02.06.18

Our Military Deserves Stable, Sufficient Funding

‘The Senate will take up a noncontroversial measure that passed the House with a comfortable bipartisan majority. It presents an opportunity for us to unite and give our all-volunteer military a full fiscal year of reliable funding while we finalize our talks on other subjects. We should seize that opportunity, and not delay any longer in securing current-year funding for the men and women who bravely keep us safe.’

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks today on the Senate floor regarding government funding and the need to provide the necessary resources for our military: 

“We are one day closer to Thursday’s government funding deadline. I am pleased to report that our bipartisan talks are continuing to progress towards an agreement on spending caps and the important priorities all of us are eager to address.

“But as we continue these negotiations, we have the opportunity to make real progress with an immediate step that every Senator in this chamber should support: passing a fiscal year 2018 defense appropriations bill. We can vote to remove the uncertainty that is hanging over our armed forces and secure the current-year funding that our servicemembers deserve.

“Funding cuts have fallen disproportionately on our men and women in uniform. Current funding levels are not adequate to support Secretary Mattis’s new National Defense Strategy. And our military leaders have made clear that short-term continuing resolutions are hardly the optimal way for Congress to fund our warfighters.

“Senators on both sides of the aisle say they agree that our warfighters deserve sufficient, stable funding to fulfill the missions and tasks their country assigns them. Today, each of us will have the chance to back up that sentiment with our vote.

“The Senate will take up a noncontroversial measure that passed the House with a comfortable bipartisan majority. It presents an opportunity for us to unite and give our all-volunteer military a full fiscal year of reliable funding while we finalize our talks on other subjects. We should seize that opportunity, and not delay any longer in securing current-year funding for the men and women who bravely keep us safe.”

Related Issues: Appropriations, America's Military