▶ 0:14:54Chair Collins: Morning. The committee will come to order. Today, the committee will consider two more fiscal year 2026 appropriations bills. The defense legislation and the labor, health, and human services, education, and related agencies bill. I will leave my opening remarks and those of vice chair murray.
▶ 0:15:23Chair Collins: We will vote on reporting these two bills. After those votes, the chair and ranking member of the defense and labor hhs subcommittee will present their bills, and we will consider amendments. To date, our committee has considered and reported favorably six fiscal year 2026 appropriations bills with strong bipartisan support.
▶ 0:15:56Chair Collins: Assuming the approval of the two bills we are considering today, we will have increased the total to eight, and addressed nearly 90% of discretionary spending. We will continue our markups when congress returns in september so that we can report our remaining bills. We are also, as everyone here is well aware, working on a dual track.
▶ 0:16:28Chair Collins: As this committee continues to report out bills, our first package of appropriations bills is on the floor of the senate. I am hopeful that we can complete work on that package before congress leaves for the home state work period, so that we can be positioned to have another package considered on the senate floor when congress returns.
▶ 0:16:57Chair Collins: The appropriations process is the key way that congress carries out its constitutional responsibility for the power of the purse. I again want to express my appreciation for leader thune bringing our appropriation bills to the senate floor. Now, just a few comments on the funding bills before us today. First, we will consider the defense appropriations bill.
▶ 0:17:28Chair Collins: Let me begin by commending chairman mcconnell and ranking member cruz for their outstanding collaborative work to develop a bipartisan bill that provides resources essential to support our men and women in uniform, strengthens our military services and the defense industrial base, and helps ensure that our country is prepared to meet the threats of
▶ 0:17:58Chair Collins: Dangerous adversaries. The bill addresses major funding gaps across the board. It invests in shipbuilding, including providing a critical down payment toward an additional ddg 51, the workhorse of the U.S. surface fleet, along with investments in additional columbia and virginia class summaries.
▶ 0:18:27Chair Collins: It includes munitions production including air and missile defense interceptors, long-range missiles, and next-generation generation hypersonic weapons developed by our most innovative firms. It funds drone and counter drone technologies, which are increasingly changing the nature of the battlefield.
▶ 0:18:51Chair Collins: And it sustains security cooperation with close allies and partners whose growing defense capabilities are force multipliers for the united states, and contribute to the deterrence of shared adversaries. Finally, the bill invests in our most precious asset, the men and women of our armed forces. It shows our continuing commitment to their readiness, well-being, and mission success.
▶ 0:19:22Chair Collins: The second bill that we will consider is for the departments of labor, health and human services, education, and related agencies. This bill prioritizes funding to help make america's -- americans healthier, and supports lifesaving medical research, including through targeted funding increases for alzheimer's, cancer, lyme disease, parkinson's, als,
▶ 0:19:57Chair Collins: Diabetes, and rare disease research. The bill also supports families by investing in education and affordable childcare, which promotes financial stability for working parents, and benefits our economy.
▶ 0:20:13Chair Collins: It also maintains funding for trio, a program that I know from the experience in my state has made an incredible difference in the opportunities provided for many low income and first-generation students seeking higher education. The bill continues funding for key priorities like the low income home energy assistance program, and job corps.
▶ 0:20:44Chair Collins: I want to express my deep appreciation to chair capito and ranking member baldwin for their excellent work on this very important bill. Like the bills already reported by the committee, both of the bills before us today are bipartisan member-driven products.
▶ 0:21:06Chair Collins: Combined across just these two subcommittees, 95 senators -- 95 of our colleagues -- submitted more than 11,000 requests to the committee for consideration.
▶ 0:21:25Chair Collins: So this bill also reflects an enormous amount of work by the subcommittee members and their staff to go through those 11,000 requests from 95 senators. I would now like to recognize vice chair murray for any comments that she would like to make, and to again express my pleasure working with her. Senator murray?
▶ 0:21:55Sen. Murray: Thank you, chair collins. Really appreciate the work you are doing on this and the ability to work with you has been great, so I thank you for all your work and I want to thank senator mcconnell and senator coons, the members of the sub -- defensive subcommittee, as well as senator m baldwin of the hhs subcommittee, for all the work that went into these bills today.
▶ 0:22:22Sen. Murray: These are not the bills I would have written on my own, but they nevertheless represent serious bipartisan work to make some truly critical investments in our families and country's future, from the fence funding that supports our military and keeps our country safe funding for health care, child care, schools, seniors, medical research, public health, workforce training and safety, and many other programs that keep our community strong.
▶ 0:22:50Sen. Murray: The priorities laid out in both of these bills are fundamental to our nation's security in america's livelihoods and health, so I'm glad this committee was able to deliver and reach a bipartisan compromise to write these bills that deliver essential funds to help people solve problems, and reject many of the absolutely devastating cuts and much of the chaos that president trump is pushing for.
▶ 0:23:15Sen. Murray: It remains clear to me we cannot afford to go down the path trump wants to push us down. Their vision is one where this committee becomes less bipartisan and less powerful, where the president and the omb director call the shots, and some republicans in congress spend their time cutting what they are told to cut, even at the expense of their own constituents, where instead of securing new investments for folks back home through
▶ 0:23:46Sen. Murray: Bipartisan agreements, lawmakers have to plead their case to the administration to unlock funds we have already delivered, or secure special exceptions for spending cuts. Where biomedical research and education funding gets held up for no reason at all, where we got investments in working families while letting trump's corruption run rampant -- that is what trump and vogt want.
▶ 0:24:14Sen. Murray: There is no comparison between a bipartisan process that gives her constituents a say in how their tax dollars are spent, or another slush fund cr that forfeits our power and let's trump rob some states and pick winners and losers, regardless of what our communities actually need or the law says. The bills we are voting on today really show how big of a difference there is. Anyone who has doubts about that can just look at the hhs bill.
▶ 0:24:43Sen. Murray: It rejects trump's cuts that would have devastated our work force fight substance use disorders, hiv, and pandemics. It illuminated women's health investments like title x funding and teen pregnancy prevention programs, and essentially saw the cdc cut in half it rejects backward proposals from trump that would hurt our students and workers, like eliminating the preschool grants or slashing help or gutting public school funding and ending job corps and
▶ 0:25:13Sen. Murray: Americorps. It rejects efforts to gut agencies that protect the rights of patients, students, and workers. And I am especially pleased to note it rejects trump' is 40% cut to lifesaving medical research, and increases the nih budget by $400 million, so we can continue to make progress against cancer, alzheimer's disease, and so much more.
▶ 0:25:36Sen. Murray: To the scientists wondering if there will even be an nih by the end of this administration, this committee's resounding message is yes. Congress has your back. We are not going to give up the fight against cancer, alzheimer's, or rare diseases. We support you. We need you to stay here and keep this research going. But I want to be clear. At the end of the day, this is not about rejecting trump.
▶ 0:26:02Sen. Murray: It is about investing in our families, in our schools, and medical research, and community health. This bill even increases funding for crucial programs with new investments to allow the social security administration to actually help people and undo some of the damage that trump and doge have recklessly caused, and increased investments in childcare, something I will never stop fighting to make more progress on.
▶ 0:26:30Sen. Murray: One thing this bill does not do, unfortunately, his fund the corporation for public broadcasting. As everyone knows, republicans rescinded bipartisan funding we provided for cpb in the first ever partisan rescission package. It is a shameful reality, and now communities across the country will suffer the consequences is over 1500 stations lose critical funding.
▶ 0:26:54Sen. Murray: I really hope that republicans will join us to restore this funding down the line, and I want you to know I am going to keep pushing to do that. Before I close, I want to say I am clear eyed. The investments we make in these bills today are really only half the equation, because the fact of the matter is we have an administration right now that is intent on ignoring congress, breaking the law, and doing everything it can without any transparency to dismantle programs and agencies that help families.
▶ 0:27:24Sen. Murray: There is no magic bullet that will change that unfortunate reality. Our bills reject devastating cuts and reject many of this administration's more absurd proposals, like dismantling the department of education or destroying hhs, and more. But I still hope we can do more when it comes to demanding accountability, transparency, and that this administration actually follows our laws.
▶ 0:27:51Sen. Murray: We all know president trump cannot dismantle the department of education or shift education programs to other agencies. Authorizing laws prevent that. Appropriation laws prevent that. Yet that has not stopped him from shipping cte and adult education programs to dol, in violation of our laws. Secretary mcmahon says she wants to do the same for title I and idea.
