vote:

vote:

the presiding officer: are there any senators in the chamber wishing to change their votes? if not, the ayes are 89, the nays are 11, and the motion is agreed to. under the previous order, h. con. res. 121 and h. con. res. 123 are considered

and agreed to en bloc and the motions to reconsider are considered made and laid upon the table en bloc. the republican leader. mr. mcconnell: could we have attention the attention of the senate. the presiding officer: the senate will be in order. mr. mcconnell: i want to take just a moment to speak on something that is an overwhelming bipartisan desire to achieve and this is to finish tonight. and there's no good reason not to. we're working to clear an agreement on our side to process the c.r./omnibus, the extenders bill, and tria tonight. tonight. and as for right now, i can tell you we're prepared to go forward on the extenders bill and therefore i would ask unanimous consent at the time determined by the majority leader after consultation with the republican leader, the senate proceed to consideration of h.r. 5771, the tax increase

prevention act, that there be up to one hour of debate equally divided between the two leaders or their designees prior to the vote on passage of the bill, further that the vote on passage be subject to a 60-vote affirmative threshold. the presiding officer:le the majority leader. mr. reid: reserving the right to object. madam president, we've had bipartisan conversations about having more than a one-year extension of this tax, the tax extenders. bipartisan conversations about moving to a two-year bill or maybe do what we did here in the senate and pass the extend bill. so i respect my friend who's trying to get us out of here as quickly as possible but we have to have a path forward to make sure that we understand what's happening with the extenders. you mentioned tria, we also have some problems with that so i believe we need a path forward on the omnibus, a way forward on the nominations, before we

start dealing whether it should be a two-year extension or one-year extension and what amendments if any would we have on tria. so i object. the presiding officer: objection is heard. mr. mcconnell: i'd briefly make the point we're very close to being cleared on this side to finish up and i want everybody to understand that it's possible to finish tonight and very shortly we'll be able to announce that there are no impediments towards getting to that goal on our side of the aisle. i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: finish what? we have the omnibus we have to do, we have to do the tax extenders, we have to do tria and we have some nominations that we have an obligation to the american people to do. we're not going to finish tonight. we can finish the omnibus tonight but we're not finishing tonight. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the senate will proceed to executive session to consider the following

nominations which the clerk will report. the clerk: nominations, department of state, mark gilbert of florida to be ambassador to new zealand, an -- and independent state of somewhat mowa. robert c. barber of massachusetts to be ambassador to the republic of iceland. david nathan saperstein of district of columbia to be ambassador at large for international religious freedom. amy jail highlight of california to be ambassador to the republic of law. arnold a. chacon to be director general of the foreign service. virginia e. paymenter to be ambassador to the republic of malawi. donald l. heflin of virginia would be ambassador to the republic of cabo verde. broadcasting board of governors -- michael w. kempner of new jersey to be a member, leon aron of virginia to be a member.

the presiding officer: their two minutes of debate equally divided prior to a vote on the gilbert nomination. all time is yielded back. on all nominations. the question is on the gilbert nomination. all in favor say aye. all opposed, no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the nomination is confirmed. the question is on the barber nomination. all in favor say aye. all opposed, nay. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the nomination is confirmed. the question is on the saperstein nomination. is there a sufficient second?

there appears to be. the clerk will call the roll. vote:

vote:

vote:

the presiding officer: have all senators in the chamber voted? does any senator wish to change his or her vote? if not, then the ayes are 61. the nays are 36. and the nomination is agreed to. confirmed. the question is on the hyatt nomination. all in favor say aye. any opposed say no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes have it. the nomination is confirmed. the question is now on the chacon nomination.

all those in favor say aye. all those opposed nay. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes have it. the nomination is confirmed. the question is on the palmer nomination. all those in favor say aye. all opposed nay. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes have it. the nomination is confirmed. the question is on the heflin nomination. all those in favor say aye. all opposed nay. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes have it. the nomination is confirmed. the question is on the kempner nomination. all those in favor say aye. all opposed nay. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes have it. the nomination is confirmed. he question is on the aron nomination. all those in favor say aye. all opposed nay. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes have it. the nomination is confirmed.

under the previous order the motions to reconsider is considered made and laid on the table. the president will be immediately notified of the senate's action and the senate will resume legislative session. mr. reid: madam president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: i ask the chair to lay before the senate a message from the house with respect to h.r. 83. the presiding officer: the chair lays before the senate the following message. shall. the clerk: resolved the house agree to the amount of the build h.r. 83 entitled an act to require the secretary of the interior to assemble a team of technical policy and financial experts to address the energy needs of the insular areas of the united states and the freely associated states for the development of energy action, plans aimed at promoting access

to affordable, reliable energy including increasing use of indigenous clean energy resources and for other purposes with an amendment. mr. reid: there is a cloture motion at the desk. i would ask the chair to order it be reported. madam president, i apologize. i move to concur on the house amendment to the senate amendment to h.r. 83. sorry about that. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: the senator from nevada, mr. reid, moves to concur in the house amendment to the senate amendment to h.r. 83. mr. reid: now, madam president, there is a cloture motion at the desk. i would ask that it be reported. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the cloture motion. the clerk: cloture motion. we, the undersigned senators in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate move to bring to a close debate on the motion to concur on the house amendment to the senate amendment to h.r. 83 signed by 17 senators as follows. mr. reid: and the names be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: madam president, i

move to concur on the house amendment to the senate amendment to h.r. 83 with a further amendment. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: the senator from nevada mr. reid moves to concur on the house amendment to the senate amendment to h.r. 83 with amendment numbered 4100. mr. reid: i ask for the yeas and nays on that amendment. the presiding officer: is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the yeas and nays are ordered. mr. reid: i have an amendment at the desk. mr. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: mr. reid proposes amendment 4201 to amendment 4200. mr. reid: i have a motion to refer the house message with respect to h.r. 83 with instructions. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: the senator from nevada mr. reid moves to refer the house message on h.r. 83 with appropriations with instructions to report back forth with an amendment numbered

