Senator Roger Wicker issued the following statement.
Shortly
before Christmas, Congress passed major legislation to keep the
government open through fiscal year 2023. Separate appropriations bills
to fund government departments should have been passed
months ago but were prevented from coming to the floor by the
Democratic leadership. Although many Americans were surprised at the
bill’s seemingly quick passage, in reality the bill was the product of
months of negotiations between members of both parties.
The final package reflected the hard work of Republican negotiators –
in both the House and Senate – resulting in significant wins for
conservatives and full funding for our nation’s military.
Ending Uncertainty for Our Military
With
Republicans expected to lead the House, some have asked why we did not
pass a short-term funding bill to get us into 2023 and allow Republicans
to negotiate a new package. Perhaps the biggest
reason is that our military cannot afford the continued uncertainty of
short-term funding. We are now in the most dangerous period since the
Cold War, with China and Russia growing more aggressive, and our
military is not prepared to prevent a war in the Pacific.
Because of Democrat delays, the Pentagon had already been running on a
short-term “continuing resolution” (or CR) since September, keeping the
military focused on last year’s priorities. This stopgap measure wasted
tens of billions of taxpayer dollars and
kept the military from moving forward on vital construction projects
and equipment purchases. Passing yet another CR would have continued to
waste money and weaken our military. As a member of the Armed Services
Committee, and as a veteran myself, I have always
resisted short-term funding measures and was determined to give our
troops the support they need to keep us safe.
From
the very start of our negotiations, Republicans insisted on giving the
military $45 billion over President Biden’s weak budget request while
funding only half of his domestic spending increases.
We were successful in achieving both goals. As a result, the
legislation provides a well-deserved pay raise to our troops, a 40
percent increase for military housing, a 22 percent increase for VA
medical care, and significant resources to expand our naval
fleet. Taken together, these investments could be decisive in ensuring
no adversary challenges us in a conflict.
Democrats
predictably tried to ram through several left-wing priorities, such as
restrictions on oil drilling and our Second Amendment rights.
Thankfully, Republicans blocked these proposals. We
also preserved the Hyde Amendment, ensuring that taxpayer dollars will
not go toward abortion. In all, more than two-thirds of this government
funding bill will go to support our national defense, homeland security,
and law enforcement.
Major Boost for Mississippi Projects
Mississippi
will benefit from the significant infrastructure funding in this
legislation. In response to the Jackson water crisis, I urged
negotiators to include over $600 million in emergency funding
for the city’s water infrastructure, along with other vital water
projects across our state. Congress provided this critical funding. The
legislation will also invest in Mississippi
roads,
bridges, ports, rural broadband, hospitals, and schools. And
Mississippi universities will receive grants to conduct groundbreaking
research into energy development and advanced materials.
With Republicans set to control the House, conservatives are making plans to force Democrats to take up appropriations bills in a more timely manner this year. I am eager to help restore regular order and finally put a stop to end-of-year brinkmanship.
62 comments:
He is a stooge for McConnell. A complete farce. Sadly, I gave him money once- never again! God we need a real honest to goodness Senator!
And don't forget the various gun control schemes crammed in there as well.
The amount of waste in the military is not conceivable. It is crazy how much money the DOD gets and wastes. There needs to be a major restructuring. Neither China nor Russia pose a threat the US homeland or any of our territories.
So Wicker wants to waste money on the military instead of on our citizens. It’s shocking he wants to brag about his screwed up priorities.
He may end up being the worst US Senator Mississippi has ever had. He is as week as his limp hand shake. Was he also a cheerleader?
January 6, 2023 at 1:43 PM Keep your guns. I'm keeping mine. But my God, we've got to do something to control guns getting into dangerous hands. Mainly waiting periods for thorough background checks. If you can't even concede to a few days wait, you are a part of the problem.
1:48 PM "Neither China nor Russia pose a threat the US homeland or any of our territories."