▶ 0:28:19Sen. Murray: Am glad our bill takes new steps to make sure she cannot do that, and title I and idea program students depend on do not get dismantled or moved out of e.d. I would like this bill to also do the same for every other education program that states administer, to prevent states from having to deal with the chaos of these dismantling efforts. And I am disappointed there was not bipartisan support yet to do that. Still, I'm going to keep making the case for more accountability and transparency.
▶ 0:28:51Sen. Murray: We need members across the aisle to not only reject the cuts, but to speak up and speak out against what this administration is already doing to defy our laws and hurt the people we represent, because as we speak now, trump and vote -- vogt are holding up millions of dollars we have secured on a bipartisan basis. They're on course to impact billions of taxpayer dollars while agencies fail to meet basic requirements of law.
▶ 0:29:18Sen. Murray: Right now, they are illegally hiding data that would let us know whether funds we passed are being spent as intended, and help us strengthen the bills we are in the middle of writing. It is absurd that we have to mark up bills while being kept in the dark. Just this week, we learned russ vote, through a footnote, paused $15 billion in nih funding.
▶ 0:29:45Sen. Murray: One footnote from an unelected bureaucrat overruling congress, and even nih, to block $15 billion in funding for things like cancer research. That is not transparency. It is not what congress intended. And it is not acceptable. We need all of our colleagues to join us in insisting that all blocked funding gets out, not just the programs most important to them.
▶ 0:30:11Sen. Murray: In sum, these are critical, solid bills that deliver vital funds for families and reject many devastating proposals. While I of course would have liked to do more, I will not stop discussing how we can make that happen with my colleagues, and I will be voting yes to advance both of these bills today. I'm glad we are on track to continue making progress on bipartisan bills that reject devastating cuts and invest in our communities.
▶ 0:30:42Sen. Murray: Thank, chair collins. -- thank you very much, chair collins.
▶ 0:30:47Chair Collins: I now recognize the vice chair to make the customary motions for the defense and labor hhs bill.
▶ 0:30:56Sen. Murray: I move the committee report favorably and original bill making appropriations for the department of defense for the fiscal year ending september 30, 2026, and an original bill making appropriations for the department of labor, health and human services, and education related agencies or the fiscal year ending september 30, 2026, and for other purposes, provided that each bill be subject to amendments and that any amendment increasing budget authority offset by an amendment
▶ 0:31:27Sen. Murray: Of equal or greater budget authority, and provide that the chair of the committee or subcommittee be authorized to offer the substance as a committee amendment in the nature of a substitute to the house companion measure.
▶ 0:31:39Chair Collins: I will note that we have a quorum present, and we will now vote to report the bill, making appropriations for defense, subject to amendment. The clerk will call the roll. [roll call]
▶ 0:33:17Chair Collins: On this vote, there are 24 ayes and three nay s. The motion to report the bill favorably as agreed to. We will now vote to report the labor, health and human services, education, and related agencies bill, subject to amendment. The clerk will call the roll. [roll call]
▶ 0:34:01Sen. Hagerty: Nay. [roll call]
▶ 0:34:50Chair Collins: Aye. On this vote, there are 25 ayes and three nays. The bill is agreed to.
▶ 0:35:14Sen. Hagerty: I would like to be recorded as a yay on the defense bill.
▶ 0:35:21Chair Collins: Without objection. On the vote on the defense appropriations bill, there are 25 ayes and three nays. The motion to report the bill favorably is agreed to. We will now turn to consideration of the defense bill.
▶ 0:35:48Chair Collins: Again, I want to thank the subcommittee and its extraordinary leadership for working together and producing a strong bipartisan bill. I also want to thank the excellent subcommittee staff for working to get the bill ready for this markup. I am not going to repeat the comments I made in my opening statement describing the bill, but I would recognize vice chair murray if she would like to comment further on the bill.
▶ 0:36:16Sen. Murray: I just want to thank chair mcconnell and ranking member kunz again for working to put together this bill that really makes crucial investments in our military, not just in weapons and infrastructure, the we do have important investments to modernize our military and strengthen our defense base. But we also have investments to support our allies and strengthen partnerships across the globe.
▶ 0:36:37Sen. Murray: This bill does make crucial investments in the indo pacific, africa, europe, and the middle east, and rejects dangerous cuts to support our allies, ukraine and the baltics. This legislation invest in our most important security asset, our brave men and women in uniform, from a pay increase for servicemembers to robust childcare funding to new investments in preventing suicide and sexual assault, and conducting lifesaving medical research.
▶ 0:37:05Sen. Murray: I really appreciate the work that went into negotiating these important investments, and I think the work of all the committee staff.
▶ 0:37:11Chair Collins: I will now turn to the subcommittee leaders to say more about their bill, and we shall begin with chairman mcconnell.
▶ 0:37:22Sen. Mcconnell: Thank you very much, madam chair. My colleague senator coons and I worked closely together and have similar views about the condition the country faces.
▶ 0:37:46Sen. Mcconnell: Before giving my prepared remarks, let me just say again I think not only the prior administration but this administration as well have underestimated the level of challenge that we have.
▶ 0:38:04Sen. Mcconnell: You have got authoritarian regimes coordinating with each other -- the north koreans, the russians, the chinese, the iranians, iranian proxies -- all communicating. One thing they have in common -- they hate us, and they want to replace the role that america plays.
▶ 0:38:35Sen. Mcconnell: And so we have tried as much as we can underneath the top line to do what the two of us felt was a better job of trying to deal with the reality of the situation. So I want to thank all the members of our subcommittee.
▶ 0:39:00Sen. Mcconnell: This was a very, very complicated effort to try to get beyond where we have been under this administration and the previous one. Year after year, we have failed in many ways to provide for the common defense. This bill recognizes the administration's intention to restore peace through strength.
▶ 0:39:33Sen. Mcconnell: The department of defense's desire to achieve drone dominance. In the president's interest in having more missiles than any other country. It reflects the need to build more ships for a navy that must compete with china.
▶ 0:39:52Sen. Mcconnell: It acknowledges that america's adversaries are increasingly aligned, and investing more heavily in undermining our interests, and that america must take the risk of simultaneous conflict in multiple theaters seriously.
▶ 0:40:10Sen. Mcconnell: But ultimately, our topline allocation of $852.5 billion, which is higher than either the president's budget request or the house mark, underscores that we cannot seriously address these challenges while artificially constraining our resources.
▶ 0:40:32Sen. Mcconnell: We cannot build a golden dome or restock our munitions or bring back american shipbuilding without a sustained increase investment in all of our natural -- national defense. And we cannot treat reconciliation like a cure-all. I was glad to vote for the one big, beautiful bill, but let's not kid ourselves.
▶ 0:41:02Sen. Mcconnell: It was not the additive defense spending some of us had hoped for. Moving must pay bills for major long-standing programs from base to reconciliation still makes little sense to me. And somehow, the process seems to have also allowed important programs to slip through the cracks.
▶ 0:41:27Sen. Mcconnell: In fact, senior pentagon officials have already come to me and my colleague senator coons to report that there are still billions of dollars short on programs that we were told reconciliation would address.
▶ 0:41:45Sen. Mcconnell: So the point is there is no substitute for robust full year defense appropriation, and this is a strong bipartisan bill that proves we can do our job and keep our commitments to the men and women of the U.S. military. They deserve no less. Here are a few of the items we addressed.
▶ 0:42:11Sen. Mcconnell: First, operations in the middle east illustrate how quickly modern warfare can exhaust our arsenal of critical munitions. The administration has requested -- it did not fully maximize production and capacity for certain critical munitions. So we added 5.2 billion dollars to buy larger quantities of air defense interceptors, long-range flyers, and other key munitions.
▶ 0:42:43Sen. Mcconnell: We also added $2.1 billion to expand production capacity of munitions and included some important initial investments in reassuring america's organic industrial base. Second, we also added $4.6 million to addressing growing demands for more extensive air and missile defenses.
▶ 0:43:17Sen. Mcconnell: Developing a more layered missile defense shield that can protect our homeland and our forces from growing threats is going to take years of sustained funding. Third, we try to help the department meet requirements that the final reconciliation bill and the fiscal year 2026 budget request left unfunded, including advanced procurement for our virginia and columbia-class submarines, costs
▶ 0:43:50Sen. Mcconnell: To compete for surface vessels, major renovations to a dilapidated marine corps barracks, and ship operation costs for our navy. We also included more funding for destroyer construction, shipyard infrastructure, and workforce development to help fix our ailing shipbuilding industry and get production back on track.