4202. mr. reid: i ask for the yeas and nays on that motion. the presiding officer: is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the yeas and nays are ordered. mr. reid: i have an amendment to the instructions. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: the senator from nevada mr. reid proposes an amendment numbered 4203 to the instructions of the motion to refer. mr. reid: i ask for the yeas and nays on that amendment. the presiding officer: is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the yeas and nays are ordered. mr. reid: i now have a second-degree amendment. i would ask to be reported. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: the senator from nevada mr. reid proposes an amendment numbered 4204 to amendment numbered 4203. mr. reid: madam president, i ask unanimous consent the mandatory quorum under rule 22 be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: madam president, we now are waiting for a vote to

occur. under the rules, this will occur two days from now, one hour after we come into session. so i would hope that we can work something out and get this done tonight. remember midnight on saturday the government is out of money. i would hope that cooler heads would prevail and we can move forward and get this done. and there is no sense in our waiting around. this bill has been talked about for days now. it's been really good work to get where we are. the two managers of this bill, the distinguished senator from maryland and of course the senior senator from alabama have worked hard to get this to where we are. and i would hope that we can move forward on it as quickly as possible. there is no reason that we have to wait until sunday to do this. the presiding officer: the

senator from maryland. mr. cardin: madam president, i just really want to underscore the point that it is urgent that we take up this omnibus appropriations bill and that we do this in order to have a budget for our country and that we don't threaten another government shutdown. we know how damaging that is to this country. and that we don't have another continuing resolution. another continuing resolution provides uncertainty to our agencies. they can't do the critical work that they need to do. it establishes the last year's priorities rather than trying to establish the priorities for this year. and represents a failure of the congress. so i want to start by first thanking and congratulating my colleague from maryland, senator mikulski for her incredible leadership through this process, working with senator shelby and their counterparts in the house of representatives. this is not easy.

we have sharply different views in this congress, and we've seen over and over again gridlock where we're unable to make decisions. and i want to congratulate senator mikulski for bringing the negotiations of the omnibus to a successful conclusion. and when you look at the work that she did in the appropriations part of this omnibus appropriations bill, i'm very proud. i think we all should be very proud and very supportive of the work that she has done. as i pointed out earlier, if we don't pass an omnibus appropriations bill, we're either going to have a government shutdown or we're going to resort to a short-term continuing resolution. in either case, it is very damaging to our country and to our economy. the omnibus appropriations bill that we have before us allows us to set certain priorities.

and i know that senator mikulski has gone through many of those priorities. i just want to outline a few. the fact that we give additional resources for missing and exploited children. the fact that we provide law enforcement with rape kits to help in law enforcement against those who are, have perpetrated violence against women. the fact that we provide an additional $5 billion-plus to fight the ebola crisis globally. this has a direct impact on the world economy, on world health and directly affects the united states. the appropriations for our department of defense to be able to combat the extremists, isil, and its fear that it has invoked not just in that region but globally. this omnibus appropriations bill provides the resources in order to carry out these important

responsibilities of government. the alternative is a continuing resolution, at best. how do you fight a war on a continuing resolution? how do you fight ebola on a continuing resolution? you don't have the ability to be able to do it. i want to thank senator mikulski. she's provided funds in here for our foreign services agencies which is important to keep open the offices of farm services. i mention that because in maryland these offices are very important to our agricultural community. maryland farmers and their conservation efforts to help us on the chesapeake bay, they work in conjunction with the service agencies. the closing of these agencies would be devastating. the omnibus provides a modest pay adjustment for our federal workforce. our federal workforce which has been asked to do more with less, less people, more responsibilities. they are on the front lines of

public service. this omnibus recognizes their service by giving them a modest adjustment to their pay. the transportation program which is critically important for economic growth. i could go over the difference here if we don't get the omnibus. for example, the funds for our transit projects. i know in maryland there is $100 million here for the purple line in prince george's county and montgomery county. for those of us who travel in this region, we know firsthand the gridlock problems on our roads. the only good thing about being in tonight is that i don't have to fight the traffic going home to baltimore. way need the transit funding. and thank you, senator mikulski, for providing that. continuing resolution, we lose it. the funds for the red line in baltimore, lost if we don't have the omnibus appropriation bill. there is funds in here for dredging of the baltimore

harbor. i particularly appreciate the appropriation committee continuing the commitment that we made in 2008, the legislation that i authored for the full funding of the federal contribution to the wmata system. the funds that are here for our contract air traffic control towers, you remember not too long ago we had -- there was a threat under the shutdown that we were going to have to close the contract offices that work the air traffic control towers in our smaller airports including in maryland. well, we're protected by the omnibus so that will occur. go to a continuing resolution. there is no such protection. the appalachian regional commission gets a bump up in this appropriation bill, for good reason. the work they do is critically important to the rural part of maryland on the western part. they need that. you go to a continuing resolution, those initiatives are gone. we don't get that.

we could go on and on and on as to what is in this bill. there is a $1.4 billion additional money for the community help centers. community help centers. thank you. in maryland, we have used those funds to expand community health centers to expand prenatal care, increasing infant survival in our state, we have used it for community mental health services, for pediatric dental services. and in the omnibus bill, we'll be able to continue to make that progress. if we don't get the omnibus, all bets are off on a continuing resolution. can't move forward in those programs. i thank you on behalf of the veterans of this country. what you have done on events -- requiring advanced funding is that you protected our veterans and the benefits that we promised them regardless of the problems we have in getting our appropriation bills done. that's the right thing to do. they fought to preserve the liberties of our country.

