National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019

Floor Speech

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Mr. LANKFORD. Madam President, I have talked to a lot of Oklahomans who say they would love to hear some good news every once in a while, so let me just pause for a moment and read a couple of headlines and give some good news.

One piece of good news came out of the Oklahoma legislature and out of our research branch. It deals with our finances. Oklahoma's revenues are up 20 percent higher than what was expected. For folks in this Chamber who don't know what is happening in Oklahoma, our economy has been down for a couple of years. We have been struggling through some serious issues in the budget. For our revenues to be up 20 percent higher than what was expected is a surprise but a welcomed surprise. It is a real sign of the turnaround in the Oklahoma economy, and it is very good news for a lot of people. I am grateful to say that it is not isolated news, that this is happening nationwide with there being a real turnaround in the Nation's economy.

I don't often come to this floor and quote the New York Times, but let me do that today. Just a couple of days ago, the New York Times ran the headline: ``We Ran Out of Words to Describe How Good the Jobs Numbers Are.''

In just the first couple of paragraphs of its story, it read that the real question in analyzing the May jobs numbers released that week was whether there were enough synonyms for ``good'' in an online thesaurus to describe them adequately. For example, ``splendid'' and ``excellent'' fit the bill. These are the kinds of terms that are appropriate when the U.S. economy adds 223,000 jobs in a month, despite its having been 9 years into an expansion, and when the unemployment rate falls to 3.8 percent--a new 18-year low.

That was from the New York Times. They ran out of words to describe how good the economy is nationwide.

This is from CNN:

There are now more job openings than workers to fill them.

Want more evidence that America's economy needs more workers? For the first time in at least 20 years, there are now more job openings than there are people looking for work.

That came from CNN.

The strong economy that we are facing shows that we have a 44-year low of people right now who are applying for unemployment insurance, of people who are out there who have lost jobs and are looking for jobs--a 44-year low nationwide.

Three million new jobs have been created since November of 2016. Right now, there is a job opening for every jobless person in America. During the height of the recession just a few years ago, there were six people who were looking for work for every one job open. Now there is at least one job open for every single person in America. Unemployment has fallen to 3.8 percent--the lowest in 17 years--and consumer confidence has hit an 18-year high.

There have been remarkable turnarounds that have happened. There has been a nice, strong, steady increase in our economy. What the Federal Reserve has always been afraid of--an overheating economy that moves too fast--has not occurred. It has just been one of steady growth with new individuals participating in the labor force. On top of all of that, even for those individuals who are currently employed right now, the average wages have increased in America by 2.7 percent.

For the individuals who are employed, wages are going up. For individuals who are looking for jobs, there are job openings for every single American who wants a job, and the unemployment rate continues to drop to a 44-year low. That is good news. That is the ability for the American economy to be able to run again as it was designed to run.

Quite frankly, when the tax reform bill was debated at the end of last year, there were a lot of people asking: Is this going to work? Will it really encourage the economy to grow or will it be a sugar high--is what I heard on this floor--of individuals who will be rushing to spend money only to then have the economy fall away and collapse?

What it has shown is, month after month, since tax reform has been passed and implemented, businesses have been hiring; people have been finding work; and wages have been going up by a steady amount. There has been the opportunity for people to start new businesses. We have seen real growth. Whether that be in State revenues, as in my State, or whether it be for individuals around my State, we are seeing real progress. That is a benefit. Now I encourage people to keep going.

There are a lot of things still to do in our economy, and I am grateful that, recently, the national survey, which is done every year on the best places in America to start a new business, listed Oklahoma City as the No. 1 place in the country to start a new business, a place that is business friendly. That is true for my entire State, where people are welcome to come and start new businesses, to engage, to find new jobs--to open up and find new opportunities.

Speaking of opportunities, my State, along with many other States, has started rolling out from the tax reform bill what are called opportunity zones. It is when we look for areas and designate areas in the State that are not growing as fast as other areas and provide incentives for people--incentives that have been built into the tax bill--in working with the State leaders, where there can be greater investment for people to find jobs, start new businesses, open new businesses. There are additional incentives with which to do that, and we have seen that continue to roll out. So far, there have been 46 States that have designated opportunity zones, and they are rolling out even today.

I am grateful for what is happening in our economy because it is not about numbers and statistics. It is about individual families who have the opportunity to find work. A friend of mine at church recently lost his job. What is interesting about that is, 8 years ago, I had a friend of mine at church who also had lost his job, but it is so different now versus then. Eight years ago, a different friend who lost his job caught me and talked about the desperation of looking, but there was nothing out there. Now a different friend who has lost his job, who is in transition right now, is talking about the opportunities, and he is not in a hurry because he has so many options in front of him. He may start something or he may join somebody else.

It is a good thing that when those moments of crisis come, you have opportunities and the hope of transitioning to another place in order to be able to take care of your family. I would encourage us to continue to work on our economy.