▶ 0:44:19Sen. Mcconnell: Fourth, we invested in ally and partner militaries. We know that confronting chinese aggression will require collective deterrence, and we have to grow our friends' capacity to defend themselves in the indo pacific, and in europe in the middle east. It enhances deterrence and helps our allies share more of the burden.
▶ 0:44:46Sen. Mcconnell: It also means more investment in interoperable U.S.-made systems and more risks for U.S. service members. These are investments that pay dividends, and I'm not just talking about treaty allies. The secretary of the army rightly calls ukraine the silicon valley of warfare.
▶ 0:45:09Sen. Mcconnell: The navy considers the maritime fight between russia and ukraine as the black seed battle lab, and recognizes the need for rapid innovation. So we added $216 million on top of the administration's request for drone and counter drone capabilities, consistent with the intention of achieving drone dominance.
▶ 0:45:39Sen. Mcconnell: But abandoning the foremost experts of drone warfare would be strategic self-harm. Shutting off engagement with ukraine would undermine our military's efforts to prepare for the modern battlefield.
▶ 0:45:59Sen. Mcconnell: So, like our friends on the armed services committee, we are reassuring funding for the ukraine security assistance initiative, and other security assistance programs that make america safer. So madam chair, I am proud of the work of the defense subcommittee and producing this bill for our colleagues' consideration, and I hope it will harm the support of the entire committee.
▶ 0:46:29Sen. Mcconnell: Allow me to close with just one more note. None of the challenges we are facing today can be solved by a single bill in the course of a single budget cycle. Readiness is not a box to be checked. It is a state to achieve. And to maintain.
▶ 0:46:56Sen. Mcconnell: In this era of major power competition, security for future generations of americans means the following. Steady, consistent, predictable. Increasing investments in our common defense year after year after year.
▶ 0:47:26Sen. Mcconnell: If we are tempted to treat successful appropriations like a finish line, we are thinking about our obligation all wrong.
▶ 0:47:39Chair Collins: Thank you you, chairman mcconnell. I would now turn to the ranking member, senator coons, for his statement.
▶ 0:47:49Sen. Coons: Thank you, and I first want to thank chairman mcconnell. He has been a great partner this year, and our working relationship on this important bill is what I think the american people would be proud to see out of their elected leaders.
▶ 0:48:03Sen. Coons: We ci tie on today's critical national security challenges -- the touring china, standing with ukraine, standing up to the increasing coordination of the people's republic of china, russia, iran, and the dprk, maintaining our asymmetric advantage of our global network of allies and partners, and modernizing the dod with a sense of urgency, because the clock is ticking.
▶ 0:48:31Sen. Coons: That is not to say that it has been easy tackling these problems. The administration submitted the latest budget in history. We received some official budget documents last friday, and others are still missing. And for the first time in history, the administration decided to split its request into discretionary and budget reconciliation sections, which as the chairman has noted, has not worked well.
▶ 0:48:59Sen. Coons: This decision and omb's inability to explain it thoroughly, and the challenges the armed services committee faced as a result, subjected our national security to an uncertain partisan process, but also ended up creating $10 billion of shameful mistakes and disconnects that were utterly unnecessary.
▶ 0:49:18Sen. Coons: We have also frankly had to deal with a secretary of defense more focused on fighting culture wars than deterring real ones, and a director of national intelligence to focused on distributing this information then supporting unbiased analytic work. It has been hard to get answers to basic questions and to figure out the best ways to use this bill to invest in and help expand the capabilities of our military intelligence community.
▶ 0:49:45Sen. Coons: When we did get timely and solid information, it was professional military career civilians who got it to us. This bill is better because of them, and I thank them for it. In summary, the bill before the committee recommends $852 billion for dod and the intelligence community, and an increase of 2.6% above the fiscal year 2026 request.
▶ 0:50:11Sen. Coons: This bill reduces waste and duplication by making hundreds of cuts to underperforming programs and realigning those billions of dollars in saving into higher priority programs. Let me just make a point here about rescission. Rescission accomplished by a party-line vote outside the appropriations process is corrosive to our role and to trust.
▶ 0:50:34Sen. Coons: But doing it this way, oversight, rescission, and reallocation of billions of dollars within the appropriations process, is constructive, and anyone who wants the details of the rescissions and reallocations that were accomplished through this bipartisan process -- I would be happy to give you those details. One of my highest priorities was our allies, and this bill delivers.
▶ 0:51:00Sen. Coons: Thanks to the chairman' as leadership, we restore a two ukraine and add additional funds for $800 million and restored 220 $5 million in security assistance to the baltic states, which the request had cut. These allies are on the absolute front line of resisting russian aggression, and we are learning critical lessons about the future of warfare, as well as standing with those who fight for freedom.
▶ 0:51:24Sen. Coons: Learning these lessons from ukraine, we include critical change in the army's budget -- most notably funding their shift to rapid, affordable uav's and uav technologies. We also made improvements in the underlying request.
▶ 0:51:42Sen. Coons: Given challenges with missile stockpiles we are seeing in ukraine and the middle east, I cannot explain why the administration did not propose to buy every single missile it could on existing production lines, and expand others, but it did not, so we took the savings that we found to buy $5 billion more in munitions, because we must increase our nation' is magazine. We made significant investments in shipbuilding, especially submarines.
▶ 0:52:08Sen. Coons: We restored next generation platforms like the navy's sixth generation fighter and early warfare -- early warning aircraft. I cannot explain why the department wanted to wait on navy fighters or air force early-morning programs. We identified these issues and address them appropriately. Also make significant downpayments on readiness across the services.
▶ 0:52:32Sen. Coons: Once again, I cannot explain why the administration continues to raid these accounts for unrelated immigration enforcement, or by budget reconciliation cut these accounts. But we have added funds for readiness and training. As the chairman manchin, a billion dollars for the marine barracks 2030 program, which the armed services committee left out of reconciliation.
▶ 0:52:56Sen. Coons: We also added a 3.8% pay raise for the entire military, as well as other quality-of-life initiatives that I think the value as we invest in military families as well. We got rid of the basic housing allowance for service members and families, 95%, and raised it to 100%, a six-year-old program. And we fully fund the childcare fee assessment program.
▶ 0:53:21Sen. Coons: In some, -- sum, this bill recognizes a world more dangerous than at any time since the cold war. We all need to put politics aside and get to work. I arch the committee to support this legislation. As the chair referenced, 95 senators filed 11,000 requests. I want to thank and recognize the subcommittee staff who assisted the chairman and me on this bill.
▶ 0:53:46Sen. Coons: The buck stops with us, but the staff at our direction conducted critical oversight of dod and the intelligence community, bringing to us what they found. I want to thank the members of my staff, bridget, rob, ryan -- and thank chairman mcconnell's staff -- rachel, laura, megan, robert, alexa, todd, kim, cole, tom, and elyse.
▶ 0:54:17Sen. Coons: Every day this year, these two teams have worked together seamlessly -- seamlessly -- to do the right thing for our national security. Their long nights and weekends are why we are ready to proceed with this bill. I hope they get some sleep. I hope my colleagues will consider what our legacy will be. We cannot run our national security on a continuing resolution. Please join with the chair, the vice chair, and the chair of the subcommittee and supporting all of our bills. Thank you, madam chair.
▶ 0:54:45Chair Collins: Thank, vice chair coons. I see that senator gillibrand has joined us. Before we turn to the manager's amendment, I would like to give her an opportunity to be recorded, if she wishes to, on the passage of the defense appropriations bill in the labor a to just bill.
▶ 0:55:10Sen. Thune: Rebelled -- Sen.
▶ 0:55:13Gillibrand: I would like to be ported as a yes on both bills.
▶ 0:55:17Chair Collins: Thank you. On the defense bill, there are now 26 eisen three nays -- ayes and three nays p the motion is agreed to. On the labor hhs bill, there are now 26 eyes -- ayes and three nays. I will now turn to senator mcconnell for managers package.
▶ 0:55:47Sen. Mcconnell: Thank you, madam chair. The managers package that we worked through on a bipartisan basis -- this package has been negotiated and agreed to, as I indicated, by both sides. I ask that it be adopted by unanimous consent.
▶ 0:56:07Chair Collins: Are there any objections? Without objection, the managers package is agreed to. Are there members who wish to offer an amendment to the bill? Senator shaheen?