they should at least know that we're going to live up to the commitments that we made to protect our veterans. i also appreciate that in this omnibus, you have extended the t.a.a. benefits that help our workers in transition who otherwise could -- would not be -- have jobs due to the international trade issues. my colleague, senator brown, has been very instrumental in this. we extend that through f.y. 2015. military construction. military construction is critically important. we have gone through a brac process. we have gone through ways we have consolidated our military. we also have to modernize our facilities. the military construction budgets which would come to a standstill if we don't have a budget in maryland, we have projects that will move forward, annapolis, indian head, pax river, fort meade and andrews. all of that is very, very important. money is provided in this omnibus to help in regards to

the problems in central america. we saw what happened on our borders. i think we all agree we want children to be safe. it must be a horrible choice for a parent to put their child on a transit to come to the united states because of what's happening in their central american country. we begin in this omnibus bill to say hey, pride of work for safer conditions in central america which will give us more stability in regards to what's happening on our own borders. that makes sense. that's in there. i also thank senator mikulski for an initiative that i requested that deals with holocaust survivors. for the first time, we have a direct appropriation to help holocaust survivors. these are individuals that have a great fear of ending up in an institution. you can understand why. so access to governmental services in the community are particularly important, and this omnibus is sensitive to make sure that we provide that. again, we don't have the omnibus. that initiative is gone. you protected our pell grant recipients so that they can continue to receive their pell

grants at the current levels. all this is so important in the omnibus if we don't get it. now, madam president, there are some things in this omnibus i don't like at all. as i said earlier, this is a compromise. i know that the -- we've seen the bills come over from the house of representatives. we've seen the antienvironmental consumer protection bills. so many bills have come over. and we know that there were efforts made to add numerous of these policy riders to the appropriation -- to the omnibus bill. unfortunately, some got on, and i certainly understand the political process. i'm not naive to understand that we could win on every issue, but i feel compelled to point out the policy riders that are on this omnibus bill that i hope we will work together to remove the harmful impacts that they could

possibly have on policy in this country. on the -- on the environmental front, the -- there is a policy rider that restricts e.p.a.'s authority to deal with tackle and ammunition as it relates to lead content. that our policy should be based based -- allow e.p.a. based on best science for how they protect public health. i think that's compromised by that rider. there is a rider here that could compromise how the agriculture community works in our clean water bills. all stakeholders have to be in together to get clean water. we do that with the chesapeake bay in maryland. i think that rider could have some very negative impact. we have heard a lot of talk about the sage grass, which is a species that could become endangered. the environmental protection agency should be able to do what is right in establishing the right conservation efforts, but

instead there are restrictions placed on the e.p.a., and i regret that. i hope we can work around that. the definition of fill and mining regulations that could open up to more mountaintop removal for coal mining as the most obscene way to obtain coal. you blow up mountains, pollute streams. there are better ways. we shouldn't put these arbitrary restrictions on the environmental protection agency. there is a provision here that we've heard a lot of comment on the floor dealing on financial consumer protection which would repeal the dodd-frank provision where banks had to push out some of their derivative trading into separate accounts so they weren't subject to the fdic, the government insurance program. if that provision could be used for risky trading and could result in government bailouts. that's bad. let's work to make sure that doesn't happen. let's work together to restore that type of protection in our

financial services. the i.m.f. doesn't receive funds under this omnibus bill. i think that's a mistake. i think our responsibilities internationally require us to -- to cooperate in that. there is provisions in here that interfere with the district of columbia home rule. mr. president, that won't be the first time we've done that, and i regret that. so it's not unusual to see those provisions in an appropriation bill, but it still doesn't make it right. it's not right. there are some missed opportunities here. i'm sorry that we're not participating in the green climate fund. this is an international effort to deal with the realities of climate change. the united states needs to be a leader. we're missing an opportunity by not participating in the green climate fund. i regret that this is an omnibus appropriation bill for all agencies except one, homeland security. that's wrong. homeland security, our homeland security needs the protection of

a budget, not a continuing resolution. you know, we may have different views on what we should do on immigration policy, but that shouldn't stop us from allowing those who serve on homeland security to have the confidence that we will support their budget for a year and that they can go forward with initiatives. so i regret that that's a missed opportunity that's in -- that's in the omnibus bill. and lastly, mr. president, let me mention the two extraneous issues that made their way into the omnibus appropriation bill. that was a mystery i think to senator mikulski and the others who worked so hard in negotiating back and forth in good faith only to find that the rules committee in the house of representatives added two extraneous provisions to an omnibus appropriation bill. the process is wrong. they shouldn't do that. that's an abuse of power. they are also, by the way, wrong on the policy. one is a very serious issue. how do we deal with multiemployer plans?

i have been working on pension issues ever since i came to the congress. we have a problem with multiemployer plans. there is no question about it. but we should have a bill on the floor of the senate and debate that. we shouldn't be passing a bill that could very well have some very stark consequences on individuals who are currently retiring, and that could very easily happen under this provision. the second, which adds new categories of giving in our political system to political party conventions and to the building funds and to recounts, we don't need more money in politics in this country, and we certainly shouldn't be taking up that bill on the omnibus appropriation bill. so, mr. president, let me -- let me conclude my remark as i began, and that is to me this is an easy decision to make. it's an easy decision because the public does not want to see more gridlock in washington. they know the house of representatives have gone home.

