‘It’s August and the Senate is in session, getting the people’s work done.’
Texas Border Business
WASHINGTON – Today on the floor, U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) praised the Senate’s progress on appropriations bills, including those for the Departments of Defense, Labor, and Health and Human Services. Excerpts of Sen. Cornyn’s floor remarks are below, and video can be found here.
“It’s August and the Senate is in session, getting the people’s work done.”
“This week marks the continued collaboration between Republicans and Democrats that started last week when we agreed to address two important funding bills.”
“After we pass them this week, as we will before we leave for the week, we will have passed nine of the 12 appropriations bills, which fund 87 percent of discretionary spending.”
“In the defense bill, we’ll be including a provision requiring the Department of Defense to issue two reports to Congress on the implementation of a bill called Fix NICS.”
‘The defense bill will also greatly benefit the nation by providing additional funding for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and the V-22 Osprey aircraft, both of which happen to be made in Texas.”
“This bill also provides $30 million for local school districts that provide education to military children.”
“Finally, this includes a 2.6 percent increase in military pay and increases active duty troop levels by more than 7,000.”
“In the second bill that we will be passing in addition to the defense appropriations bill, this will fund the Department of Labor and Health and Human Services and provide more funds for biomedical facilities to expand, remodel, and renovate their existing research capabilities that will benefit a multitude of institutions, including those like Texas Biomedical Research Institute in San Antonio.”
“We know that in the healthcare field that nurses are always in short supply, and this bill will also benefit nursing programs like the one at Texas Tech University, which will assist veterans in making the transition from military life to civilian life, and will finally, in the education sphere, provide $475 million for charter school programs.”
