Senate Legislative Agenda

Floor Speech

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Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, on a different matter, as I stated, the Senate will not adjourn this week until we have voted on legislation to deliver long, overdue relief funding for communities that have been hit hard by natural disasters.

None of my colleagues need to hear me recite yet again why action in this area is such an important priority and why it is so urgently needed. It is a shame that this overdue subject has been allowed to languish for so long due to extraneous questions and, frankly, partisan small-ball.

Wildfire victims in the Western States don't want to hear about House Democrats' various disagreements with the White House on a variety of issues. They simply want the relief they need and have been waiting for.

The same goes for the flooded Midwest, the hurricane-ravaged Southeast, and the Kentuckians I myself represent. They don't want to hear about more Washington difficulties. They want an outcome.

And, of course, everyone is well aware that we have an ongoing humanitarian crisis on our southern border and that our Federal Government needs more resources to deal with it. Even the New York Times editorial board wrote a few weeks ago:

As resources are strained and the system buckles, the misery grows. Something needs to be done. Soon.

That is the New York Times.

The editorial went on:

[T]he program that deals with unaccompanied minors is expected to run dry next month. . . . Democrats need to find a way to provide money for adequate shelter.

That is the New York Times.

And here was the title of the editorial, believe it or not: ``Congress, Give Trump His Border Money.'' That is in the New York Times.

So on all these matters, it is past time--way past time to bring these negotiations to a close.

I thank Chairman Shelby and all of our colleagues whose leadership has brought a bipartisan and bicameral solution this close to the finish line--this close. I implore our counterparts in the House and my colleagues in this Chamber to quickly resolve the last few issues and produce compromise legislation today. We need to do this today because, one way or another, the Senate is not leaving without taking action. We are going to vote this week, and I sincerely hope we will be voting on a bicameral and bipartisan, negotiated solution that could become law for the American people.

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