they know that our leaders have negotiated an omnibus budget for next fiscal year, and they're saying at long last can we at least get this done or are we going to have another threatened shutdown, are we going to put the government on auto pilot for a three-month period? i think we have a responsibility to see issues to conclusion, and on the appropriation issues that are in this bill, we should be very proud to support the work of senator mikulski and the entire group that was behind the negotiations of this omnibus bill, senator shelby and others. we should support that and recognize that what we need to do next year, mr. president -- and i know my colleague from maryland has been the champion of this. i've heard her speak so eloquently in our caucus about it on the floor of the senate. what we need to do is get a budget done in the regular order so the appropriators know what

their budget limits are and they can work on the individual appropriation bills and can bring them to the floor, we can debate them, have amendment votes, and then we won't be as frustrated as we are tonight at the 11th hour dealing with issues for the very first time that we see in the omnibus appropriation bill. and i know that senator mikulski has been the great champion of saying let's get back to regular order. that means let's bring the -- she did that in her committee. we're not surprised. we saw the work of her committee. it was done very openly. we had a chance for input, and that's why a lot of what's in this omnibus appropriation bill represents the work of each member of this body. but we can do this in a more open and transparent way by considering individual appropriation bills on the floor of the united states senate, reconciling those differences with the house and really doing the people's business and not be confronted with another large omnibus appropriation bill. so i encourage my colleagues to

support the good work that has been done, and i hope that we can approve this omnibus appropriation bill this evening well in advance of the saturday midnight which will be here sooner than we think in order to avoid a government shutdown and let the people of this nation know that we're doing their business. and with that, i would yield the floor. the presiding officer: the senator from maryland. ms. mikulski: mr. president? mr. president, i rise to speak on the consolidated and further continuing appropriation for fiscal year 2015. mr. president, every year we have a particular responsibility that was mandated by the constitution, which is that the congress of the united states shall pass an annual revenue bill to fund the government. the power of the purse was vested in the congress. it was not vested in the executive branch.

our subcommittee on appropriation is a constitutionally mandated, mandated committee. and the reason for that is if one reads the federalist papers, it says that if -- if the leader of a country controls the purse, they tend to be kings, but if the executive branch has to share power with the legislative branch controlling the purse, you have checks and balances. now, tonight is the night we talk about what is our annual bill. it had been the hope of myself and my vice chairman, senator shelby, that we could follow something here called regular order, where with the 12 subcommittees in appropriation, we would have brought up one

bill at a time. for a variety of reasons, most of all partisan politics, deep partisan politics, we were not able to bring up 12 individual bills. i regret that, and i hope now as one party takes it over we listen to the message of the voters. end gridlock. end deadlock. end the partisanship that is crippling our country. one way to do that is to return to regular order. and i look to continually working with both sides of the aisle to do that. but tonight we are where we are. we are bringing the consolidated bill to the senate floor, which represents the work of 12 subcommittees -- defense, interior, labor, education, health, foreign operations, the

state department, homeland security will be on a continuing resolution. i could call their names, but we will be looking at a trillion-dollar expenditure, which is the discretionary funding of the united states of america. $550 billion of that is in defense. d.o.d. only. d.o.d. only. the remaining amount is in domestic agencies, of which is considered also the state department. we need to pass this bill tonight so that we can show that there is no government shutdown. the funding for the government of the united states of america expires at midnight. we want to be sure that there is no government shutdown. but we also don't want to be on

a continuing resolution. a continuing resolution simply says, take what you've done in 2014 and put it on autopilot. if we pass the continuing appropriations, which i hope we do, government will be able to show that we've exercised thought and set national priorities and worked on this. so i would hope that today we would be able to do our job. the house passed the bill on thursday night by a vote of 21 219-206. we now take up that bill. it is remarkable in today's era of slam-down politics that we working on this committee have been able to set aside our differences, work across the aisle, work across the dome to

find a way to compromise without capitulation on principles. the american people said we wanted to do -- we wanted to do that and that's the job we've done. my wonderful colleague from maryland, senator ben cardin, explained a good part of the bill. we are so close and we think so much alike, we could have given each other's speech and he gave kind of mine on what we've done. so, mr. president, i want to reiterate what is in this bill. this agreement provides for our national security. it ensures readiness for our troops. it funds training for the troops as well as our maintenance facilities so that our military assets, like our aircraft carriers and ships, are ready to go and our soldiers receive the training they need. military leaders say that readiness is our top priority and provides $162.5 billion for

readiness. it also includes important funds for our national guard and reserve so that our units are ready -- ready -- for the job we ask them to do and for our national guard we've included $200 million more. we also include a 1% pay rais raise -- a 1% cola, cost, o of living, for the defense department's 3 million employees. we've worked very hard on a variety of issues and one of which, of course, has been the way we wanted to serve our veterans. one of our greatest accomplishments in this bill is what we do for them. veteran service organizations came to me and many of the members right here this evening on the floor and said, we not only need funding to implement the reforms that were passed by the congress, but we also want

you to do this year and a year in advance. we said, you know, we don't do that. and they said, but you've got to do that because we're concerned that often with the dysfunction and delay as a strategy in washington, it creates chaos for veterans and their survivors. and guess what? we were able to do it. for the first time ever we provide funding for one year -- for this year and one year in advance. it means that no matter what happens to the government, veterans can count on their disability check, their pension check, a check -- a check to help fund the g.i. bill and that their health care will be paid for. we also deal with the incredible problem of veterans' backlog and we put in the money to be able to do that. for the v.a. backlog process, we have over $2.5 billion, adding another $40 million to do that.