▶ 0:56:24Sen. Shaheen: Thank you, madam chair. We are distributing the shaheen amendment. I don't know if there is a number for this amendment. But it is just two lines, and it says none of the funds appropriated or otherwise made available in this act or any other act shall be used to operate or modify a boeing 747
▶ 0:56:55Sen. Shaheen: Transferred from qatar. Since it was announced in may, I think many of us on this committee have been trying to determine the exact cost of retrofitting the qatar royal family's gift of a boeing 747 jumbo jet to president trump.
▶ 0:57:14Sen. Shaheen: In addition to the security and ethical concerns of accepting a foreign gift of this nature, there are real issues around the cost of this retrofit that have not been explained, as well as how long it will take, and once that is done, whether in fact it will be as secure as air force one, which as we know is currently being completed by boeing.
▶ 0:57:43Sen. Shaheen: It has been reported that the jet could cost up to a billion dollars for necessary security controls, but we have not been able to get an accurate estimate from the air force, and they have continued to downplay the full cost. When I asked this of the secretary of defense at the hearing, he told us that that number was classified.
▶ 0:58:08Sen. Shaheen: But finally, during the air force secretary's testimony to the defense subcommittee this year on the air force budget, he admitted for the first time that the funds to upgrade the qatari plane were reprogrammed from the nuclear modernization budget -- specifically from the sentinel program.
▶ 0:58:30Sen. Shaheen: It has been reported that this transfer was done through reprogramming authority, that was granted to the department of defense continuing resolution, and that it could be at least $900 million. I understand, like others on the committee, that the sentinel program is over budget.
▶ 0:58:48Sen. Shaheen: I think it weakens our nuclear program to move this money into a project that there are still serious unanswered concerns about how much money it is going to take, and whether it would come in the end, give us a plane that is going to be as secure as air force one.
▶ 0:59:11Sen. Shaheen: That is why this amendment, I hope the members of this committee will consider it carefully, and I intend to vote for it. Thank you, madam chair.
▶ 0:59:22Chair Collins: Chairman mcconnell?
▶ 0:59:26Sen. Mcconnell: This jet was just delivered to the department of defense. We would need to have a classified briefing to understand any proposed modifications and the risk of not applying them.
▶ 0:59:44Sen. Mcconnell: The aircraft timeline is such that it is not going to be modified in -- with fiscal $26 in any event, making this a poison pill for a political amendment better suited for the ndaa. Therefore, I recommend a no vote.
▶ 1:00:08Chair Collins: Are there other members who wish to speak?
▶ 1:00:12Sen. Coons: If I might briefly, I want to anchor senator shaheen for offering this valuable amendment to prevent the department from using nearly a billion dollars in taxpayer funds to retrofit a royal plane to serve as a temporary air force one. As you mention, it raises security and ethical questions. The white house took advantage of the lax standards of the continuing resolution to push through a vanity project.
▶ 1:00:37Sen. Coons: Funds for the department should be used for our nation's substantive defense, not a flashy object to boost the president's ego.
▶ 1:00:45Sen. Reed: Thank you, madam chairman. I to support senator shaheen' is a madman. -- -- senator shaheen's amendment. I was at the subcommittee hearing and asked the secretary of defense directly, can you tell us the top line number for the reconfiguration of the aircraft? He told us no, it is classified. That is ridiculous.
▶ 1:01:14Sen. Reed: If it is classified, I would not qualify it as a secret. I would qualify it as embarrassing. It will cost at least a billion dollars. And it probably will take one or two years to complete this aircraft. We all know where this is headed -- to the president's library.
▶ 1:01:40Sen. Reed: A fully functional aircraft which is going to be delivered to the president's library, which I presume will be used with the permission of the library. This is completely -- it has never been done before by any president. To stop it now I think makes sense.
▶ 1:02:06Sen. Reed: Senator murphy's suggestion I think is that it will spend its useful life -- this is being transferred to the air force. But as soon as the president leaves office, a functionally useful aircraft is going to accompany him.
▶ 1:02:25Sen. Reed: The only precedent I think we have here is the aircraft at the ronald reagan library in california, and that was completely stripped of its engines and everything else so it could be a model, a display. That is not the object of the president right now. I would strongly urge that this amendment be passed. Thank you.
▶ 1:02:52Chair Collins: Senator mcconnell and -- then senator mullin.
▶ 1:02:59Sen. Mcconnell: I want to say to my good friend senator reed I'm proud of the fact that the ndaa passes every year. But this bill has to be signed. Has to be signed in order to fund what we believe is in the best interest of the country.
▶ 1:03:21Sen. Mullin: I have two minutes respect for the ranking member, but I think the narrative you are drawing is just not factual, senator. The president has never said he will put this in the library. He said it in a joke one time. As you have been in the briefing, I have been in the briefing, and as you've talked about using this particular plane for the vice president in the next presidential election, or whoever the 48th president of the united states is -- we are talking about using the current one that has been in the air for
▶ 1:03:53Sen. Mullin: Over 35 years to possibly be retired and go to the presidential library. You and I sat in that same proving. The narrative you are drawing is not factual. The plane itself, for those that don't know -- those that do know, because a few of us were in the briefing -- this plane was offered during president biden's administration. He started negotiating this in august.
▶ 1:04:18Sen. Mullin: And I was in qatar when the prime minister talks to me about it. I talked about -- I talked to the committee about it at the time because there was an issue on how they could actually do it, if it was a gift or a transfer, or if it could go straight to the executive branch. That conversation happen. The conversation you are drawing is not accurate. I wish you would speak on an actual perspective, not a political point.
▶ 1:04:48Sen. Mullin: If you want to talk about dollars and what it will take to retrofit it, we can do that. But the current air force 2 is also completely outdated, and the current air force one is completely outdated. What are we supposed to do? Keep flying old airplanes? I just want to know what the solution is here.
▶ 1:05:09Chair Collins: Sen. -- senator murray?
▶ 1:05:15Sen. Murray: I think president trump's decision to accept this foreign plane is really an outrageous bribe. Under no circumstances should our taxpayers be on the hook for a massive cost to modify and use a foreign plane as air force one. The funding that congress appropriates in this bill should take care of our service members and provide them with cutting edge capabilities, not spend unnecessary to retrofit a royal plane.
▶ 1:05:42Sen. Murray: This is massively wasteful, and actually the next generation air force one is already in the pipeline. I also, by the way, think it is a huge security vulnerability on this plane. This amendment that the senator's office offers would prevent the department of defense from wasting any more precious taxpayer resources on a truly corrupt and I believe wasteful endeavor. I hope my colleagues vote yes.
▶ 1:06:13Chair Collins: Senator kennedy?
▶ 1:06:20Sen. Kennedy: Thank you, madam chair. I don't really have a dog in this one. I think like senator mcconnell we ought to be driven by the numbers. In order to be driven by the numbers, we have got to have the numbers first. But I am set here this morning, and I appreciate the bipartisan words.
▶ 1:06:50Sen. Kennedy: But with all due respect, madame vice chair, when you say that the president of the united states has been bribed --
▶ 1:07:00Sen. Murray: I said potential.
▶ 1:07:02Sen. Kennedy: That is pretty strong. When you say that the director of the office of management and budget is corrupt, that's pretty strong. And I think if you are going to say someone has been bribed or someone is corrupt, you ought to be specific. And I notice you have not been.
▶ 1:07:30Sen. Kennedy: I do not -- I have listened to a lot of pretty words about partisanship, but then they get personal. I don't think it is productive. It is up to you. This is america. You can say and do what you want. If you are going to say somebody has been bribed, you need to say by whom for what. If you say russ vote is corrupt, I want to know what that means. With all due respect.
▶ 1:07:59Chair Collins: Senator murkowski?
▶ 1:08:03Sen. Murkowski: Thank you, madam chairman. I'm going to be opposing the shaheen amendment and perhaps others that may be introduced with regards to this aircraft, I don't want my no vote to be assumed that I am ok with where we are with this transfer, that I am ok not knowing the numbers behind it, that I am perhaps ok
▶ 1:08:35Sen. Murkowski: With the appearances, because I have concerns about them. But what I have is the utmost respect and regard for the chairman and the vice chair of this subcommittee that have executed a pretty strong defense bill. And I'm going to vote no on this amendment.
▶ 1:09:01Sen. Murkowski: That is because I think the imperative in passing this bill overrides any concerns I may have no about where we are no with this transfer of this aircraft. I just wanted that stated for the record.
▶ 1:09:20Chair Collins: Are there other senators that which to comment?
