Appropriations Legislation Will Provide Our Military With The Support They Deserve
‘This week, the Senate is considering the eighth and ninth of twelve appropriations measures for FY 19. They’ll deliver on some of the most important promises we make to the American people. First and foremost is our promise to defend the nation -- and to meet our obligation to the brave men and women who do so. To ensure that if we send them into battle, they will be prepared and equipped to prevail.’
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks today on the Senate floor regarding the Senate’s continued work on appropriations:
“This week, the Senate is considering the eighth and ninth of twelve appropriations measures for FY 19. They’ll deliver on some of the most important promises we make to the American people. First and foremost is our promise to defend the nation -- and to meet our obligation to the brave men and women who do so. To ensure that if we send them into battle, they will be prepared and equipped to prevail.
“Secretary Mattis and our nation’s top military commanders have made their assessments perfectly clear. Our security and our interests are challenged every day, across the globe, by a wide array of threats, whether nation states or terrorist groups. The destabilizing influences of Iran in the Middle East, and Russia in Eastern Europe. The challenges we face on the Korean peninsula. The security of our allies and the stability of international commerce in the Pacific.
“Our leaders have outlined the threats we face and the strategies it will take to check them. But they’ve also explained how the past decade’s pattern of inconsistent and insufficient funding undermined readiness and borrowed from the future. But this Congress and this president are determined to right the ship. Earlier this year, we did away with the arbitrary spending caps that had cut our military readiness and modernization. We passed a defense bill that authorized the largest year-on-year increase in defense funding in fifteen years.
“Now, this week, we have the opportunity to follow through by appropriating the necessary resources. The defense appropriations measure before us would support American military installations at home and abroad. My fellow Kentuckians and I are more than proud to host installations like Fort Campbell, Fort Knox, and the Blue Grass Army Depot. This legislation supports the important work that goes on at those facilities -- and the communities that revolve around them.
“Each of my colleagues, I’m sure, could offer similar reports of the resources directed to military operations in their states. But whether they’re serving at sea or training with the 101st Airborne Division in Kentucky, our nation’s men and women in uniform will receive some well-deserved benefits from the legislation we’re considering today. That includes expanded access to on-base services for veterans. Billions in new funding for housing, support infrastructure, and child and health services. And the largest pay raise for our military personnel in nearly a decade.
“It’s impossible to put a price on the sacrifices warfighters -- and their families -- make in service to our nation. But it is within our power to give them the support they deserve, on behalf of a grateful nation. And that’s precisely what this legislation will do. I want to thank Sen. Shelby and Sen. Durbin, who led this bill through the subcommittee process. And I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this bipartisan measure when the time comes to pass it.”
Related Issues: Appropriations, America's Military
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