for the first time in a long time, we are bringing appropriations bill to the floor, debating amendments, and voting on legislation.

Shortly, the Senate will be voting on the first fiscal year 2019 spending bills. I am pleased the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs and related agencies appropriations bills are part of this package.

This is a bipartisan bill that funds the critical infrastructure for our Nation's servicemembers, their families, and takes care of America's 20 million veterans. This is a good step in returning to regular order, with the Senate considering appropriations legislation in a timely fashion.

We owe thanks to Chairman Shelby and Ranking Member Leahy for providing leadership for the transparent, bipartisan process.

This bill was crafted in a truly open and collegial way. The subcommittee made thoughtful decisions about how to provide maximum readiness for the warfighter and prioritize investments to the VA so they can take care of our veterans.

We took into account the request and preferences of all Members on both sides of the aisle and balanced it with the administration's budget submission. Within this framework, we have created a thoughtful and responsible path forward for both Departments and our related agencies.

The bill provides $97.1 billion in discretionary spending, which is $5.1 billion over last year's level. Within that, the Department of Veterans Affairs has provided a new record level of resources of $86.4 billion in discretionary funding, which is $5 billion over last year's level and $1.1 billion over the President's request. These resources will provide healthcare and other important benefits earned by U.S. servicemembers.

The bill also provides $10.3 billion to support military construction and family housing needs, a $228 million increase over last year's level. This will fund a total of 169 military construction projects that restore warfighter readiness and increase the lethality of our installations.

A lot of time and energy has gone into putting this legislation together. I thank my staff, Patrick Magnuson, Jennifer Bastin, Joanne Hoff, and Carlos Elias, and, of course, Senator Schatz and his staff-- again, both groups working together in a very bipartisan manner, working hard to address the needs of our servicemembers and our veterans.

This is a good bill. It was reported out of committee without a single dissenting vote, and I hope we will have unanimous support when we vote on final passage. I ask my colleagues to support this bill.

Thank you.

With that, I yield back.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source