“Republicans believe in a Senate that debates, that amends, that votes. We believe in regular order, not top-down control.”

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Senate Majority Whip, today spoke on the Senate Floor to address the upcoming vote on the Senate’s first bipartisan appropriations bill and how Senate Republicans are returning to regular order after years of Democrat-imposed dysfunction.

Click HERE to watch Senator Barrasso’s remarks.

Sen. Barrasso’s remarks as prepared:

“Today, for the first time in years, the Senate will begin the appropriations process the right way. The right way is on time. The right way is in public. The right way is with bipartisan support. That may sound routine. Yet here in the United States Senate, it hasn’t been routine for a long time. For years, the appropriations process has been broken.

“Last year, 11 out of 12 funding bills passed the Senate Appropriations Committee. They were passed through regular order. They had strong, bipartisan support. Many were unanimous. Yet not a single one of those overwhelmingly agreed-up bills reached the Floor of the United States Senate. Why? Because then-Majority Leader Chuck Schumer blocked each and every one of them. He let these 11 bipartisan appropriations bills die on his desk.

“As Majority Leader, Senator Schumer had the power to bring each of these bills on the Floor of the United States Senate. He refused. Senator Schumer unilaterally shut down the appropriations process. And now, he and other Democrats are threatening to shut down the government.

“Both Republicans and Democrats are aware of how broken the appropriations process has become. The Senate is meant to be the world’s greatest deliberative body. Yet over the last four years, the Senate became a graveyard for consensus. Senate Republicans are here to correct that. Republicans believe in a Senate that debates, that amends, that votes. We believe in regular order, not top-down control.

“That’s why, today, Republicans are bringing our first appropriations bill to the Floor. This bill funds veterans’ healthcare. It strengthens military readiness. It improves housing for servicemembers and their families. This bill passed committee 26 to 3. It is overwhelmingly bipartisan. This is one of several funding bills that earned nearly unanimous support in the Appropriations Committee. Now, it deserves a bipartisan vote on the Floor.

“This bill to fund veterans’ healthcare and military readiness and housing should unite us – not divide us. This is an opportunity to return to real governing after years of Democrat-imposed dysfunction. This is how we restore trust in this institution and faith in the work we do here. When the Senate does its job, the American people are better off.

“The appropriations process is how Congress fulfills our most basic legislative duty. That duty is controlling the power of the purse. It forces accountability. It forces transparency. It requires Congress to look closely at every taxpayer dollar being spent. This process helps Congress fund what really matters to the American people. It means securing the border. It means strengthening our national security. It means protecting the most vulnerable. It is the best tool Congress has to rein in reckless, runaway spending. That’s what Republicans are doing.

“If Democrats walk away from this process again – simply to protect wasteful Washington spending – they will be the ones sabotaging the Senate and shutting down the government. It won’t be the first time. It will be another Schumer Shutdown.

“A Schumer Shutdown would punish hardworking families. A Schumer Shutdown certainly hurts seniors who rely on Social Security. A Schumer Shutdown hurts military families who live paycheck to paycheck. A Schumer Shutdown forces Border Patrol agents to work without pay. The American people should not be forced to pay the price for Democrats’ political games.

“To my colleagues on the Appropriations Committee who worked in good faith last year – only to see their hard work buried by petty politics – this is our opportunity to do better.

“Republicans are committed to restoring regular order, transparency, and trust.

We are doing the work of the American people. The question is, will Senate Democrats join us? Or will they drag the country into another Schumer Shutdown?”

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