i've been horrified in my own home state of maryland that the claims backlog at one point took more than 125 days. we are doing our reform. i also want to talk tonight about compelling human needs. we know that one of the most able members of the united states senate, senator tom harkin, is retiring. but during these years that he has served, he's never let up in championing the little guy and the little gal to make sure we had access to health care, access to education, and really looking out for our constituen constituents. i am so proud that working with him we were able to fund the child care development block grant, which passed the senate overwhelmingly, by adding over $75 million more p. that means that they will be able -- more. that means that they will be able to ensure that thousands of more children will be able to

qualify for day care and it will be safe and it will be affordable. i will talk about college affordability as well, a great passion of senator harkin, myself and i know many members of the senate. we increased the maximum pell grant by a hundred dollars. we reform the pell grants to give students a chance to be able to go to both college and get their g.e.d., where for many single mothers, this has been a tremendous problem. where they dropped out but they now know they've got to earn and they're ready to learn. but in order to go to the community college, they have to have their g.e.d. they were not eligible and they're doing it both. it also restores the community college efforts to be able to fund scholarships from their own endowments. i'd like to take a moment to speak about jobs.

we need to create jobs in the united states of america and what we did in focusing on jobs is that we funded -- we funded infrastructure. guess what? we put in money in the federal checkbook for the highway trust fund, the harbor maintenance fund so that our harbors could be dredged, so that our roads and our bridges would be safe, and also included more money for dam safety. in my own home state, we funded the metro and made a big down payment in the purple line and in the red line. these are jobs and infrastructure that the are absolutely crucial. mr. president, i know that there are others who want to speak and i'm going to just show that we looked at trying to fund jobs, infrastructure and in the area of intellectual infrastructure, i will talk about what we did in the commerce committee. we came up with a way to end the

backlog on patents. there were over 400,000 patents pending. we wanted to make sure in this america that if you invent something, you get to protect your idea so that you can move it into the marketplace. we also funded these regional innovation centers in the manufacturing. we promoted 3-d manufacturing. we are making it local. in many of our states where we lost it, we have major advances. i will talk more about it but i note that my colleague, senator udall's, on the floor. i'm going to yield the time and let him speak. mr. president, i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the senator from new mexico. mr. udall: thank you, mr. president. thank you -- and thank you, chairwoman mikulski. let me just say a few words

about the chairwoman. first of all, i'm just really privileged to serve on the appropriations committee. i -- for the last couple of years i've served as the chairman of the subcommittee on financial services and general government, and with her guidance and work it has been a really fulfilling task. and i -- i just want to thank her for the last two years as she's taken over putting us on track in terms of having a good, solid appropriations process, where we make every attempt to get the -- the appropriations bills through the senate and in place at the beginning of the budget year. that can make a real difference, as she's indicated, for veterans, for jobs, for all of the agencies that are funded throughout government. in particular, in my state, the national laboratories, two just

premier national laboratories, los alamos and sandia national land, our three air force bases, our national parks, our national monuments. so there's so much that is a part of this appropriations bill that's just very, very important to my state. we've got a lot of work to do today and i want to speak for just a few minutes on some of the issues important to my state and our country. first, i'd like to start out on a positive note, that the senate just recently passed the defense authorization bill. that bill is critical to our nation's security and for our troops at home and abroad who deserve our support and respect. in addition this year, it also includes landmark conservation measures to protect some of the most beloved landscapes in new mexico. these are measures that we have worked on for many years, since senator bingaman was in office,

and they are the result of many years of dogged hard work by a diverse group of sportsmen, conservationists, local business people and others. with this bill, we are designating the colobine hondo wilderness, giving permanent special protection to this -- federal protection to this special area, giving public access to the valias caldera by transferring that to the national park service. this will ensure financial stability for one of the best places in new mexico for hiking, hunting and fishing. dez indicating a manhattan project, a historical manhattan project, a national park, that will include los alamos, new mexico, where americans can learn about and remember our complicated cold war history. this bill protects these special and important places, increases tourism and creates jobs. we also renewed a b.l.m. pilot

program to improve the permitting process for the oil and gas industry. this is critical to energy development in new mexico and other western states. it ensures that b.l.m. has the resources to do all parts of its job -- managing land for conservation, grazing and permitting for oil and gas development. and i want to thank my colleag colleague, senator heinrich, who serves on the energy and natural resources committee, for being a strong partner in getting these measures passed. now the senate has another important duty pending before us, passing an appropriations bill to fund the federal government, including many vital programs in my home state of new mexico. we've not had regular spending bills in recent years and here we are at the 11th hour with an omnibus bill at the last minute. the fact that we have a bill is

due in great part to the leadership of chairwoman mikulski and i'm glad to be part of her team on the appropriations committee. the alternative to this bill is a short-term c.r. or a c.r. -- a couple of short-term c.r.'s for the whole year, and i think that is an unacceptable way to do business. and it would cost jobs and hurt our economy in new mexico. new mexico's labs and bases need certainty in their critical jobs to keep our nation safe. communities in my home state rely on funding through the payment in lieu of taxes program to provide basic services like schools and public i service. and i know chairwoman mikulski understands the pilt program, has worked hard to make sure that pilt is funded in this bill and it's greatly appreciated in the rural parts of the west. let me say again, continuing

resolutions are descreptive. they're inefficient. they lock in place programs that prevent us from evaluating what is working and what isn't and keep us from rooting out wasteful spending. by trying to move a huge omnibus bill at the end of the year -- by trying to move this at the end of the year is forward from ideal. there was a time not long ago when having to pass an omnibus bill was a sign that work had broken down. today it's the best possible option. i'm extremely happy to have it and, again, i credit our chairwoman with fighting hard to get us to this point. it hasn't been easy. but the american people deserve better than this broken process. they deserve a congress that works, that is open and deliberate, not last-minute deals and gimmicks for special interests. our duty is to the american people, not wall street billionaires and bankers, and i will continue to do all i can as