▶ 1:09:25Sen. Shaheen: Thank you, madam chair. My intent is not to derail the underlyingbut I would say to ser mullin and senator kennedy, I didn't accuse anybody of fraud, I said it raises serious concerns about the implications and I would say to anyone who was on sack d, if you haven't read the classified information about what is going to be entailed in producing this plane, you need to do that.
▶ 1:09:57Sen. Shaheen: If there are serious questions that haven't been answered, and they won't give us the answers. So my concern is aimed at the secretary of defense, as I said, we finally got from insights only heard from the air force who admitted that the money is going to be transferred from the sigma program, which is already a concern for us. I think there are serious concerns raised.
▶ 1:10:26Sen. Shaheen: I don't want to derail this underlying bill, I think it's really important for us to pass it, but I do think we ought to be asking questions about what is going on here, because there are real ramifications for our military, for the department of defense, for our future, and I agree with you, senator mullin, we need to have secure planes for the president and vice president fly in, and what is going to be done as a result of this is not going to give up that secure plane.
▶ 1:10:56Sen. Shaheen: Spending a billion dollars to do that I think is a real issue that we should all be concerned about. So thank you, madam chair. I'm happy to withdraw this amendment if there are concerns about it. But I do think we need to be paying attention and we aren't currently. >> I appreciate the withdrawal of the amendment. Are there other amendments? >> I have a comment.
▶ 1:11:26Sen. Shaheen: Thank you very much. First of all, I hope my comments weren't interpreted -- it's on, thank you. I hope my comments weren't interpreted as questioning the legality of anyone's activities, but the fact is that this aircraft has been thoroughly considered for donations to the president's library. We all know that.
▶ 1:11:56Sen. Shaheen: It's not something that's going to go in the air force and sustain the air force aircraft in fact, abc reported attorney general pam bondi and trumps top employee said it would be legally permissible for the nation of the aircraft tradition -- condition on transferring to the presidential library before the end of his term according to sources for their determination. So the contemplation is very clear. It's been documented.
▶ 1:12:23Sen. Shaheen: This is going to be transformed with air force money and then given to the library. I don't think that's an appropriate use of air force money. Thank you. >> senator durbin. >> thanks, madame chairman. I have an amendment which I would like to have circulated to the department of defense bill.
▶ 1:12:45Sen. Shaheen: Madam chair, this amendment will ensure the department of defense funding the issues for defense, not as a blank check to the department of homeland ready. With the passing of senator anyway, I found myself surprising leak in the condition of chairing the subcommittee. It is an enormous responsibility.
▶ 1:13:06Sen. Shaheen: I salute one of the poster perfect -- best appropriation stance on the bill for putting together this massive work full tried to do and what was explained by both the ranking member, the chair of the subcommittee is to take limited resources and make sure they are spent well to keep america safe. What I'm addressing here is a practice which many members of the senate may not be aware of. This amendment addresses the practice where the department of defense is called on to loan money to other departments.
▶ 1:13:37Sen. Shaheen: Sometimes reimbursable, sometimes not. The bill would prohibit the department of defense from supporting immigration enforcement on a nonreimbursable basis. In other words, department of homeland security is going to spend money for that purpose, let them do so. But if they are going to borrow it from the department of defense, pay it back. Immigration enforcement should be no different than other agencies.
▶ 1:14:01Sen. Shaheen: For example, when we have a natural disaster in the stafford loan is activated, we have instances in the past for the department of defense has provided the money for that natural disaster but the understanding they would be paid fact, except in extraordinary circumstances. So it is done, but it is done on a reimbursable basis. So let's take a look at what happened so far.
▶ 1:14:29Sen. Shaheen: So far this year in the last few month department of homeland security has borrowed nine hundred million dollars from the department of defense, not to be burst. $900 million. By the end of this year is estimated to be $2 billion. What does that mean? How are we going to house people who are being deported? We can house them through dhs facilities or we can house them to department of defense. The decision was made, let's do it at guantánamo.
▶ 1:14:59Sen. Shaheen: How does that sound? Let's take a look at what that is costing as an example. For 180 individuals to be housed in guantanamo for the department of homeland security on a three-month basis cost $3 million. How much is that for night? $72,000 a night for each one of the detainees.
▶ 1:15:26Sen. Shaheen: Because they chose to put them in guantanamo and a dod facility and incidentally not reimburse the department of defense for the expenditure to do this. What if the use of the dhs facility to house these individuals, how much would that cost? Less than $3.2 million for the same group of 180 million instead of the $72,000 per night place for them to sleep in guantanamo, it's nearly $7,000 a night.
▶ 1:15:53Sen. Shaheen: The point I'm trying to make you is this is going to be an expensive undertaking, this notion of massive deportation. It's going to involve moving around a lot of money in a lot of ways and reconciliations already addressed some part of this. All I'm saying is if you're going to borrow the money from the dod to pay for this massive deportation, pay it back. This money has been appropriated for the defense of our nation and that is how it should be spent. >> senator mcconnell.
▶ 1:16:22Senator Mcconnell: We certainly had a lot of back-and-forth about the border over the years. Here's the factual situation. Unchecked migration at the southern border represents, we would all agree, a national security threat.
▶ 1:16:43Senator Mcconnell: The administration's policies, including dod support to the border have helped dramatically curtail threat. As a factual matter, this is a poison pill amendment, but even more important it is a hypocritical one.
▶ 1:17:03Senator Mcconnell: You may or may not remember that the obama and biden administrations used the dod to support border and immigration activities. In fact, during the previous administration, democrats not only used dod to assist dhs, but objected to efforts to get dhs to reimburse dod.
▶ 1:17:32Senator Mcconnell: This is also a political debate masquerading as a budget debate. So I would ask my colleagues to reject the amendment. >> are there further comments on the amendment? Senator coons? Dark outlook. Both parties support common sense integration form.
▶ 1:17:52Senator Mcconnell: Dod has been dragged, service members have been dragged into a separate set of activities like paying for migrant detention centers, line deportation flight have no law enforcement on board, and by reallocating these funds as the former chairman of the subcommittee said. Dod has diverted about $900 million for this committee had appropriated for troops and they admitted it will be in the billions before we are done.
▶ 1:18:25Senator Mcconnell: Dhs was just provided $160 billion for the sins, so there's no reason dod should continue to provide this support on a nonreimbursable basis. There is a lot of legitimate military needs we have to meet. I would encourage a yes vote on this amendment. >> are there other senators who wish to be recognized on this amendment? If not, the clerk will call the role. >> no. >> no by proxy.
▶ 1:18:59Senator Mcconnell: >> no. [calling roll]
▶ 1:20:10Senator Mcconnell: >> on this though there are 14 ayes and 15 nays, the amendment does not agreed to. Senator murphy. >> thank you very much, madam chair. I'm offering a slightly more tailored amendment as a follow-up to senator shaheen's amendment, like a roll call vote on this amendment.
▶ 1:20:37Senator Mcconnell: This is an extraordinary amount of money to be used on a plane retrofit that will likely only be in service for a short time. The administration has essentially refused to brief us on the full cost, reports are that this number could be easily $1 billion. I know to us in the defense budget that sound like a lot of money.
▶ 1:21:02Senator Mcconnell: To most americans that is a lot of their money could be spent on a plane that is not going to be in the service of the united states military or the united states air force for perhaps any longer than a few months. Because the president has, in fact, stated his intention to take this plane with him when he leaves office.
▶ 1:21:22Senator Mcconnell: If senator mcconnell is right and there are actually no funds being used in this coming fiscal year for the retrofit of the plane, that means that that work doesn't even begin for another year and a half meaning that the plane is only going to be in service as this bridge plane for a handful of months. Senator mullin, on may 12, the president of the united states said this.
▶ 1:21:48Senator Mcconnell: This plane will "go directly to my presidential library at the end of my term." there was no great chuckle from the audience after he said that. You may interpret that as a joke, it certainly didn't seem to be intended as a joke and if that is actually true, that the intention is to transfer this plane the president, then that is just an unconscionable waste of taxpayer dollars a billion dollars to pay for a plane that
▶ 1:22:20Senator Mcconnell: For 95% of its life will be used privately by the president of the united states? As to this question of corruption or conflict of interest, yes, we have historically had a bipartisan commitment in this congress to prohibit gifts to high-ranking elected officials because it does create the potential for massive corruption and conflict of interest.
▶ 1:22:46Senator Mcconnell: And this is if the plane is to be transferred to the president after just a few months of being in public usage, essentially a gift to him for to his presidential library. And so if that's ok, then are we all up for sale as well? Have we just stopped our bipartisan prohibition and concern for this level of gift to people in positions of influence?
