‘It’s possible that if we work together, like we did this time, we can still make good progress’



Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell made the following statement Thursday regarding passage of H.R. 2638, The Homeland Security Appropriations Bill. The bill, the first passed by the Senate this year, passed by a vote of 89-4:



“Today marks an important milestone for this Congress. It seems that after spending the first half of the year staging political show-votes and investigations, our friends on the other side have woken up to the fact they only had two things to show for it: an angrier base and a long to-do list. In the fog of battle they forgot that getting things done in the Senate takes cooperation.



“We’ve cooperated on this bill. And it’s a lot better for it. I’m extremely pleased the majority ultimately accepted Sen. Graham’s border security amendment. We got the message last month: border security first. And now, thanks to this effort, we’ll be delivering a $3 billion downpayment on a stronger border.



“I also appreciate Senator Cornyn’s insistence that interior enforcement be a part of that funding. To us it’s pretty simple: there is no homeland security without border security. We’ll continue to push this idea on the floor of the Senate in the coming weeks and months. Today is just the beginning.



“A lesson we can learn from the last six months is that there’s a cost to everything. And the cost of putting off legislating in favor of around-the-clock politics is that there isn’t much to show for it in the end.



“It’s been my view all along that we should have been working on appropriations bills all summer. Here we are almost in August and we’ve only passed one. So we’re looking at a potential train wreck in September. But it’s possible that if we work together, like we did this time, we can still make good progress. And I hope we do.



“A brief word about cloture. Look: anybody who’s been in the Senate for more than a week will tell you -- if they’re being honest -- that 40 or so cloture votes in six months isn’t a sign of minority obstruction; it’s a sign of a majority that doesn’t like the rules. The cloture club shouldn’t be the first option. It should be the last. Hopefully today’s vote is also a sign that we’re moving away from cloture as a first resort.



“I hope the majority will follow through on a pledge that the Senior Senator from Illinois made on the first day of the session. He said the American people put Democrats in the majority ‘to find solutions, not to play to a draw with nothing to show for it.’ Very well said.



“My Republican colleagues hope we can operate this way. I think it will be the best way to operate in the fall if we actually intend legislate.”



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