This chairman thank you thank you missed chairman for you in the time and congratulations to you and your made in voyage in this role at your by uh very expertly I might add uh the force March that we we undertook in the Committee for the last three weeks clearing all 12 bills through the full Committee in a historically record time um and we had a good drill sergeant master sergeant for doing a great job we held 74 over side and budget hearings heard from over 400 with this is with the overarching goal that each of the 12 bills we pass out of our Committee address the needs of our constituents I'm proud to say that these bills do just that advance our National defense and secure our borders take care of our veterans provide critical infrastructure funding increase resources to combat the opioid epidemic maintain our presence as a leader in global diplomacy all the while maintaining fiscal discipline I'm disappointed that we won't consider all 12 of these bills before the August recess but this security package is an important step forward it will ensure that we as the Congress uphold our most sacred responsibility to provide for our nation's common defense under the previous administration our Department of defense based needless on certain date I'm proud that we are now turning the tide providing our troops and their commanders with the necessary resources to respond to threats from countries like Russia China and Iran as well as crush the violent extremist to wish to do us harm as promise to the American people we're rebuilding and modernizing our military as an international powerhouse by better equipping our troops strengthening counter terrorism efforts and re establishing confidence with our allies at a time when our enemies continue to advance around the globe the us must remain at the forefront of military readiness and advanced technology to strengthen National defense at home and abroad this bill also maintains our commitment to those brave men and women after their service has come to a close providing for greater oversight and accountability at the and modernizing electronic health records to help our veterans receive the high quality of care they deserve I'm also pleased that this legislation includes the energy water appropriations bill which funds many of our National security interest and build upon our country's essential infrastructure needs in particular this bill protects the appalachian regional Commission they are see from proposed elimination and ensures that is critical programs will continue in our hardest hit appalachian coal communities since 19 65 at C is lead efforts to innovate partner and invest in the region to build community capacity and strengthen economic growth these investments have led to the creations of thousands of new jobs it is improved local water and sewer systems improve our schools increase access to healthcare and provide a critical assistance to emerging businesses after eight years of strangulation by regulation in the Obama administration's war on coal appalachian needs the the now more than ever this chairman thank you again for allowing me to speak on behalf of this bill is everything we wanted no it is critical that we prioritize our National security and that's what this bill does Mr chairman the model of our appropriations Committee is this A vision without funding is a collusive nation that we got a visionary leader in our German but we've got to provide the funding to make the dreams that we have come true and that's what appropriations to say you back