a member of the appropriations committee to get back to the regular order. we cannot keep getting in just under the wire. and in that respect, our colleagues in the house have to start -- have to stop sending over all these riders. we had more than a hundred riders sent over from the house. as chairwoman mikulski knows, this isn't the way to legislate on an appropriations bill. you're not supposed to be putting riders in there. so they sent more than a hundred of these over from the house of representatives, they're disruptive, and she took them on and was able to work through them and get a decent, good final project. i'm going to continue to do all i can to make sure that we get back to the regular order, and now i want to talk about why this bill is important and why it's important to pass this

omnibus bill. first of all, it's critical to my state of new mexico. new mexico has two fine national laboratories, sandia and los alamos and three air force, white sands fest testing range, and a number of other federal institutions, national parks, national monuments. they are all funded. and when they are funded on a regular basis at the beginning of a fiscal year, it's a much better situation for everyone. for pilt funds, which our counties depend on for schools, roads, and law enforcement, and anything that they feel is important in their county, they can rely on those pilt funds. at this point my state is in severe drought. we have water projects like the navajo gallup project that can't keep waiting. there is money in this bill to keep that project going. communities can't just put their needs on hold because congress

is broken. navajo communities in new mexico still need clean water, in fact, every day we delay, their situation gets worse. that's true of so many projects that are funded by the federal government. communities and businesses have to plan, they need concerned. the needs don't go away -- certainty. the needs don't go away so let's get this done. finally, i would like to talk a little bit about the authorization of force that we just produced out of the foreign relations committee. i would urge congress to address another important issue, this issue of the authorization of force. we need to update the authorization of force for our military in light of our changing involvement in a variety of middle eastern conflicts, most notably isis. if we leave without doing this, we are failing the american people, our troops, and shirking our constitutional

duty. isis is a brutal terrorist group. it must be stopped, we must continue to work with our allies, including those in the region, to use strategic force to stop isis. i'm proud the senate foreign realizations committee for recognizing our essential duetting and defining the parameters of this fight. this is the first step, but our constitution requires the full congress to authorize war. this is a matter that deserves debate. it should not be taken lightly. the last 13 years of conflict in afghanistan and iraq illustrate this, why it is so important to be thoughtful and deliberative about war. and i urge my colleagues to stay until the work is done, and we give the aumf consideration by the full senate. this is not easy work, but this is not a normal situation. isis is a rapidly growing terrorist group recruiting young

people from the west, it spans two countries with ambitions, very expansive ambitions. we must defeat it and we cannot allow -- but at the same time we cannot allow another open-end ed war that will yet again strain communities in my state and across the country and put us in a situation we cannot pay for. since july i have received over 1,100 letters and hundreds of phone calls from my constituents. they are clear, and i want to be equally clear, congress should rise to its constitutional oversight of the nation's war powers. this is a solemn responsibility, one that i have taken very seriously throughout my time in congress. i voted for the 2001 authorization for war in afghanistan, i voted against the 2002 authorization for war in iraq. i believe the new aumf is strong

in that it prohibits ground operations except in limited circumstances. those circumstances such as rescuing service members or u.s. citizens are specified in the text of the resolution. it also repeals the 2002 iraq aumf and sets a three-year timeline for the 2001 aumf which is currently supporting military engagements around the world that we never intended when we originally passed it. but i would still caution we must be watchful so that this engagement doesn't vastly change in scope without the approval of congress or the support from our constituents. i fought to provide congress with an even stronger role. i proposed an amendment to limit authorization to one year. i also cosponsored a proposal with senator paul to retire a new authorization from congress if u.s. forces were to be

deployed outside of iraq and syria. we need this authorization to pass now as the conflict has been ongoing for months, but we also must continue to be watchful. costs should not just be charged to a credit card. let's make sure we have a real conversation on how the generation that has decided to go to war will pay for it. again, i urge congress to honor its responsibility, to stay and finish this critical duty. and now to just wrap up, i just once again want to say to my chairwoman, chairwoman mikulski, you have taken on a very, very difficult task in terms of looking at what was sent to us by the house of representatives, more than a hundred riders on all sorts of things, trying to dismantle the affordable care act, trying to tackle -- tackle and get into

the internal revenue service and diminish its ability to carry out its responsibilities, and on and on and on, and she has worked through these amendments and worked through them diligently and come up with a good product. this is much better than struggling through continuing resolutions two, three months at a time and then coming back again. this gives certainty to government, gives certainty to businesses, and it shows that we are trying to react responsibly to the situations before us. so i aflawed her and it's a real honor to work with her on the appropriations committee and i yield the floor. a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from washington. mrs. murray: mr. president, i am delighted to be on the floor this evening to take first of all a minute to thank my good friend and mentor, chairwoman mikulski, for her tremendous

work on the product that is before us tonight. like all of us, we want to get something done when we come here, and in order to get anything done in congress, you have to be willing to compromise. you have to fight hard for your principles and what you believe in but at the end of the day it is a give and take, and it is never easy and you never end up with the bill you've written on your own, but chairwoman mikulski deserves so much credit for what is in this bill that puts our country other than better track. putting jobs and economic growth first is a principle she always speaks to, and she fought for in this bill. she fought off so many policies and riders that were thrown at her, and i know because i've talked with her time and time again as she's tried to say what can i absolutely draw a line in the sand on and what can i put in here in order to make sure i'm doing what's right for my

country? it is not easy to do that, and she fought off many riders that all of us on this side of the aisle would have found extremely difficult to ever vote yes for, she took those out. she maintains the budget levels that chairman ryan and i agreed on last year. that was very hard to do. she is trying to put together bills that fund our government across the board from defense to agriculture to transportation to so many areas that people just take for granted every day until our government shuts down, and then they remember how much they rely on our national parks, or our research and our investment, the protection that is so important in our homeland security bills. she worked hard under very strict requirements that we all supported in another compromise a year ago and maintained that in this. and critically, her work in this avoids another government

