Department of Defense and Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations Act, 2019--Conference Report

Floor Speech

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Mr. MORAN. Mr. President, I want to speak on the appropriations process. I am pleased we are moving forward, and in a few short minutes we will have a couple of additional votes in regard to appropriations bills.

I want to acknowledge the recent success we have had in moving our appropriations process forward. One would think we would easily be able to meet our legislative mandate. The law says we should pass a budget by April 15 of every year and then follow that with 12 appropriations bills that fill in the spaces in that budget. That turned out to be much more complicated, difficult, and politically challenging than I would have hoped.

As a member of the Appropriations Committee, I want this to work, but as a representative of taxpayers in Kansas and across the country, I need the appropriations process to work. It is the place we establish priorities. Spend more money here, less money here, no money here-- those are important decisions that need to be made every year. It is also the opportunity we have to send messages and directives to the administration. By the administration, I mean Cabinet Secretaries, Bureau Chiefs, and Agency heads.

The power of the purse string is an important tool for Congress under article I of the U.S. Constitution to direct how taxpayer dollars are spent in the United States. It is a cause of mine to see that the appropriations process works so we can establish those priorities but also so we can have input into any administration's intentions to establish rules and regulations, develop new policies. The power of the purse string should be exhibited by Congress in a way that allows us, on behalf of the citizens of this country, to have input into what goes on in any administration.

We are doing much better than we have been for a long time. This has been a year of success. The Senate Appropriations Committee has passed all 12 bills from the Appropriations Committee, and we will today pass several more on the Senate floor. The goal would be, in my view should be, that we complete all 12 bills hopefully before the end of the fiscal year, which ends on September 30, but more likely between now and the end of November or early December.

We have had significant guidance certainly from the majority and minority leaders of the U.S. Senate, but especially with the help of Richard Shelby, the chairman of the Appropriations Committee, and the vice chairman of the Appropriations Committee, the Senator from Vermont, Mr. Leahy, in avoiding the usual contentious issues in our appropriations bills that then cause this deadlock to occur with no result, no capability of moving appropriations bills. Way too often, the end result has been what be we call a CR, a continuing resolution, that funds the Federal Government next year at the same level as it does last year, as it was funded in the previous year, or ultimately it can end up in an omnibus spending bill in which all the spending is combined. The opportunity for us as members of the Appropriations Committee but equally or more importantly Members of the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives to have input into those spending items is greatly diminished, and the amount of knowledge of what one can have about what is in that appropriations bill when it covers everything and results in trillions of dollars of spending is pretty limited.

The President was correct in his admonition, his desire, to see that we get spending bills done and avoid another Omnibus appropriations bill. I want to thank both sets of leadership--the full Senate leadership and the Appropriations Committee leadership--for their efforts to get us back to what we around here call regular order, and I am pleased to see we are moving solidly in that direction.

I applaud these developments, but I continue to believe that all 12 appropriations bills should continue to be worked on and should be pursued toward a final conclusion between now and the end of the fiscal year or certainly between now and December 7, a date that is established in the legislation we are soon to vote on.

We should not simply kick the can. That proverbial can has been kicked down a long road for a long time, and those 12 appropriations measures should be completed. We should work quickly among ourselves, with a sense of cooperation and for a desired outcome, to see that our work is done. Commerce, Justice, and Science Appropriations

Mr. President, of those 12 appropriations bills, I have the privilege of working with the Senator from New Hampshire, Mrs. Shaheen, the vice chairman of that committee. I serve as the chairman of the subcommittee called CJS. Again in our words, the C, J, and S stand for Commerce, Justice, and Science. We are on the floor today--in particular, Senator Shaheen and I--to encourage that bill not be left behind and that it, too, be considered on the Senate floor as it has come out of the Appropriations Committee on a vote of 30 to 1. I suppose you can say it could be slightly more unanimous than that if it had been 31 to 0, but there is broad support--Republicans and Democrats--for the legislation we have crafted that deals with very important issues for the citizens of our Nation.

I want to make certain the message is delivered that we stand ready to work with our House colleagues and with the administration to see that the Commerce-Justice-Science bill ultimately passes the Senate and the House and is signed into law by the President.

In particular, I also would raise four bills that have been packaged together after having had their approval by the U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations. There are four subcommittee bills that are awaiting final resolution. It sounds like, from everything I can understand, with a modest level of cooperation, those bills could also be completed, and those bills are: Interior, Transportation, Financial Services, and Agriculture. Again, without exception, all of them are important to Kansans and important to the country.

We have come extremely far, and we are so close. Please do not let this process get bogged down and prevent those four bills from being considered and also the legislation Senator Shaheen and I are here to support, the Commerce-Justice-Science bill.

