Barbara Mikulski

Ms. MIKULSKI

Ms. MIKULSKI. Mr. President, thanks to the excellent work of both Senators Inhofe and Hagan, who reached an agreement on this, I believe we can agree to this amendment with another voice vote. I ask unanimous consent that all time be yielded back and that a 60- vote threshold be waived for this amendment.

Ms. MIKULSKI. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that further reading be dispensed with.

Ms. MIKULSKI. Mr. President, this amendment makes technical changes to citations, bill language related to the Department of Homeland Security and an adjustment resulting from a CBO scoring. I believe we can agree to this amendment with a voice vote, so I ask unanimous consent that the 60-vote threshold be waived for the amendment. I want to thank Senator Shelby for the excellent work he and his staff have done in cleaning up this bill for the technical aspects.

Ms. MIKULSKI. Mr. President, I move to reconsider the vote and to lay that motion on the table. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to. Amendment No. 129, as Modified, to Amendment No. 26

Ms. MIKULSKI. Mr. President, we are now coming to a vote on final passage of the bill. I am going to thank all of our colleagues who supported cloture to bring the debate to an end. This is indeed a very important moment, because as we moved the bill, we have shown that we have done something pretty terrific in that we have continued a bipartisan tradition of the Appropriations Committee. I cannot thank my vice chairman, Senator Shelby, and his staff enough for their cooperation, as well as the Republican leader and the Democratic leader, often giving very wise counsel. We had three principles in this Senate continuing resolution: The House sent us a bill which we felt was skimpy and spartan. We wanted to not only avoid a government shutdown--remember, the full funding of the U.S. Government expires on March 27; we did not want brinkmanship politics; we did not want ultimatum politics. We wanted to be able to move our bill forward protecting national security needs and meeting compelling human needs and complying with the Budget Control Act. This bill will cost no more than 1.3 trillion, the same as the House continuing resolution. It does meet the needs of our constituents. This bill is co-sponsored by my Vice Chairman, Senator Shelby, and I am so glad he is my partner. We have worked across the aisle and across the dome to improve the House bill, while at the same time we have kept poison pills out of the bill, in order to prevent a government shutdown. When we began this process, I had three principles for the Senate CR. First, avoid a government shutdown, while protecting national security needs and also meeting compelling human needs, such as investing in human infrastructure like early childhood education and in research and innovation, so that we can create jobs today and jobs tomorrow. Not shutting down the government allows us to protect the middle class and our fragile economic recovery. Second, comply with the Budget Control Act. The Senate CR provides $1.043 trillion, the same as the House CR. Third, establish a path to return to regular order for our fiscal year 2014 bills. This bill meets all three of these principles. We will avoid a shutdown. We are at $1.043 trillion in total budget authority, as required by the Budget Control Act. We have shown that we can work in a bipartisan manner, to move this bill to final passage. The bill we will vote on today is five full appropriations bills: Agriculture; Commerce, Justice, Science; Homeland Security; Defense; and Military Construction and Veterans Affairs. The remaining seven bills are in the CR: Energy and Water; Financial Services; Interior and Environment; Labor-HHS; State-Foreign Operations; Transportation-HUD; and the Legislative Branch. This means they are provided current funding levels and policies, with some limited changes to fix pressing problems. This bill has been on the Senate floor for a week. The Senate has debated and voted on amendments to eliminate funding for the Affordable Care Act, cut defense funding for projects in Guam, and cut funding for defense biofuels programs, among others. This afternoon, we accepted a number of amendments by voice vote, again, in a very bipartisan fashion. I will be the first to admit that this bill is not perfect, but it is the bill that we need right now. I wanted an omnibus to provide complete bills for all the departments and agencies of the government, and not just some. I regret that the bill could not include a \1/2\ percent pay raise for Federal workers, who now face a third year without a pay increase. This bipartisan bill keeps Americans safe in their communities. The Senate bill provides more than the House CR for State and local first responder grants, providing a $208 million increase above the House CR, and for fire grants, providing a $33 million increase above the House CR. The Senate provides more for COPS grants, an $18 million increase above the House CR, to put a total of 1,400 new police officers on the beat. When it comes to infrastructure, this bipartisan bill fully funds highways, transit, and road safety programs at the authorized levels, a difference of almost $700 million above the House CR. This bipartisan bill also supports the innovation needed to grow the economy and to create jobs today and tomorrow. The Senate bill includes $174 million more than the House CR for National Science Foundation basic research. That means 400 more grants supporting 5,000 scientists, teachers, students, all of them focused on making new discoveries leading to new products, new companies, and new jobs. For the National Institutes of Health, the Senate contains $75 million more than the House CR for research on cancer, Alzheimer's, diabetes, and other devastating diseases The Senate bill meets compelling human needs. It includes $33.5 million more than the House CR for Head Start, to help them to implement reforms and improve quality. The Senate bill includes $250 million more than the House CR for the Women, Infants and Children, a program that provides basic nutrition support for low-income mothers and their children. For homeless assistance grants, the Senate bill contains $147 million more than the House CR for shelter and housing support for 28,000 more homeless people. This legislation will put us on the road to a return to regular order for our appropriations bills. I am so proud that we have reached across the aisle and across the dome to come to a bipartisan solution to funding the government for the next 6 months. I thank my Vice Chairman, Senator Shelby, for his support, in making this possible. As we start our work on fiscal year 2014 bills, this process should serve as a model, showing that the Congress can get its work done, and can exercise the power of the purse in a bipartisan way. My vice chairman and I have worked very hard to get to this point to provide a bill that Democrats and Republicans can support. I hope they will join with us to vote for final passage of the Senate CR, and return it to the House, so it can be considered and sent to the President for his signature. I urge adoption of this bill and thank everyone for their cooperation.

