Mitch McConnell Blocks Bill To Pay Service-members, Then Chris Coons Responds

It is millions of members of our armed forces, active duty, reserves, National Guard, civilians supporting them, the Department of Defense, the Coast Guard, the intelligence agencies. They're keeping us safe now, like all federal employees, not knowing when they'll get another paycheck. Our military is less than 1% of our nation. That's how many people sign on the dotted line up to and including their lives to keep us safe. They put their lives on the line to secure liberty and security. And I'm grateful to the thousands serving today at Dover Air Force Base, the Delaware National Guard, and throughout our armed forces. They and their families deserve the same devotion to them that they are providing to us. I come from a military family. My father, brother, sister-in-law, uncles all served in the Army. And my father-in-law said he first really understood what it means to be an American when he was responsible for others and others' lives when deployed. Taking care of them is our sacred obligation. So while we keep fighting for better healthcare, more affordable healthcare for all Americans, my bill will pay our armed forces now. It will pay active duty, reserve, National Guard, Coast Guard, civilians at the Pentagon, and intelligence agencies, and give those who keep us safe, often at great sacrifice, a small piece of security in return. So Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of Senate Bill 3079, introduced earlier today, that the bill be considered, read three times and passed, and the motion to reconsider be considered, made, and laid upon the date. Is there objection? Is everyone going to write this down? We're from Kentucky. It's recognized. You know, government shutdowns have real consequences. I've said that countless times during my time here. Incredibly, it seems to take a Democrat a month to remember that the proverbial stove is in fact already hot, and yet they're not ready to turn it off, just turn it down a notch. Just low enough that they can take the political heat. My friend from Delaware is right. Our military deserves a lot better than a government shutdown that jeopardizes their paychecks and the services military families count on. During a Democrat shutdown, the President has had to scrape together unobligated balances within the defense budget in order to uphold the nation's promise to service members through another pay period. I certainly hope he won't have to divert resources from urgent modernization again to make payroll in another two weeks. But that ball, of course, is in the Democrats' court. I hope they'll realize soon that the surest way to help service members and civilian DOD employees is to simply turn government funding back on and pass full-year appropriations. I know my counterpart on the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee of all people understands this. He knows what would really help our armed forces because he and I work closely together on a full-year bill for defense that would pay service members and invest more in the capabilities they need to keep America safe. I'm grateful for Senator Coon's collaboration on the bipartisan bill that earned overwhelming support in the committee and would add $22 billion above the President's defense request. This, by the way, is the bill that almost every Democrat voted against considering two weeks ago. I know the ranking member cares about the promises we make to the all-volunteer force and the challenges we expect them to face. I know he's concerned about the erosion of Congress' authority to set and fund national security priorities. So am I. And if we cannot appropriate, we will render ourselves completely irrelevant. The way to provide real certainty and deliver serious full-year appropriations is to open the government back up and pass our bill. It's really that simple. Therefore, I object. Objection is heard. Senator from Delaware. Mr. President, I want to convey my thanks, my gratitude to the chair of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, my colleague and friend from Kentucky. We and our staff have had a genuinely constructive and positive process in appropriations this year. Frankly, overall, the Senate Appropriations Committee has worked well. We have passed out of committee a significant number of major bills by big bipartisan margins, 26 to 3 in the case of our bill and the Labor, Health and Human Services bill. But there's a stark contrast between the real progress we're making on appropriations and the lack of progress on addressing the core issue of can Americans afford their health care? Of course, I want to move ahead and appropriate, as my colleague from Kentucky has indicated. Of course, we need to do our job and appropriate for this body to carry out and to continue its core Article 1 responsibility. But part of what has got us to this moment is a vote earlier this year in the big, beautiful bill in July to destroy health care for millions of Americans. We need to find a path forward towards ensuring that millions of Americans do not lose insurance through the Affordable Care Act and Medicaid, something that will raise insurance costs for everyone, that will increase ER wait times in my state and every other. This Saturday, 20 million Americans will see how much their premiums go up. And if the calls that come in to my colleagues or anything like the calls I'm getting, there will be then an accelerated motion towards resolving this issue and moving forward with appropriations. I'll close by just citing one conversation I had yesterday. I spoke with a small business owner from Delaware. Her name is Jan. She's a stage four cancer survivor. She's a small business owner. She told me yesterday without the Affordable Care Act, she would have died 10 years ago because insurance would have dropped her. And if her rates double, she will need to close her business of 30 years. This is one of many stories of entrepreneurs, of families, of veterans, of service members, of constituents who've reached out to me. There is an urgency about reopening the government. Yes, I agree. And an urgency about finding a path forward on health care. We should be negotiating both now. Thank you, Mr. President. With that, I yield the floor.