shutdown. you know, running this place by crisis, we know doesn't work. it hurts our economy, it hurts our family, certainly it hurts our stature as the united states senate. so for her work to put this together and have this bill before us tonight is truly a remarkable accomplishment and really is proof of the stateswoman that she is and i really want to commend her for that. mr. president, i am especially grateful that she put so much into this legislation that really helps our everyday, average middle-class families who are struggling so hard in this country, and really lays down a strong foundation for long-term and broad-based economic growth. she did not forget that principle at all in what she fought for, and that is embedded within this legislation. there are, of course, provisions in this that any one of us can pull out and oppose and i certainly have some provisions in here that i do not

agree with. i am really disheartened that the house republicans put wall street interests head of middle-class families and demanded a provision in this. i'm very concerned that some of the republican provisions could increase health care premiums for our families and our businesses, and i strongly oppose the policy change that was slipped into the bill that could lead to a reduction in pensions for many of our retirees. i share the concerns of many of us on this side that that is in this legislation. but it is a compromise piece of legislation, and we had to swallow and the other side had to swallow. why? because at the end of the day, we do not want to run our country on continuing resolutions and economic upturn and crisis management every 30 days or 60 days for the next two years. and that is why we have to say what looked to the greater good of this bill and i'm very pleased with some really

significant pieces of legislation in this. i worked very hard with my good friend and colleague on the other side of the aisle, senator collins, who is my partner on the transportation and housing and urban development subcommittee. senator collins and i worked very hard to find a compromise that makes significant investments in our transportation infrastructure, to help our commuters and our families and our businesses and our economy. the investments in this bill i want my colleagues to know on this side of the aisle that are in amtrak, in public transit, in air traffic control modernization and airport improvements are very critical for all of our communities. i'm going to vote yes for those tonight. the bill makes it possible for the f.a.a. to keep sufficient numbers of air traffic controllers and inspectors on the job. this is a key safety issue that i will be supporting in this bill. and our bill includes new targeted investments to help the

department of transportation to do everything possible, mr. president, to keep our communities safe as the number of oil shipments by rail continues to increase in the country. and i'm especially proud in our part of this legislation that we support the tiger program which so many members have come to me and said that they really appreciate in this bill because it allows investments in critical jobs -- in critical pieces of transportation infrastructure in their home states that helps create jobs and boosts their regional economies. i know this has been important in my state, i know the demand is very high. we were not able to have the number that we liked, we the have to reduce it, but it remains in this bill as a very strong investment in our communities. and i will be proud to be supporting that in this bill. on the housing side of our bill we maintain the housing assistance for low-income families that is so important

today. that they have their support while they get back on on their feet. to not pass this bill tonight means we put a lot of people who are struggling today at risk in their communities to have the very home that is so important to their families' stability. i'm especially proud we were able to continue funding for the h.u.d. program that so members have told me are important to them and expanding h.u.d. vah. and we increase the cap on the number of public housing units that can be part of the demonstration that allows public housing authorities to leverage private capital and make capital improvements to more than 100,000 additional units of affordable housing. and we worked hard to make sure this bill continues to support local housing and economic development projects in communities across the country through the cdbg program.

i would say that virtually every member of the senate has said that we need to maintain the cdbg program, how important toss their local comawntses to that i can decisions about their local communities and the funding is absolutely critical. mr. president, this isn't just abouted spending. our legislation contains a number of reforms that are going to improve government and save taxpayer dollars. let me repeat that. we are voting to save taxpayer dollars, because we improve the process for administering emergency preparedness grants. and we make sure property owners are held accountable if they fail to take care of housing funded with taxpayer resources. and we included a provision that supports efforts to improve the coordination between domestic violence service and housing assistance to make sure that our domestic violence survivors are getting the care and support they deserve. so, mr. president, i know much has been made of the provisions that people don't like, and i share that angst.

but i think it is so important that we as adults stand up to the responsibility we have as the united states senate and as congress to pass a funding bill through the next year that makes sure that we don't have gridlock and dysfunction running this economy again. so the alternative to a bipartisan compromise spending bill is just another short-term continuing resolution, and another short-term continuing -- and another one. and we cannot run this government by crisis or short-term resolutions. that is an irresponsible autopilot approach and really would cut off our ability as united states senators to make decisions about how our government operates. so, mr. president, i, again, want to thank my colleague and my mentor and the amazing senator from maryland, the chairwoman of this committee, barbara mikulski, for the work she's done for putting this -- the drive she hark has -- nevert

sight of what her goal was des spite some very -- despite some very, very difficult negotiations. and hopefully tonight we will be voting on a compromise. and i know personally that in this country what iv everybody does, says to me constantly is we're tired of the constant bickering. we want you to compromise. that's what this is. we want our country to work g.n.p. that's what this bill does -- we want our country to work again. that's what this bill does and i urge my colleagues to support this legislation. thank you, and i yield the floor. mr. lee: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from utah. mr. lee: mr. president, i rise in opposition to the spending bill before us today. i rise in opposition to the cynical substance of the legislation. i rise in opposition to the un-republican and undemocratic process by which a small collection of political and economic insiders crafted it to benefit each other at everyone

else's expense. and finally, i rise in particular opposition to the signals that this so-called cromnibus sends, the signal it sends to political insiders at both ends of pennsylvania avenue in washington, the signals it sends to special interest cronies on wall street and on "k" street and the signal is sends to working families struggling on main streets across this country who have been waiting for a decade for someone in this city to start putting them first. and those problems with this bill, each one alone enough to merit opposition, do not even speak to its greatest weakness: its failure to correct the president's lawless executive amnesty. since last night when it was taken up in the house of

representatives, supporters of the cromnibus have couched their support into language of compromise. this isn't a perfect bill, they say. but, on the contrary, mr. president, it is perfect, a -- as a representation of everything wrong with washington, d.c., as an example of exactly the kind of unfair, unrepresentative legislating that triggered successive electoral waves of bipartisan condemnation in 2008, 2010 and again in 20146789 the cromnibus is perfect. nor do members of my body have the luxury today of blaming this latest failure on the outgoing senate majority. no, this one is on us. americans just last month thought they went to the polls and voted for change to stop this kind of thing: unread,