▶ 1:23:16Senator Mcconnell: I appreciate senator shaheen withdrawing her amendment. I'm trying to do something much more tailored, which is to say even if we can't get consensus here that it would be a waste of money to retrofit a jet that may not be necessary, if we are going to spend a billion dollars of taxpayer money that plane should stay in the service of the air force.
▶ 1:23:48Senator Mcconnell: This plane after it is retrofitted, after it's been putting surface can be transferred between nongovernmental entity until the aircraft has served its full-service life. >> senator mcconnell. >> as indicated earlier, this jet purportedly was just delivered to the department of defense.
▶ 1:24:14Senator Mcconnell: It clearly is contended to support the president's travel and for the foreseeable future, will be a dod asset. We should not merely on rumors and speculation about what could happen years from now, we should be briefed on the long-term disposition plan for which there is simply no urgency.
▶ 1:24:46Senator Mcconnell: The amendment is intended as a poison pill and political theater better suited, I would say to my friend senator reed, with a floor vote on ndaa, so I would urge a no against the murphy amendment. >> thank you, madam chair.
▶ 1:25:08Senator Mcconnell: Just briefly, I think beyond rumor and speculation that senator murphy just quoted the president firsthand with respect to his intentions. Second of all, to address this claim that's been made a few times, this is a poison pill, if I understand correctly, that means that the senate would refuse to fund the pentagon unless it allows the president to accept a jet from a foreign prince?
▶ 1:25:38Senator Mcconnell: If that's true, I'd like to understand why that is the line in the sand that would be drawn. The only other argument that I could conceive of is that we think the president would veto the entire pentagon budget unless he is able to accept a jet from a foreign prince. I'd like to see him make that argument to the american public.
▶ 1:26:04Senator Mcconnell: This is not rumor and speculation, it's the direct words of the president himself, and I find the notion that this would be a poison pill unpersuasive and baffling. Thank you, madam chair. >> other other members seeking recognition? If not, senator has requested a roll call vote, and the clerk will call the role.
▶ 1:26:32Senator Mcconnell: [calling roll] this
▶ 1:28:03Senator Mcconnell: Though there are 14 ayes and 15 nays. Are there other amendments to the bill? Senator merkley? >> I'd like to call amendment number nine. This is so noncontroversial it was included in the amendment last year. It's simply asking the defense department to explain to us what, if anything, they are doing.
▶ 1:28:29Senator Mcconnell: This is something you may never have heard of on the west coast, but it turns out that after rainstorms, juvenile are dying and it's been identified by study of washington state that the source of this particular chemical, there's no easy answer , so we have to puzzle over it. It's a major threat to our fisheries on the west coast. A major threat to our fishing economy and fishing communities, and we need to understand it better.
▶ 1:28:59Senator Mcconnell: There's a lot of activity vectors and research in the department to share what they are finding, if anything, to complement some of the studies being done elsewhere. It's a major cultural factor.
▶ 1:29:35Senator Mcconnell: I would be happy if others wanted the comment, I would be happy to take a vote. >> senator murkowski. >> thank you madam chairman. This is an issue that has been raised in my state. Obviously we care a great deal about the health of our fisheries and salmon, and there's been a lot of questions about us. So as I understand, the intent of the senators amendment is just to direct dod to do this review and study.
▶ 1:30:04Senator Mcconnell: That's the first step to important information. So I'd appreciate the senator bringing it before us, and I'm hopeful that we will be able to accept it as a reasonable opportunity to gain more information. Start up just quickly, I want to thank senator merkley for offering his amendment and for his advocacy on this issue.
▶ 1:30:25Senator Mcconnell: We know from peer-reviewed scientific studies that six ppd causes serious harm to our environment including our marine life which is so important to all of us, so I look forward to dod developing a report just outlining how it can limit the unnecessary use of six ppd and I think the senator for offering. >> senator mcconnell. >> I support this amendment as well.
▶ 1:30:53Senator Mcconnell: >> seeing no objection, I would suggest that we have a voice vote. All those in favor say aye, those opposed say nay. In the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it in the amendment is adopted. Are there further amendments? Senator moran.
▶ 1:31:19Senator Mcconnell: >> madam chair, I do not have an amendment by one to speak in regard to a provision I wanted to express my gratitude to the subcommittee for inclusion language, report language in the bill.
▶ 1:31:40Senator Mcconnell: I want to highlight that in hopes that the department of defense is listening to this conversation, this markup today, and they think there maybe other senators including perhaps senators on this committee who might face the same circumstance, but kansas in the home of the first infantry division, fort riley, and nine years ago we opened a new urban army hospital at fort riley.
▶ 1:32:08Senator Mcconnell: It is state-of-the-art, it cost $380 million and the defense health agency is doing a review of military installation, army installation hospitals with a potential of diminishing their operations to provide fewer services to members of the military and this language requires heads up and notice to us 180 days before such a
▶ 1:32:38Senator Mcconnell: Decision would be made so that we could respond appropriately. I'm working closely with the army and the defense health agency now. I appreciate their outreach and willingness to visit, but I wanted us as a committee to make clear that before we abandon or diminish the value of an asset, and outpaced a most recent development, a valuable asset, and before we take the chance of not caring for soldiers, their
▶ 1:33:10Senator Mcconnell: Families, veterans and military retirees, that we ought to have something to say about this. So I'm highlighting this that it is in there that somebody in the pentagon is paying attention. I also have a hold on one of the officials his nomination is pending to make sure we have a conversation for recognition that more work needs to be done.
▶ 1:33:33Senator Mcconnell: Just maybe for the benefit -- I can't claim that I have any benefit for the committee, but for my benefit to save the issue really seems to be not a matter, so they've done an analysis of army hospitals and defense hospitals, and they claim they are underutilized.
▶ 1:33:52Senator Mcconnell: I visited urban army hospital and spent time trying to figure out of the situation is, and the answer is while we are authorized to serve not only active duty, we are authorized to serve their families, to serve military retirees and to serve veterans.
▶ 1:34:07Senator Mcconnell: And by the way we don't have enough money and capability of hiring staff to do any of that, so we are the defense agency determines that the hospitals are underutilized the problem is they need to provide the staff to fill their missions. They also analyze fort riley -- well, most of our soldiers were deployed outside the united states to make a determination that the hospital was underutilized.
▶ 1:34:37Senator Mcconnell: I'm an ally for anybody who would like to join me in this effort to try to make certain that the defense agency makes good decisions and we have a role to play for the decision is made in that regard. I think senator mcconnell and senator coons for including that language. >> are there any other members who wish to offer amendments? Seeing no further -- sorry, senator merkley.
▶ 1:35:03Senator Mcconnell: >> I do have one more, and I think folks are getting pretty familiar with this conversation. Just to summarize it, we anticipate we will have another rescission package sent to us here. That would be something that would be under our jurisdiction. They would be probably emotion to bring it to the floor, but that would not involve fy 26 funding.
▶ 1:35:35Senator Mcconnell: What this amendment addresses is solely fy 26 funding. The bill before us. It said that when we do rescissions, we should do them in this committee. The bill is under consideration right now. My understanding is and has about $3 billion of rescissions in it. Carefully work through by the republican share, the democratic vice chair, and funds redirected where they are more effective international security.
▶ 1:36:08Senator Mcconnell: That is the model I would like to encourage us to stand behind in saying that any rescissions for what is in this bill will, in fact, be considered in this committee, should in the future it look like. I spent time in the budget office of secretary of defense working on writing program budget decisions.
▶ 1:36:42Senator Mcconnell: We found tremendous savings in a very careful way and that if the way to work is done and this committee staff and leadership finds that yes, that work is right and does rescission find their way into the bill here. So I encourage us to take a stand in support of their enterprise collectively, say that the work done here today will not be undone through a partisan rescission on the floor.
▶ 1:37:12Senator Mcconnell: That could end up as a blue partisan rescission on the floor. So this is not about a particular administration. It is about the integrity of our congressional intent and their effort to have democrats and republicans working together to forge a plan for the best interests of the united states of america. >> senator mcconnell.
▶ 1:37:40Senator Mcconnell: >> my colleague from oregon understand that I take this committee authority to direct spending, the power of the person very seriously. And to the extent that the military branch impinges on that authority, I intend to take an active role in defending it.
