Thune: Back to Regular Order

“[D]espite their recent actions, I know that a number of my Democrat colleagues do share Republicans’ interest in seeing regular order restored. Well, now it’s time to act like it.”

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WASHINGTON — U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) today delivered the following remarks on the Senate floor:

Thune’s remarks below (as delivered):

“Mr. President, I’ve spoken a lot over the years about the need for a strong military.

“I believe that keeping America at the cutting edge of military capabilities is one of the most important responsibilities we have in Congress.

“And I often say that, if we don’t get national security right, the rest is conversation.

“Mr. President, the need for a strong national defense has been put into stark relief over the last few years as the world has grown more dangerous – and as we’ve seen serious gaps in our own preparedness.

“And after four years of underinvestment during the Biden administration, Republicans made it clear that we would work to put our military back on the right track by investing in modernization to ensure our military is ready for today’s threats – and tomorrow’s.

“And we’ve followed through on that promise since taking office at the beginning of this year.

“That began with a major investment in our military capabilities in the One Big Beautiful Bill.

“We also prioritized passing the Senate’s National Defense Authorization Act, which includes significant reforms to weapons-buying as well as more than 100 amendments adopted through regular order on the Senate floor.

“And this week, we continue those efforts with the defense appropriations bill, which will provide the resources to continue our mission of rebuilding our military capabilities.

“Mr. President, that starts with the men and women serving in uniform.

“This bill funds a 3.8 percent pay raise for our troops, and it supports military members and their families with investments in housing, child care, and education for military families.

“It also funds bonuses that will hopefully help to ensure that we can sustain the record-setting recruitment success we’ve had this year – a complete turnaround, I might add, from the recruitment challenges of the not-so-distant past.

“Mr. President, the defense funding bill makes critical investments that will help ensure our service members have the military capabilities that they need to meet the challenges of the 21st century.

“And that includes funding shipbuilding efforts and expanding our Air Force fleet.

“Accelerating delivery of the Golden Dome for America.

“And investing in munitions, drones, and emerging technologies.

“I do want to emphasize though that while this bill – and the One Big Beautiful Bill – make important investments in rebuilding our military, this can’t be a one-time exercise.

“These are the types of investments that we will need to sustain in the coming years if we want our enemies to think twice before attacking us.

“Mr. President, I appreciate the work that our colleagues have done to produce a robust funding bill.

“This bill reflects the priorities and input of a lot of senators, and it’s garnered significant bipartisan support – coming out of the Appropriations Committee by a vote of 26 to 3.

“And, Mr. President, it’s not the only one.

“The Appropriations Committee – under the leadership of Chair Collins – has advanced a number of bipartisan full-year funding bills.

“We’ve already brought three of those bills to the floor under an open process.

“We passed them in August – the earliest the Senate has passed appropriations bills since 2018.

“And that package was signed into law last week.

“That’s how, Mr. President, the appropriations process is supposed to work.

“Unfortunately, that’s not how it was working the last few years under the Democrat majority.

“So, when I became majority leader, I made it clear that I wanted to get back to regular order.

“And, as I said, we were making progress on that this year.

“That is, until Democrats needlessly chose to shut down the government.

“Before the shutdown, we were getting ready to bring the defense funding bill to the floor.

“We just needed a few more weeks under a continuing resolution so we could finish our work.

“But Democrats took advantage of the situation for leverage, and they kept the government shut down – and appropriations work halted – for 43 days.

“Mr. President, despite their recent actions, I know that a number of my Democrat colleagues do share Republicans’ interest in seeing regular order restored.

“Well, now it’s time to act like it.

“As I said before, during, and now after the shutdown, this is our chance for regular order.

“We don’t have time to waste.

“We’ve already wasted a lot of time on a completely avoidable government shutdown.

“So, Mr. President, let’s get to work.”