Ms. MIKULSKI. Mr. President, this too is an amendment I believe we can agree to with a voice vote. Again, I wish to thank Senator Leahy for the excellent job he did. I ask unanimous consent that all time be yielded back and the 60-vote threshold be waived for this amendment.

Ms. MIKULSKI. I move to lay that motion on the table. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to. Amendment No. 115, As Modified, Withdrawn

Ms. MIKULSKI. I know Senator Udall wanted to speak against the Toomey amendment. In his absence, I will comment on the Toomey amendment. I believe the Senator proposes to cut $60 million from the Advanced Drop- In Biofuels Production Program. He would move $25 million from these funds to the Operations and Maintenance Account. The Department of Defense recognizes that its dependence on foreign oil supplies presents a real risk to its ability to operate around the world. I agree. As the largest single customer of oil in the world, DOD spent $17 billion in fiscal 2011 on oil. DOD estimates that for every 25-cent increase in the price of a gallon of oil we incur over $1 billion in fuel costs. Every time oil prices go up, so does the cost of running the Department of Defense. Imagine if our military were cut off from these supplies. The Senate has made it clear that there is support for biofuels. The Senate has voted twice in support of the Department of Defense biofuels program during floor consideration of the Armed Services Committee Defense bill. The funds appropriated for this project are available until expended. When the Departments of Energy and Agriculture are able to meet their obligations to fund this program, as required by the National Defense Act, the Department of Defense will have their funds ready. The Toomey amendment would cut a modest investment to provide security alternatives to petroleum dependence. I urge the defeat of the amendment.

Ms. MIKULSKI. Mr. President, before I speak and have time counted against me, the Senate is not in order. We are now coming to the last three votes.

Ms. MIKULSKI. Mr. President, we have three more votes. The first vote is on the Mikulski-Shelby substitute amendment. This is the bill we have been working on now for 8 days. After that, we will have a vote on cloture, and then we will go to final passage. If we could just have the Senators' attention and if they could stay nearby, we can finish this expeditiously.