I do recognize, within our bill, there are contentious issues. We worked together--Senator Shaheen and I--to resolve those differences. We have worked with our Republican and Democratic colleagues on our subcommittee and on the full committee to reach a resolution that was satisfactory broadly--again, a 30-to-1 vote.

It is important, having come this far, that we don't stop now, and we are here to again express our willingness to work in every way possible with House colleagues to make certain these bills are fully considered and passed.

These bills are important. They are important for what, in our case, CJS includes. As we look at crime statistics today in this country, one would think we would be focused on what resources our law enforcement officials need, and CJS--the J stands for justice--funds law enforcement and funds the Federal aspect of enforcement of our laws in this country, and this funding is the partnership that works with local and State law enforcement officials to combat increasing crime.

This bill involves national security in so many ways, and economic development is so important, particularly to a State like mine, which is rural. While the national statistics suggest that the economy is increasing and that job growth is occurring, it is less likely to see that in my home State of Kansas. We need to make certain that we devote the necessary attention and resources toward job creation and so-called economic development.

Scientific research and space exploration are awfully important and are included in the appropriate way at an appropriate level, and, certainly, there is an agreed-upon level of funding in support of those programs.

In light of this administration's aggressive trade agenda, the CJS bill provides increased funding for several of the Federal agencies involved in promoting U.S. trade and our products abroad and in enforcing trade. As we engage in the trade policies that we are currently engaged in, we ought to be doing everything we can to export around the world, and the CJS appropriations bill highlights and prioritizes that.

Our subcommittee, in fact, has held two hearings recently, one with Ambassador Lighthizer and then one with the agencies within the Department of Commerce that are responsible for trade issues.

Whether or not you agree with this administration's use of tariffs and its general direction on trade, I would think, perhaps without exception, my colleagues would agree that resources are needed to help to implement a transparent and expeditious exclusion process for U.S. stakeholders--our businesses here in the United States--to ensure that they are not unfairly impacted by retaliatory actions.

The CJS bill includes important funding which allows businesses, manufacturers, and farmers to continue exporting, promoting, and procuring their products abroad.

Additionally, one would think that at this point in time, it is probably nothing that we think about easily, but if we think about the point in time where we are in the calendar, the census is approaching in 2020, the decennial census. The Census Bureau is entering a critical stage of development, and as it prepares for the 2020 census, the funding in this bill--the CJS bill for fiscal year 2019--allows the census to prepare to execute its constitutional responsibilities.

Data from the census is so important. It needs to be accurate and correct because it facilitates the distribution, for example, of billions in Federal funding for grants supporting States, counties, and municipalities determined upon the population of those communities.

Congressional reapportionment will occur using that census data. There are so many reasons that we want to make certain the dollars and the resources are available, and this bill addresses those priorities.

Furthermore, the Senate CJS bill maintains strong support for science and innovation by crafting a balanced space program within NASA, and it contains increased funding for the National Science Foundation and for NOAA.

The Senate CJS bill includes funding for the NOAA satellite and data imagery programs, which support the National Weather Service's ability to timely issue warnings in advance of severe weather. It is demonstrated by the agency's continued response to Hurricane Florence's assault on the Carolinas and severe flooding throughout the east coast.

This data and information accumulated and distributed by NOAA helps to keep Americans safe. It also provides valuable information to members of our ag community at home, where we experience the opposite of floods--droughts--and other intense storms.

The bill supports Federal law enforcement, as I indicated, providing grant funding for State and local and Tribal enforcement and other governmental entities--all to protect the citizens of their community.

We have had a transparent product and have worked in a bipartisan manner to accommodate Members' priorities that address the needs of the Nation and the needs of our constituents at home.

I again urge the Senate not to walk away from this opportunity to complete its work, to establish priorities, and to give directions to those agencies within the jurisdiction of this appropriations bill.

I hope we will consider CJS on the floor quickly and send a final product to the President.

I am going to yield the floor in just a moment to the vice chairman of our subcommittee, but let me take this opportunity to express my gratitude to her, Senator Shaheen from New Hampshire. She and I only knew each other tangentially before I arrived as the new chairman of the subcommittee a few months earlier this year, and I want to compliment her and express my gratitude for the manner in which she has treated me and the respect that we have developed, in my view, for each other and our constituencies and our work. We bring ideas to the table, we sort them out, and we work hard to accomplish an end result. I don't think any of us came to the Senate for the purpose of just having our name on the door or perhaps a nice office. We came here to accomplish good work on behalf of the American people. This appropriations bill is an example of that. It needs to be concluded, and it would only be in the position that it is because of the character, the abilities, the intellect, and the capabilities of my colleague from New Hampshire, Senator Shaheen.

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