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[Page S1356]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
GOVERNMENT FUNDING
Mr. TILLIS. Mr. President, one of the reasons why I continue to be
here in Washington rather than visiting with family and friends of
Congressman Jones is that we have a very important vote that we expect
the Senate to take up here sometime this afternoon.
It is a vote that is borne out of compromise. To quote Winston
Churchill--I think it was--it is the worst possible option except for
all the other options considered up to this point.
It is not perfect, but it is important that we get the votes and that
we encourage the President to sign this bill into law.
Now, I walked through the hallway this morning, and I had the press
come up to me. Some in the press probably want to report honestly, but
others want to create a narrative.
So the latest narrative is this: Senator, how do you feel about a
bill that just got published last night--1,200 pages--and you are going
to be asked to vote on it today?
I told them, specifically, because I have been following this measure
since the last Congress. I said: Are you referring to the almost-1,200-
page bill, of which all but 41 pages were matters that were taken up in
the Appropriations Committee, voted out of committee unanimously in all
but one case and with 26 votes in the other case? Are you referring to
that bill?
If the Senators are doing their job and the Congressmen are doing
their job, they read that months ago when they were passed out of the
Appropriations Committee. Most of this is not new information. About 41
pages of it relates to the compromise that ultimately--because we
couldn't get a compromise back in December--resulted in the government
shutdown.
It absolutely funds some of the President's priorities for border
security. There are people that get caught up on either end of the
spectrum. It reminds me of how my kids used to fight in the back of the
minivan when we used to take them on vacations. It is a childish
argument: It is a wall.
No, it is not.
It is a wall.
No, it is not.
Look, it is steps taken forward in a positive way for border
security. It is a structure that makes sense. It is technology. It is
personnel. It is what we need to ultimately secure the border.
Some people can call it a wall because you could argue that in total
it is. Other people could say it is not a wall. I don't care as long as
you ultimately recognize that voting for this measure and sending the
signal to the President that we have his back, that we understand his
priorities, and that we will continue to work on other measures on a
bipartisan basis makes sense.
So I intend to support it today. It is not a vote that I am going to
enjoy, but sometimes we have to do things here to make progress, to
compromise, and to move on. We owe it to the American people to keep
the government open. We owe it to border security to listen to their
recommendations to fund people, technology, and infrastructure. This is
a step in the right direction.
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