Really? Have you checked the waters around Alaska lately? Russia has to be stopped!
I guess he defended his speaking at Davos too. Typical squish republican who clearly does not represent us, only the ale left special interests. Thanks for nothing, Roger. When is the last time we had a budget? You’re omnibus spending is a complete dodge of your constitutional duties and merely an opportunity to loot the public treasury.
Votes with Schumer and Pelosi yet again.
He is part of the swamp!
Congress is totally dysfunctional - both sides are determined to do nothing but bitch at each other and whine about the other side. And, they have been oh so very successful at accomplishing nothing (other than being reelected by their respective herds of blind sheep).
Uh, Senator, how about you not vote for such a bill going forward that includes so much waste, regardless of whether some of the bill is a necessity? Yes, the military needs funding but my monthly bills are up over $500/month because of all of the wasteful spending. Start putting Mississippians who are struggling to make ends meet ahead of your military contractor friends.
Just so much horseshit.
Democrats: "Senator Wicker, we've made you your favorite dish, and it's 99.5% dog shit free. Are you hungry?" He wouldn't eat it, because that would affect HIM! As for us, he couldn't care less!
His vote for this bill, thereby thwarting the house's opportunity to prevent further damages, is unforgivable. In fact, it should be disqualifying for him to be reelected to the senate.
Why can't Mississippi ever produce conservative fighters (in either the house or senate?)
Unfortunately dumb cluck Mississippians will keep voting for this warmongering fiend for the remainder of his likely to be long life.
@1:42pm - You don’t consider Minnie Pearl a good senator?
He caved. Makes you wonder what he'll get in return
Both he and Minnie Pearl were initially appointed by governors, correct? Neither should be representing this state. Wicker marches to the drumbeat of the swamp and nobody knows which drum Cindy-Bryant-Hyde hears. She actually thinks one day she'll be Secretary of Agriculture at the national level, based entirely on the fact that she rode around on the dirt floor of the coliseum three years in a row, with Phil, in a buckboard, hollering YEE-HAW!
The only 'representation' more shameful is that 'provided' by the lifetime, gerrymandered office-holder of the second congressional district seat.
Just like people griping about Tate, people grip about Wicker...
Yet, they will both easily win reelection.
2:19 PM
Felons aren't buying from FFLs, karen.
All of this is BS, passing a 4,000+ page bill with $1.7 trillion dollars we don't have is disgusting. I'm will to bet he or any other member of the senate or house read the bill! Nor any of their minion staff members! How much of that so called military spending is going to WOKE perverted policies?
The Heritage Foundation said the bill includes:
$1 million for Zora’s House in Ohio, a “coworking and community space” for “women and gender-expansive people of color.”
$3 million for the American LGBTQ+ Museum in New York City.
$3.6 million for a Michelle Obama Trail in Georgia.
💸 $1 million for Zora’s House in Ohio, a “coworking and community space” for “women and gender-expansive people of color.”
💸 $3 million for the American LGBTQ+ Museum in New York City.
💸 $3.6 million for a Michelle Obama Trail in Georgia.
Yea this is a bill we can be proud of!!! Right and clown wicker was also at the WEF meeting in Davos, guess what this organization goals are, GLOBAL ECONOMY AND CONTROL! They will destroy this great country with this broke corrupt political system. And they know the American people are so absorbed with their hits on social media and selfies and lack critical thinking skills!!! The majority has an IQ of tire pressure!
Reminder:
The honorable Senator from Mississippi went to Davos to get his globalist WEF marching orders for Ukraine and the manufactured global food and energy crisis.
Didn’t read the article because it’s not worth my time. I don’t know if he raised to the level of Rhino and agree he probably will win reelection next time but not with my vote. At least if I vote democrat I know what to expect.
What a load!
I’ll never vote for Wicker again.
When you take a lot more time & word count to respond to the brief & succinct accusation of being a sell-out, you've lost the battle.
