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Floor Speech

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Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, it is the best of times, it is the worst of times, it is the age of wisdom, but it is also the age of jackassery.

Sometimes I don't recognize our world. I will give you one example, at least from my perspective. President Xi in China, President Putin in Russia, and the Ayatollah in Iran have formed a partnership. It is not an equal partnership. The managing partner is President Xi. Unless you are the reason your parents drink, I think you can see that. It is just obvious.

And their goal--President Xi and his two junior partners--is to have Russia dominate Eastern Europe, to have Iran dominate the Middle East, to have China dominate the Indo-Pacific, and have the freedom to roam throughout Sub-Saharan Africa and South America and the Arctic and space.

Now, that is the game plan. That is not a world that is safe for America. I do not want America to be the world's policeman, but I don't want Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin and the Ayatollah in Iran to be either.

We have to meet this challenge. To do that, we have to spend more money on defense. I wish we didn't, but we do.

Now, there are only three ways to do that, as you know, Mr. President: Through our budget, the regular appropriation process; through what is called a supplemental bill, which deals just with defense spending; and through the process of reconciliation.

Passing a supplemental bill is not going to work for reasons--the same reasons that we are not going to be able to pass a budget, about which I will talk in a second.

We have the option of reconciliation, but time is running out. And I hear all of the happy talk--I don't mean that really in a pejorative sense, even though I realize it came out that way. But I hear all the happy talk from the House, and I have participated in that happy talk saying we need to do a third reconciliation bill. But if I am honest with myself, I know we are not.

And when the press comes to me--one came to me today--one particular reporter. He was down by the escalators kind of walking around looking like he had lost his luggage at the airport. And he came, and he said: I want to ask you a question, like I have got a quote every day. And he said: So and so says we are going to have a third reconciliation. What is your response?

My response was honest: dream weaver. I wish it would happen, but I don't think it will.

The only way to get more money to protect America is through our appropriations bill. We can also do a supplemental, which I just referred to, but if we can't pass an appropriations bill, we sure can't pass a supplemental.

I am on the Appropriations Committee. As you know, Mr. President, our budget is so big, we don't do just one bill. We do 12 mini bills. We divide it up. That is a lot of bills to pass, but we have done it before. We did it last year.

The budget that we are operating under right now was passed in a bipartisan effort, with the exception of a small piece of Homeland Security. It was passed with a bipartisan effort and voted for by both Democrats and Republicans. That is the way it is supposed to work. Other than confirming Presidential nominations, that is our most important job: to put together a budget. So we know it can be done.

Now, our fiscal year--don't ask me why--runs from September 30 to October 1. So the budget under which we are operating right now, which all Democrats--not all but most Democrats--and Republicans joined in on, is going to run out September 30. So we have been working on a new budget, which will begin October 1.

I hope I am wrong, but there is not going to be a budget. And if I am wrong, I will come to this floor and I will say: I was wrong; I apologize.

But it is clear to me, from our negotiations with my Democratic friends--and they are my friends. They are the Presiding Officer's friends too. We don't hate in this Chamber. We try to get along. But it is clear to me, from my discussions with my Democratic friends, that there is no scenario under which they are going to pass the budget.

They understand we have to spend more money on defense. President Trump has proposed a 42-percent increase in defense spending. That is pretty strong. That is as strong as horseradish. We might can do it if we work together and did it through a supplemental and regular order and a reconciliation bill. But without that--without busting it up--I think 42 percent would be, even on our best day, very, very hard to do in regular order. I think, if everybody were pulling in the same direction, we could probably do a 20- to 25-percent increase in defense spending in our regular budget. We would have to borrow the money. It breaks my heart. And I know we can work hard to find some offsets. But we just have to do it.

But here is the problem: My Democratic colleagues are not going to go along. They are not. I know they say they are, but they are not.

First, in order to do a budget, you have to know how much money you are going to spend--duh. We call that the top line. So when we go to our Democratic friends and say, ``Let's negotiate a top line,'' they say, ``We are thinking about it.'' And we make an offer, and they say, ``We will consider it.'' And then we make another offer, and they say, ``We will consider it.'' Then we make a third offer, and they say, ``We are thinking about it.'' You know, when people act like they don't care, sometimes, it is not an act. They won't even negotiate seriously about the top line.

We are together a lot. We talk among ourselves. And I have had some of my Democratic friends tell me privately: If you want to spend 25 percent more on defense, we want 25 percent more on nondefense-- welfare, social spending.

Now, they know we are not going to agree to that. You know what that tells me? They don't want a budget. And I think that if we went to our Democratic colleagues today and said, ``OK, you win; we are going to spend 25 percent more on defense, and we will spend 25 percent more on nondefense; let's vote,'' every single Democrat would vote no. Every single Democrat will vote no in the Appropriations Committee and on the floor of the Senate.

If I am wrong, I will apologize. I may be wrong, but I doubt it, because my colleague Senator Schumer, as is his right, is telling the Democrats not to agree to a budget. And Senator Schumer, as is his right, is taking his orders from the Graham Platner wing of the Democratic Party.

It is not all Democrats. It is not all Democrats. But, clearly, the Graham Platner wing of the Democratic Party is in control. And many members of Democratic leadership are scared to death of them, and they are going to do what the Graham Platner wing of the party wants. And what the Graham Platner wing of the party wants is to burn it down--burn it down. They want chaos because they think it will help them win the midterm elections. And for that reason, I don't think we are going to have a budget.

We will keep trying. Our chair is Susan Collins. Chairwoman Collins and Vice Chairwoman Patty Murray put together the budget last year. They did a great job. We know it can be done. But I think that is the game plan. And the cherry on top is going to be--you watch. We are going to get to September, and Republicans are going to say: Well, we don't have a budget because you refused to talk about it, because you want chaos, because Senator Schumer told you to create chaos, because the Graham Platner wing of the Democratic Party told Senator Schumer to tell you to create chaos.

And we are going to say: Let's don't shut down the government. Let's do what is called a continuing resolution. Let's maintain the status quo so we can keep the government open.

And Senator Schumer is going to shut it down as tight as Dick's hatband. That is what is going to happen. That is what is going to happen. You heard it here first.

And that is not fair to the American people. That is not fair to the American people in the world that we live in today. And that, in my opinion, is totally irresponsible--in order to win a midterm election, to create that kind of chaos in this dangerous world. That, to me, is living proof that human evolution is a slow process.

The American people deserve better. And if I am wrong, I will come to this floor and say: I was wrong. My Democratic colleagues are willing to negotiate. They don't have a predetermined game plan. They are not slaves to the loon wing of their party. They understand that the American people, both domestically and internationally, need help.

I will be the first to say I am wrong. And I may be wrong, but I doubt it. The American people deserve better. And if I am wrong, I hope they will prove me wrong.

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