Rounds Statement on Senate Passage of Three Appropriation Bills

WASHINGTON—U.S. Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) today made the following statement after the Senate voted to pass the Energy and Water, Legislative Branch and Military Construction and Veterans Affairs appropriation bills:

“Today, the Senate made a step in the right direction toward getting back to ‘regular order,’ where we debate appropriation bills individually,” said Rounds. “Responsible spending starts with a responsible appropriations process where Congress engages in thoughtful debate about how and where tax dollars are spent, rather than passing a two-thousand page long omnibus spending bill at the last minute.”

“Since coming to the Senate, I've expressed my frustration with our broken appropriations system, which hasn't worked in 40 of the last 44 years that the current budget process has been in place. I’ll continue working with my colleagues in the Senate to push for open debate on each of the appropriation bills passed out of the Senate Appropriations Committee.”

The legislation passed by the Senate today includes funding for the Long-Baseline Neutrino Facility and Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment at the Sanford Underground Research Lab in Lead. It also prioritizes funding for the snowpack monitoring system in the Upper Missouri River Basin for the Army Corps of Engineers so they can work to prevent flooding downstream in communities along the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers. Additionally, the package appropriates $15 million for a new National Guard Readiness Center in Rapid City.

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