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Floor Speech
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Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, today, the Senate Appropriations Committee advanced legislation to reopen government immediately, funding vital programs and resuming pay for Federal workers who, for the last 40 days, have had to live with the stress of missed paychecks and not knowing when they would be paid.
Under our legislation, all Federal employees, including members of our military and Coast Guard, the Capitol Police officers, Border Patrol agents, TSA screeners, air traffic controllers--all will receive their back wages.
It is significant that this measure also includes three full-year fiscal year 2026 appropriations bills, including the annual Agriculture-FDA bill, the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs legislation--very timely, given that Veterans Day will soon be upon us--and the Legislative Branch funding.
This three-bill package, which originally passed the Senate on August 1 with overwhelming bipartisan support--87 votes in 2 cases, 81 in another--will support our veterans, our troops, our farmers, and rural communities.
Of note, this package will provide full-year funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known as SNAP, and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, known as WIC.
One of the most unfortunate and shameful consequences of the shutdown has been that these vital nutrition programs were in jeopardy for our most vulnerable families, including 170,000 Mainers who rely on the SNAP program. Other programs will be funded through January 30 while the Senate and House continue our work on the remainder of the yearlong appropriations bills. For example, funding for important programs like Head Start and such as the Low-Income Heating Assistance Program will now be restored.
I look forward to voting for this legislation and ending the unnecessary harm to the security of our families and our Nation. We must begin to act tonight. We must not delay any longer.
Finally, I want to thank the many members on both sides of the aisle of the Appropriations Committee and the Senate leadership who have worked especially hard to bring this package together.
I would be remiss if I did not also thank our staff. My staff missed an entire night's sleep to get this package together and get the job done.
Again, I want to particularly thank the members of the Appropriations Committee, including the three who served as the subcommittee chairs: Senator Boozman, Senator Hoeven, and Senator Mullin. I want to thank Katie Britt--Senator Britt--who did an extraordinary amount of work, Lisa Murkowski, Mike Rounds, Jerry Moran, Shelley Moore Capito, Cindy Hyde-Smith, Deb Fischer. There are so many who worked so hard on this package. I want to thank each and every one of them.
Let's get the job done, and let's do it fast.
Did I miss Senator Hoeven in my list? Senator Hoeven was a rock star.
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