I wouldn't brag about giving $600 million taxpayer dollars to the city of Jackson to waste.
They all are a bunch of lightweights and sellouts to the lobbyists.
Wicker has never held a real job or worked where sweat was required!
He is a lightweight squish who doesn’t seem very bright. What a pair of senators we have sent to Washington. Embarrassing.
Missippi should be proud someone cares about the state. If it wasn’t for that 1.7 trillion dollar bill it would really get bad here. Tater and company know this is a godsend!
I'm sorry, but paying for Jackson's broken water system is exactly like buying a new car for a man whose car is broken down because he never changed the oil. You're going to gecdoibg it again in a few years.
Yeppity yeppers, those Rooskies are going to roll up the Aleutian chain all the way to Anchorage. And then from there it’ll be a cakewalk for them to Vancouver, only 2,200 more miles. From there a push across the border into the ‘Murkin Pacific Northwest is but a step. They’ll cruise down the coast and into Hollywood, all 1,200 miles of terrain, mere days later. A Russian invasion should keep all of you awake nights. I know it does me, as it does our brave senator, Roger Wicker.
I wish they were wasting money on the military, because equipment, barracks, housing, uniforms, vehicles are all junk. They can’t keep people in and no one wants to join. The Democrats convinced their idiot voters to allow a proxy war with Russia, meanwhile defense contractors are having parties and the Ukraine puppet is on talk shows.
Oh to have a Tom Cotten clone as a senator from Mississippi.
Have you ever tried calling Wicker’s office to leave a message or express a conservative opinion on politics? Try it sometime. I’ve tried twice. The people I’ve talked to barely listened and didn’t thank me for my opinion or for calling. Disdain might be going too far, but each time I got off the phone I knew that that was as far as my opinion or message went. Even though I explained I was a small business owner and republican and I explained my concerns I came away thinking that I didn’t matter. I will never vote for Wicker again. Doesn’t matter who he’s running against. He can explain until the cows come home. He’s worse than a democrat.
Jokeway Lumbago congratulated Roger by name! What does that tell you?
More money for the military-industrial complex and lots of pork. Typical Republican.
It is encouraging to me to see so much criticism here of the status quo, recognition of the internationalist banker control of our politicians, etc. Past time to replace this phony conservative.
Wicker is a good Democrat.
Weren't both of our light-weight senators initially appointed to the position by governors? I don't recall Wicker's situation in that regard, but Cindy was appointed during the underhanded plan to accept Thad's resignation. The only reason for either being that if you're an incumbent, your election to the position is much more likely, typically a lock.
If Cochran had been an honorable man (having hold of his faculties) he would have resigned at a time when the position would have been on the ballot, not subject to appointment.
Wicker will have a mighty fine retirement. Social Security, Senate retirement and (isn't he something like a lieutenant general in the) Mississippi National Guard and unspent war-chest and lobbyists' 'contributions'.
I can’t wait to canvas for his opponent
I think he knows he's going to retire at the end of this term and has no worries about blowback from his constituents. If he doesn't retire he needs to be primaried.
As antithetical as I am to someone like Chuck Schumer, I have more respect for him for his honesty than a pretender like Wicker. Hyde-Smith is only slightly better.
Wicker to his critics: "Get your foot outta my pork and gravy, son, and I might let you gnaw a bone."
Y’all antisemitic conspiracy theorists really need to go visit that traveling Holocaust museum that is opening down in Hattiesburg on January 9th.
Take the advice Elon gave to Ye.
Focus on what you love instead of what you hate.
Hating Jews is never in fashion.
Cue Senator Philip Gunn !
Wicker is as secure in his job as Michael Guest. You 🥜 nutjobs have no clue how much of a fringe minority that you really are.
he says this bill will keep the government ''open'' through fiscal year 2023, BUT HE FAILS TO MENTION ANYTHING ABOUT THE TRILLIONS OF DOLLERS THE GOVERNMENT IS GOING TO PRINT TO PAY TO KEEP HIS STINKING BLOATED FEDERAL GOVERNMENT RUNNING.
the trillions that the government will print to fund this bill will only serve to make that dollar bill in your pocket worth just that much less.