One of my favorite stories that has come out of the newspapers over the last couple of weeks is from the Wall Street Journal. It talks about this economy and talks about hiring, and it mentions specifically that many companies are having a difficult time finding new workers, so they are pursuing a group that they would not have considered a few years ago. They are looking to hire and train felons. These are individuals who have done their duty to society--who have been in prison, have finished their terms--and they are out and just want another shot. This economy is growing so fast that many of those individuals are getting their next shots to start life all over because companies are reaching out to train and hire people who even have felony records. These are individuals and families who don't need a handout; they need opportunities. Thankfully, they are getting it in this economy.

Whether it is a company in Guymon or whether it is a company in Hugo or whether they are companies all across my great State, people are finding opportunities to work. I am grateful for that and a growing economy.

Madam President, I thank Senator Inhofe and Senator Reed for their work on this year's National Defense Authorization Act. It is a big piece of work. It is something that we do every single year, walking through--what is called affectionately around here--the NDAA. It is all of our defense policies. It is what weapons systems we buy. It is how we support our men and women in uniform. It is how we ensure the national security of the United States. It is working its way across the floor, and I am proud of the role my State has played in what is happening to achieve the goals for national security.

The defense bill authorizes a 2.6-percent pay increase for our troops, which marks the largest increase in troop pay since 2010. The bill also increases procurement and funding of the KC-46 tanker, which will be stationed at Altus Air Force Base in Southwestern Oklahoma and maintained at Tinker Air Force Base near Oklahoma City.

The Air Force currently operates an air fueling tanker fleet with an average age of more than 50 years. Since the air refueling tanker plays a key component in our Nation's overall military strategy and our worldwide reach, including our readiness and operational capability, the KC-46A is a very welcomed and long-awaited asset for the Air Force's air refueling capability. They are scheduled to arrive later this year--in just a few months--at Altus Air Force Base so our women and men of the Air Force can step up and be trained and be ready to use that great asset.

The 97th Air Mobility Wing at Altus Air Force Base is responsible for that formal training with the C-17, the KC-135, and now the KC-46 aircraft for the Active Duty, Guard, and Reserve aircrew, while it maintains that Global Reach. Tinker Air Force Base currently supports the depot maintenance on that.

Many of those pilots who end up in that training first start out in Enid, actually. They are being trained in Enid, OK, on some of our smallest training aircraft. They learn how to do it and then, later, transition to Altus to then fly the KC-46.

The bill continues the modernization efforts to be able to continue flying the B-52 bomber, the sustainment of which is completed at Tinker Air Force Base. The bill includes funding for the Paladin Integrated Management system upgrade, which is assembled in Elgin, OK, and is used at Fort Sill, which is right down the street. The Fires Center of Excellence at Fort Sill organizes, trains, and equips all of the Paladin units in the Army Paladin Integrated Management.

Quite frankly, just about every time I go home or now fly out, I sit next to or nearby some young woman or man who is clutching a folder in his hand as he heads into Oklahoma City to get on a bus and head to Fort Sill so he can do his basic. I always recognize their faces, and I don't have to say anything else to them but ``thank you for signing up,'' because they are always clutching those folders they have been told not to lose, so they just hang onto them tightly. They are heading to basic at Fort Sill. It is an incredibly important facility for us as a nation.

Earlier this year, it was announced that Fort Sill will maintain the long range precision fires and the air and missile defense cross functional teams and will welcome two new brigadier generals to lead these organizations. All around the world people are asking for the assets that are coming out of Fort Sill because people want missile defense and the capability of protecting themselves from incoming threats.

This bill that we are working on also includes funding for the bulk diesel system replacement at the McAlester Army Ammunition Plant. Almost every time you see a guided missile somewhere--in all likelihood, on TV--it was assembled and prepared in McAlester, OK.

The bill provides funding for the aircraft vehicle storage building for the Army National Guard in Lexington, OK. Since September 11, 2001, the Oklahoma National Guard has deployed more than 30,000 soldiers to more than 16 countries--right out of Oklahoma. We are proud to do our part.

Finally, the committee recognized the spaceport in Oklahoma, which some folks missed, but the committee did not. It is home to one of the Nation's longest and widest runways. It is a 13,503-foot-long by 300- foot-wide concrete runway, and it is ready and prepared for our Nation.

The committee noted that the Oklahoma Air & Space Port, near Burns Flat, OK, is the only space port in the United States to have a civilian Federal Aviation Administration-approved spaceflight corridor in the National Airspace System. This spaceflight corridor is unique because it is not within military operating areas or within restricted airspace, which provides an operational capability for space launch operations and associated industries that are specialized in space- related activities.

This is a good bill. There is a lot in it, and it is a long bill. There are amendments that are still pending as we work through the process, but there has been a good conversation as we have worked through and continue to focus on one of the primary responsibilities of this Congress and of our legislative branch--standing up for the national defense and making sure we take care of that.

There are a lot of things happening in our economy and our Nation because we are secure. If at any moment we let down our guard with our own security, a lot of other things will disconnect. It is a good thing for us to work through the process on this, and I look forward to supporting this bill and continuing to support our national security.

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