Important is it for pentagon operations and for the funding that those programs require . The National Defense authorization act, the ndaa, essentially its the defense policy bill. This is seen on the hill as one of the must need bill. This is essentially how muchby pay the military, haow many plane, how many ships were going to by. It includes policies regarding troop movements in some cases, overseas exercises, things like that. Its pretty much the bill that sets the military, in some cases, the next five years of military plan. Its seen in the pentagon as something they need to get done every year. Its seen in the Defense Community as a point of pride that they get it done every year. Its largely backed by the congressional leadership. This year, it might be a little tricky, well see what happens but theres a lot of confidence, at the end of the day, members of Congress Come together and actually make sure it gets through. So there are two different versions. The house and senate ve
Current government funding expires friday at midnight. Youre watching live coverage of the senate on cspan2. The president pro tempore the senate will come to order. The chaplain, dr. Black, will lead the senate in prayer. The chaplain let us pray. Eternal god, help us to remember your mighty acts. You are kind and merciful, better to us than we deserve. You feed the sparrows and cause the sun to rise. You forgive our sins and provide us with strength for every challenge. Lord, use our lawmakers today for your glory. May they be courteous and kind as they seek to do what is best for this land we love. Remind them that they represent the hopes and dreams of many people. Thank you, lord, for the wonderful things that you continue to do for us all. We pray in your loving name. Amen. The president pro tempore please join me in the pledge of allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of america, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible
Justice, and righteousness. May they cultivate such ethical consist tency, that their words will be undergirded by right actions. Lord, keep them aware of your continued presence, as they find in you fullness of joy. Show them the path to life, as you guide them to your desired destination. We pray in your merciful name. Amen. The president pro tempore amen. Please join me in the pledge. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of americ, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Mr. Grassley madam president . The presiding officer the senator from iowa. Mr. Grassley i ask to speak as if in morning business for one minute. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Grassley the United States of america has the mightiest military in the world to protect our freedoms and to guarantee peace around the world. Thats why its so important to keep check on the pentagons financial ledgers. Taxpayers expect their m
Democrats, democrat votes 216, republicans 64 in favor of this, totalling 280. 150 people voting against. This is over the budget deal that Speaker Nancy Pelosi worked out with the white house that earlier today, had a lost House Republicans skeptical whether or not they could support it because of the price tag. It did reach a spending cap agreement for two years and suspended the debt ceiling until july 2021. It has passed the house now so that means they kick it to the senate and the senate has its own batch of skeptics but sources i talked to familiar with gop leadership on the senate side tell me they are confident they too have the votes, at least a broad consensus among republicans and democrats to get it through the senate and then put it on the president s desk, who was a wild card really until this morning, when he encouraged House Republicans on twitter to vote in favor of this bill, saying he is totally in support of this budget deal. So we are expecting if everything goes
Mr. Coons mr. President . The presiding officer the senator from delaware. Mr. Coons i ask unanimous consent that the proceedings under the quorum call be vitiated and upon the conclusion of my remarks, the senator from rhode island be recognized prpb withouthe presiding officer . The quorum call is lifted. Mr. Coons i rise today to express my deep concern with the tax reform bill that the Senate Finance committee is likely to approve later this week. The latest version of this massive tax bill which will impact every single american was only released to the public late tuesday night, less than 48 hours later, the finance committee is ramming through this bill on a Party Line Vote without any hearings and without a thorough review of the bill. I strongly disagree with this process, with this closeddoor process of developing the substance of the bill which skews the benefits to the wealthy at the expense of middleclass families and with this bills irresponsible cost of 1. 7 trillion ove