And not one red penny for healthcare.
Pick your favorite administrations...those you thought the most fiscally responsible. Pull up their budgets.
Do the math on the value of what a dollar was in that year compared to now.
I know you won't read 1000 pages. But, these bills are fairly well organized into sections. Pick one or two.
In other words, stop being so ill informed when you boviate!
Wicker is a turncoat with a perverse financial incentive. A weasel. Big RINO.
Put in your search " years with the lowest US deficit. Look up " years with highest US deficits. See who controlled both chambers of Congress. See who was President.
It MAY just MAY give you a hint.
Then really get serious and see how Americans were faring...jobs and pay and personal debt.
Some of you will be awfully embarrassed for what you've written and discover being " spoon fed" isn't the same and holding your own spoon.
1:10 pm is right
he's one of the few people on this blog who recognize that money is just a commodity, like a barrel of oil or a bushel of corn.
and the more plentiful a commodity is , the less it is worth.
From The Outlaw Josie Wales:
Fletcher: “There’s another old saying, Senator: Don’t piss down my back and tell me it’s raining.”
Nothing like bipartisanship—any bipartisanship at all—to bring out the idiot nutjobs to this site. Cry more, please.
He is probably retiring to become a CNN contributor or a lobbyist for Haley's firm representing their favorite client China.
this is the result of good ole boy MS politics! when you reelect Thad, who should have been termed out, but you recruit votes from Dems to win the Primary you set a precedent. Chickens coming home to roost!
12:37: The folks you’re talking about were certainly a fringe minority 15 years ago, but now they have evolved into essentially the winning majority of votes in a contested Republican primary in Mississippi. They almost beat Thad Cochran in 2014 with a nobody State Senator. They almost beat Michael Guest in 2022 with another nobody. They pushed Tate over the finish line in an unexpectedly close runoff in 2019 against Waller, who carried the more urbane counties. And they are the base for Trump’s showing in the 2016 primary in MS and his overwhelming tallies in MS in the 2016 and 2020 November elections. They are 100% against Roger Wicker. Nothing he can do can change that. I think he will announce after Thanksgiving that he is stepping down, retiring undefeated. But if he doesn’t, he will have the toughest primary he has ever had, in an 2024 election year where Trump might be on the primary ballot and other true conservatives might also be on the ballot, all bringing out the “fringe minority” as you call them. Wicker has made his bed. He might still win but he will face a large, highly motivated anti-Wicker base of voters that know they can win based on previous primary elections.
Wicker is pathetic. But, the the more pathetic thing is the reeves, the hosemanns, the gunns, the smiths, and the other so called conservatives in this State will gladly support Wicker in his next election.
(addition) Forgot his tenure in the Mississippi legislature, so add in a PERS and SLRP retirement. As with Hyde-Smith, Wicker was 'slud' into office by a governor (Barbour) upon the retirement of Trent Lott (another deal made in the dark room).
1:21 has a good point.
The Rankin machine will require Reeves et all to remain loyal to Wicker.
I am so sick of all of it. Such a joke.
Wickers let us know, he didn't like the chances for a budget being passed in the house and he got more money for the Military industrial complex was his ONLY REASON for voting for this travesty. With friends like this, who needs enemies.
RINO. Classic RINO.
interesting as precious few if any posters here are defending him.
Seems he is uniformly diliked by his own constituency.
Interesting.
And time to turf him out.
January 9, 2023 at 3:48 PM He was installed by who he knew and who his daddy was, not by the voters. He was appointed by Governor Haley Barbour and has remained because of inertia and the lack of a moneyed opponent sufficiently interested in removing him. The swamp runs deep in Mississippi Politics.
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