▶ 1:38:08Senator Mcconnell: But the best way for us to reassert our influence is to pass bipartisan appropriation bills, not play politics with poison pill amendments that only make the job a lot harder. As sheriff collins as previously explained on a number of occasions, this amendment is not the appropriations committee. Should it pass, a creative point of order on the floor.
▶ 1:38:37Senator Mcconnell: I would encourage our colleagues to withdraw it so we can focus the limited time we have on things that are actually within control. >>'s iud's at senator merkley that rescission should be done through the appropriations process and you have expressed that view very strongly to the director.
▶ 1:39:04Senator Mcconnell: This bill is an example of what we do, virtually every bill with regard to rescissions. Nevertheless, the parliamentarian has confirmed that this type of amendment would violate the jurisdiction of the budget committee.
▶ 1:39:22Senator Mcconnell: Solution 445, which was adopted in 2004 and reorganized certain senate committees is clear that the committee on the budget shall have exclusive jurisdiction over members affecting the congressional budget process including the process and determination by which impoundment must be reported to an considered by congress.
▶ 1:39:52Senator Mcconnell: The appropriations committee does not have joint jurisdiction . The fact that our committee has primary jurisdiction over individual rescission bills does not change the fact that the budget committee has jurisdiction over the rescission process provided for in the ica.
▶ 1:40:14Senator Mcconnell: So adopting this amendment would give rise to a point of order which makes clear that no motion or conference report dealing with any matter which is within the jurisdiction of the committee on the budget shall be considered unless it is a bill or resolution that has been reported by the committee on the budget.
▶ 1:40:43Senator Mcconnell: So for that reason, I must oppose this amendment today. Due to this jurisdictional issue and the ruling of the parliamentarian. >> madam chair, I might add one comment if I could.
▶ 1:40:59Senator Mcconnell: I think this issue of jurisdiction is not as clear-cut as presented because this is not involving impoundment and it is the appropriations and budget committee together who have joint jurisdiction over rescissions and we remember being on the floor on the rescission. It wasn't for the budget committee, it was to this committee, the appropriations committee.
▶ 1:41:27Senator Mcconnell: When the bill originally was drawn to the floor, where did it come from? The appropriations committee. This is a rescission, not an impoundment, but there will be more conversations about that. I understand the difference, the point of view on exactly what we are emphasizing, so I don't want to dwell on that too much more.
▶ 1:41:47Senator Mcconnell: But to say if, in fact, there was a dispute over this that resulted in a ruling on the floor, this would be subject to a budget point of order, which takes 60 votes. So if we put this into the bill and if, in fact, the chair is understanding is correct and I have a different understanding, but if the chair is understanding this correct, we can way that I 60 votes.
▶ 1:42:14Senator Mcconnell: If we waive it and stand up for this process, we've done something important to protect the process. Notwithstanding this jurisdictional dispute, I think this is worth doing. >> are there further -- senator. >> as you know, both you and the ranking member elite in this committee and the bipartisan work that it does and I want us to find ways to preserve and actually take our products to the floor and get those products signed into law.
▶ 1:42:52Senator Mcconnell: They viewed the fact that it needs to be bipartisan, even hearing director votes call for this to be a less partisan exercise. I would just use this as an opportunity to say it seemed that he's just kind of following their lead because many people on the other side of the aisle would like to get rid of the legislative filibuster and if we did that, this committee and the work that we did would be strictly partisan. So I think we need to be thoughtful about this whole thing and how we preserve it.
▶ 1:43:24Senator Mcconnell: Words have been used by the legislative filibuster going away saying from the other seven the aisle that it's antidemocratic, it is stupid, it is paralyzing, it needs to be eliminated. I think this is just proof that it needs to be preserved and I hope that my colleagues on the other set of the aisle with staying with us like they stood with you in a 2017 when you wrote the letter under the yes trump administration, madam chair, but in many of them change their position 2022 when biden was in office this shows in the work this committee does shows the importance of it.
▶ 1:43:57Senator Mcconnell: Thank you. >> are there further comments? >> very briefly, while the democrats stood for that moment, was not the elimination of the filibuster because were talking filibuster, so the process would be public. So the people of america could have a chance to weigh in. I know it's often characterized as having been consented as an effort to eliminate filibuster, but that was not actually what was presented.
▶ 1:44:26Senator Mcconnell: >> I will get the gentleman a copy of the letter. Senator kennedy. >> yes, the amendment says that the work that we do in this committee is subject to only rescissions that are done in this committee as is being done in this bill, rather than rescissions done under the 1974 impoundment control act.
▶ 1:44:55Senator Mcconnell: >> see no further debate, does the senator seek a roll call vote for voice roll call vote? The clerk will call the role. [calling roll]
▶ 1:46:18Senator Mcconnell: >> upon this though there are 14 eyes and 15 nays, the amendment is not agreed to. I would note to my colleagues that the vote has started. I hope that this concludes the amendments. Are there further amendments?
▶ 1:46:35Senator Mcconnell: If not, the bill will be reported favorably and I would suggest that we take a 15 minute recess to vote, and then other two votes, shoot. Well, so much for that plan.
▶ 1:47:00Senator Mcconnell: I think what we could do, then, I want to thank everybody, it's really important that we were able to favorably report the defense appropriations bill and again, my congratulations to chair mcconnell and vice chair coons for your good work.
▶ 1:47:30Senator Mcconnell: Thank you and we will just go vote. We won't officially recess.
▶ 3:23:03Senator Mcconnell: Purpose of this funding is to support staffing needs at the agency. In other words, we don't want to see it diverted, even though it is a big question over there diverted to exclusively to it. So I think this amendment basically duplicates steps that we are taking in the in the base bill. And so I would urge my colleagues to vote against the amendment. Are there other comments? >> just very, very briefly. This is an account I think we've all sort of paid attention to for a while. It is chronically underfunded.
▶ 3:23:32Senator Mcconnell: All you have to do is talk to former social security administration. O'malley administrator. So I do appreciate the steps the committee has taken. But given the hit that this function and mission took early on, there's a lot of damage to be repaired. And I think that they need the $90 million a lot more than the omb needs an additional slush fund outside their normal fiscal year budget. So I would ask for the vote. >> are there any other comments?
▶ 3:24:03Senator Mcconnell: I will just make one quick one, and that is, I very much appreciate the additional funding that has been put into the bill to improve customer service at ssa. This has been a terrible problem in the state of maine, and the additional funding in the subcommittee bill clearly is needed. I look forward to reviewing very carefully omb budget as part of the fsg g subcommittee bill.
▶ 3:24:36Senator Mcconnell: That is produced for many of the reasons that the senator from maryland has said the 13% increase at a time when other budgets are being cut, and on top of the money that was in the reconciliation bill.
▶ 3:24:52Senator Mcconnell: But I do think that the chair and ranking member have have invested in customer service by adding the $100 million, I believe it is in the underlying bill. Any other comments? If not, senator murkowski. >> just for point of information.
▶ 3:25:16Senator Mcconnell: How much is this increase that you that is included in the bill is what are we above the president's budget on this? >> president's budget was level. And so we're 100 million above the president's budget. So substantial. >> with that, the clerk will call the roll. >> senator mcconnell. >> no. By proxy. >> senator murkowski. Senator graham.
▶ 3:25:46Senator Mcconnell: >> no. By proxy. >> senator moran. >> no. By proxy. >> senator hoeven. >> no. By proxy. Senator bozeman. No. By proxy. >> senator. Capito. No. Senator kennedy. >> no. By proxy. >> senator. Senator. Britt. >> no. By proxy. >> senator mullen. >> no. By proxy. >> senator fisher. >> no. By proxy. >> senator ross. >> no. By proxy.
▶ 3:26:10Senator Mcconnell: >> senator murray, a senator durbin, a senator reid, a senator shaheen by proxy. Senator merkley. By proxy. Senator coons by proxy. Senator schatz by proxy. Senator baldwin, senator murphy, senator van hollen, senator heinrich, senator peters. >> by proxy. >> senator gillibrand. By proxy. Senator ossoff, a chair.
▶ 3:26:42Senator Mcconnell: Collins, no. >> on this vote, the yeas are 14. The nays are 15. The amendment is not agreed to. Are there further amendments, senator murphy? >> thank you very much. Thank you very much, madam chair.
▶ 3:27:07Senator Mcconnell: I voted no on the underlying budget that we're debating here today. And it's not because I don't appreciate the tremendous work that the chair and the ranking member of the subcommittee and the full committee have done. I understand there's a lot of really important, hard fought compromise in this piece of legislation.