Ms. MIKULSKI. Mr. President, I now speak on the Mikulski-Shelby substitute amendment, which is pending. I urge my colleagues to support this bipartisan continuing resolution. It accomplishes many things. First, when we pass this, we will avoid a government shutdown, but we do better than that--we will protect our national security needs, meet compelling human needs, and lay the groundwork for investing in science and technology. Second, we complied with the Budget Control Act--costing no more than $1 trillion--and it is bipartisan.

Ms. MIKULSKI. Mr. President, I just want to echo the comments by my vice chairman, Senator Shelby. It is time to bring this bill to closure, and I would hope we could pass it. I really want to thank Senator Shelby for the bipartisan tradition in which we have been able to operate, and I hope we get a 60-vote majority and move this bill and this country forward.

Ms. MIKULSKI. Mr. President, I move to reconsider the vote.

Ms. MIKULSKI. Mr. President, this is an enormous victory--that we just passed this bill and are now sending it to the House. Again, I wish to thank everyone. I also wish to say that today is exactly 90 days since I took over the full Committee on Appropriations. During these 90 days, with Senator Shelby and his staff and the help and support of many people on both sides of the aisle, we were able to pass the Sandy urgent supplemental and we were able to pass the continuing funding resolution. This is pretty good. It shows we can work on a bipartisan basis; that we can actually govern and that we can conduct ourselves with decorum. I think for all, as they watched the debate that occurred during this last week, they saw civility, they saw sensibility, they saw, yes, differing ideas, but at the end of the day, I think we all agreed on our goal--we want to keep America moving. So I am glad we have moved this bill to the House and we are going to keep our government functioning and keep America moving forward. Again, I wish to thank everyone for what they have done, and I look forward to moving the other 12 appropriations bills on a regular basis, working, again, on a bipartisan basis across the aisle and across the dome. I yield the floor, and I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Ms. MIKULSKI

Ms. MIKULSKI. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on March 20, 2013, at 10 a.m., to conduct a hearing entitled, ``Hurricane Sandy: Getting the Recovery Right and the Value of Mitigation''

Ms. MIKULSKI. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on March 20, 2013, at 2:30 p.m. in room 253 of the Russell Senate Office Building. The Committee will hold a hearing entitled, ``Aviation Safety: FAA's Progress on Key Safety Initiatives.''

Ms. MIKULSKI. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Environment and Public Works be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on March 20, 2013, at 10 a.m. in room SD-406 of the Dirksen Senate Office building.

Ms. MIKULSKI. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Finance be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on March 20, 2013, at 9:30 a.m. in room 215 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building, to conduct a hearing entitled ``Reforming the Delivery System: The Center on Medicare and Medicaid Innovation.''

Ms. MIKULSKI. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Foreign Relations be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on March 20, 2013, at 2:15 p.m., to hold a hearing entitled, ``Counterterrorism Policies and Priorities: Addressing the Evolving Threat.''

Ms. MIKULSKI. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on March 20, 2013, at 11:30 a.m. in President's Room of the Capitol.

Ms. MIKULSKI. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the Judiciary be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on March 20, 2013, at 10:30 a.m., in room SD-226 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building, to conduct a hearing entitled, ``The Future of Drones in America: Law Enforcement and Privacy Considerations.''

Ms. MIKULSKI. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the Judiciary be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on March 20, 2013, at 2 p.m., in room SD-226 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building, to conduct a hearing entitled, ``Building an Immigration System Worthy of American Values.''

Ms. MIKULSKI. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Veterans' Affairs be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on March 20, 2013, at 10 a.m., in room SR-418 of the Russell Senate Office Building, to conduct a hearing entitled, ``VA Mental Health Care: Ensuring Timely Access to High-Quality Care.''

Ms. MIKULSKI. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Subcommittee on Science and Space of the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on March 20, 2013, at 10 a.m., in room 253 of the Russell Senate Office Building. The Committee will hold a hearing entitled, ``Assessing the Risks, Impacts, and Solutions for Space Threats.''

Ms. MIKULSKI

Ms. MIKULSKI. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.