1,000-plus page bill, filled with funding for special interests. americans looking for that change won't find it in this bill. rather, they'll find what the discarded revolutionaries of animal farm found at the end of george orwell's classic. the creature creatures outside d from pig to man and from man to pig and from pig to man again, but already it was impossible to say which was which. mr. president, americans across our country today are facing a new and unnatural kind of squeeze, an opportunity deficit that is warping our free-enterprise society and our voluntary civil society. this opportunity deficit is not simply the result of globalization or technology or

free trade. no, it's the result of politicians creating a welfare system that traps poor families in poverty, sometimes for generations at a time, and locks lower-skilled workers out of potential jobs, an education system that traps poor kids in bad schools and college students into a lifetime of debt, a health care system that locks the poor in second-chase care and erases what wage gains the middle-class families ever see, a tax system that unfairly discourages work, saving, investment, marriages and children. government policy today unfairly protects the privileges of those who have already climbed the ladder of success while putting that ladder out of reach to those who have not yet grasped its very bottom wrungs. on wall street, corporate profits continue to soar, and

here in washington the influence economy booms and booms on. but almost everywhere else take-home pay is flat, jobs remain scarce, small businesses are struggling to grow, while new businesses are struggling even to get off the ground. more and more today in america the people who work hard and play by the rules are being forced to subsidize political and economic elites who don't. it's not big business or big special interests who created this toxic environment. all they can do is ask. only government, big government, this government can rig the system. only government can carve out a regulatory exception for certain big banks while intensifying its regulatory squeeze on smaller banks or tweak accounting rules to line the pockets of certain

big insurance companies or create new taxpayer subsidies for certain industries and cynically present all of the above as unamendable, take-it-or leave-it, take-it-or-shut-down-the- governm take-it-or-shut-down-the-governm ent propositions, as this bill does. and we wonder why the american people distrust their government, distrust this government. we wonder why the principal grass roots of both political parties, conservatives and progressives, are up in arms against their washington establishments over this bill. the american people do not trust congress because, as we're approving once again today, congress is not trustworthy. and yet, mr. president, as rotten as the cromnibus before us is, i want to state for the record that this week leaves me with nothing but optimism, optimism about the prospects we

have for real reform and revival in the coming years. the miserable process we've witnessed this week represents the last gapin gaping throes. ten years ago in bill would not have been controversial. five years ago an easy majority would have been purchased with earmarks. this week with the full weight of both parties' leaderships, it barely made it over the finish line. change comes slowly, as we know, and it comes most slowly to those institutions that make the rules. but change is coming. the era of passing 1,600-page bills written in secret through a process that includes lobbyists but excludes the american people is coming to an end. the era of big government rigging the rules for big business and special interests

while leaving everyone else behind is coming to an end. a new rare is coming in which -- a new era is coming in which washington will once again be forced to work for the american people instead of the other way around. to those americans who have watched with dismay what congress did and did not do this week, who made their voices heard by flooding both sides of the aisle with phone calls and e-mails, my message is simple: take heart. it may not look like it today, but you are winning. america is winning. the beltway establishments of both parties, you see, are exhausted, out of ideas, and running out of time. next year a new unified congress has an opportunity, a real open

opportunity, to reshape the national debate, to challenge washington's failing status quo and its failed champion in the oval office. we can finally begin the hard overdue work of rescuing our economy from the grips of government dysfunction and political privilege, of rescuing our health care system from obamacare, of reviving our education system and modernizing our transportation system. of ending special interest manipulation of our tax system and reforming regulations to level the playing field for small and new businesses, of fixing our broken immigration system. next year -- just next month, in fact -- we can begin to craft a new reform agenda, increase access to and opportunity within

america's middle class, an agenda that grows the american economy and increases take-home pay, an agenda that restores mobility and opportunity to working families and communities while putting political and corporate elites back to work for everyone else. and we can look to our own house of congress to reform the way congress conducts the people's business. the way we budget and spend the people's money so embarrassments like this cromnibus might become relics of the past. we can do this. we must do this. and we will. for too long the working families of an aexpiring to america's middle class have been fighting an all-too-lonely battle to keep up and get ahead. and for too long, washington has

been an obstacle, even an opponent in that fight. that fight will remain uphill, but the for the first time in a long time there is hope. there is a real chance that fight may get a little less steep than and that it might gea little less lonely. help, you see, is on the way. mr. president, i know it's hard to see it right now. it's hard to see it in washington, and it must be even harder to see it out in the country. but change is coming, a new congress is on the way with new ideas and a new, renewed formed sense of purpose. temporary setbacks like this bill should not discourage us and they will not deter us, for the only way to keep winning is to keep fighting. washington may still be broken, but america is ready to fix it.

no matter how long it takes, no matter how much washington resists it. our opportunity to finally begin that work is almost here. we just have to know where to look for it. for not quite eastern windows only, when daylight comes into light, in front the sun climbs slow. how slowly. but westward look, the land is bright. i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the senator from vermont. mr. leahy: mr. president, first off, i commend the distinguished senior senator from connecticut, and i realize as presiding, he cannot respond. but i just want to say what a pleasure it is as a