▶ 3:27:30Senator Mcconnell: My worry is simply that the president is going to ignore the will of congress that's expressed in this legislation. And I think that that's an incredibly relevant and present conversation for this congress to have and for this committee to have. It happens in a number of ways. Obviously, we saw it through the extraordinary use of rescissions.
▶ 3:27:52Senator Mcconnell: I appreciate, madam chairman, your comments earlier today about the potential for a second rescissions package that would, you know, maybe even ignore or work around the ability of congress to debate and vote on that. And I hope that you are persuasive in that measure. There's also the extraordinary shifting of funds that happens inside these budgets and the budget that senator britt and I wrote last congress for the homeland security department.
▶ 3:28:22Senator Mcconnell: The administration just took $600 million that was dedicated for non-detention and just declared that it would now be eligible for detention. We've never seen that at that kind of scale before. And then there's this problem of the money that we are appropriating, being used for purposes that are totally disconnected from the statutes, from the authorizing statutes.
▶ 3:28:48Senator Mcconnell: And that's the amendment that I'm going to put before the committee today and ask for a roll call vote. The department of education has the ability, through the office of civil rights, to through a process laid out in statute and in regulation, bring enforcement actions against universities that they don't believe are complying with the statute.
▶ 3:29:11Senator Mcconnell: But as we have all watched, this administration is cutting off funding for universities allegedly using the civil rights statute without going through any of the prescribed processes that we have put in law and previous administrations have put into regulation.
▶ 3:29:30Senator Mcconnell: Most extraordinary is this april 11th letter that was sent to harvard university, telling them that they would lose all federal funding if they didn't comply with a very specific set of demands. One of them is a demand entitled viewpoint diversity.
▶ 3:29:51Senator Mcconnell: And what they're essentially saying here is that unless this particular university rearranges its hiring so that they hire professors that have a viewpoint diversity approved by the department of education, they will lose federal funding. There is nowhere in statute that allows for the administration to withhold federal funding based upon an objection to the viewpoints that faculty hold on the on the merits.
▶ 3:30:20Senator Mcconnell: There's no justification for the withholding of funding based upon that complaint. But even worse, the administration went through no process that is laid out in law and in regulation to give the administration and to give the public the ability to contest and provide input. So I think this is a really relevant matter for this committee.
▶ 3:30:45Senator Mcconnell: I think the extraordinary ways this administration is ignoring the law or going around the law, requires us to do due diligence in making sure that when we appropriate money, it gets used for the proper purposes.
▶ 3:30:59Senator Mcconnell: And so this amendment that I have before the body just says that the administration cannot use the money appropriated for the office of civil rights until their inspector general comes to a simple conclusion that when they are carrying out enforcement actions against universities like harvard, that they just simply go through the processes and procedures laid out in statute.
▶ 3:31:26Senator Mcconnell: We can debate the merits, but at the very least, we should be requiring the administration to not go around the processes that we have set out. If they went through those processes, it would be a lot easier for us, for the university, for the public to litigate whether or not this administration has any right in order to withhold funding just because they think there are too many liberal professors on campus.
▶ 3:31:52Senator Mcconnell: And I will just say, if this does become normalized, if the president of the united states gets to deny funds to universities because they don't like particular political viewpoints of the student body or of the faculty, that is a pandora's box that is hard to ever again close. And no republican on this committee would want a democratic president cutting off funds to their state universities, just because they think that there are too many conservative voices on campus.
▶ 3:32:20Senator Mcconnell: So I appreciate you letting me explain this amendment. And I would ask for a roll call vote. >> senator. >> thank you. Thank you, senator murphy, for your for your amendment, which I strongly, strongly oppose for a lot of different reasons.
▶ 3:32:37Senator Mcconnell: But let's just go back and see what was happening on our on our campuses, particularly in the northeast in terms of anti-semitism rampant, I think violation of civil rights of many students on those campuses and some of those some of those higher education institutions have come to the table with the administration and said, yes, we're going to make changes. And that's because of the violations of the office of what?
▶ 3:33:03Senator Mcconnell: What is under the office of civil rights, under title six, when the president's the former president's secretary of education came before this committee, I pointedly asked him, have you do you have a staff member? Have you been? This is right in the heat of it all to columbia university. No, we didn't send anybody there.
▶ 3:33:27Senator Mcconnell: What kind of enforcement is that when you're when you're you're families and jewish students don't even feel safe on their own campus. So your amendment would halt the work of the office of civil. And you say a simple statement, but your amendment basically says you would do a review of all actions towards institutions of higher education that have been taken, that have taken place this year. The inaction that was taken in the previous administration actually troubles me a lot.
▶ 3:33:54Senator Mcconnell: And the inaction at the highest levels of higher education to let this happen. I never thought I'd see anything like this again. When my dad went across the ocean in world war two to save a nation, a world from antisemitism.
▶ 3:34:13Senator Mcconnell: So I think to try to halt the office of civil rights to me at this point in time, where we find ourselves, even if you say it's just for a short period of time, what in government ever takes a short period of time? I mean, that doesn't exist here. So I would say it's contrary to the purpose of the of the office to pause investigations. And I would oppose your amendment. >> madam chair. >> senator ossoff.
▶ 3:34:41Senator Mcconnell: >> I'm not sure if I'm the only jewish member of the committee, but I just want to say, for the record, that I utterly reject this administration's cynical exploitation of this issue, which it uses as a fig leaf, to take control of and impose its will on institutions of higher education and other critics. Thank you. >> are there other members who wish to comment on the amendment? >> madam president.
▶ 3:35:12Senator Mcconnell: >> senator murray. >> I just want to support the senator's amendment. It just simply requires that the oig certify that all enforcement actions taken against colleges are in compliance with those laws. It's pretty simple, and I urge our members to vote for it. >> with that, seeing no further members seeking to speak, the clerk will call the roll. >> senator mcconnell. >> no. By proxy.
▶ 3:35:42Senator Mcconnell: >> senator murkowski, senator graham, no. >> by proxy. Senator moran. No. By proxy. >> senator hoven. >> no. By proxy. >> senator bozeman. >> no. By proxy. >> senator capito. Senator kennedy, no. >> by proxy. >> senator hyde-smith. Senator hagerty. >> no. By proxy. >> senator britt. >> no. By proxy. >> senator mullen. >> no. By proxy. >> senator fisher. >> no. By proxy. Senator round. No. By proxy. >> senator murray. Aye.
▶ 3:36:11Senator Mcconnell: Senator durbin. >> by proxy. >> senator reid. Aye. Senator shaheen. >> by proxy. >> senator merkley. >> proxy. >> senator coons. >> by proxy. >> senator schatz. >> by proxy. >> senator baldwin. Aye. Senator. Murphy. Aye. Senator van hollen. >> by proxy. >> senator heinrich. >> hi. By proxy. >> senator peters. >> by proxy. >> senator gillibrand. >> by proxy. >> senator ossoff, chair.
▶ 3:36:43Senator Mcconnell: Collins. >> no. On this vote, there were 14 ayes and 15 days. The amendment is not agreed to. Are there other members who wish to offer an amendment to this bill? Seeing no further amendments, the bill will be reported, as amended.
▶ 3:37:10Senator Mcconnell: I want to close this meeting by again, taking a moment to thank all the members of the committee and our staffs for all of their hard work, including the full committee staff on both sides of the aisle who worked very closely with the subcommittee staffs. We've now reported eight of the 12 annual bills with strong bipartisan support.
▶ 3:37:39Senator Mcconnell: And I would note that if you add those eight bills together, it they comprise approximately 87% of all discretionary spending. So we're making good progress and we have to keep moving forward. I'd now like to recognize vice chair murray for any closing remarks. >> well, thank you, chair collins. And thank you to all of our colleagues who worked really hard, as well as our staffs, to make this mark possible.
▶ 3:38:06Senator Mcconnell: Once again, as senator collins said, we have shown that when we work together in a bipartisan way, we can write bills that actually invest in our communities, reject damaging cuts from trump, and set the country up for success. We do have more work ahead of us, but as the chair noted, it is notable that we have now passed eight of our bills on a bipartisan basis. That's a clear sign that there is a bipartisan path to fund the government and to reject painful cuts and chaos.
▶ 3:38:35Senator Mcconnell: So I look forward to continuing that process and working in a bipartisan way to pass our full year spending bills. >> thank you, vice chair murray. The committee does plan to continue on a dual track, advancing bills on the floor and through this committee. This meeting of the committee is now adjourned.