National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019

Floor Speech

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Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, we will be voting on the National Defense Authorization Act soon, which enjoys a storied history in the Congress. Fifty-seven consecutive years we passed the National Defense Authorization Act in order to support and equip our military. Earlier this month, the Senate Armed Services Committee voted overwhelmingly-- 25 to 2--to advance this important legislation to the floor.

There are 1.8 million Americans around the world on Active Duty, according to the Department of Defense. The United States has 737 military installations worldwide, and the Department of Defense is the world's largest employer. Supporting all of these people and facilities is a Herculean task, and the Defense authorization bill is one very important way we do that. It is how we make sure the men and women in uniform are paid, our alliances are strengthened, and that military facilities are properly modernized and maintained.

This bill we will be voting on will support a total of--it is an authorization--$716 billion for these tasks. Occasionally, people ask: Isn't that too high a price to pay? Well, $716 billion is unquestionably a lot of money, but the simple fact is, there is no one who shares our values who can step in and fill the void left by an absence of American leadership. It is American leadership that keeps the world stable--or at least as stable as it is--that helps keeps the peace and helps fight the scourge of things like terrorism. There is no substitute for the United States of America.

There are countries I will talk about in a moment--such as China-- that want to surpass us both economically and militarily, but it is important for our very way of life and for peace in the world that the United States continues to live up to its responsibilities to lead when it comes to national security.

In my home State, there are roughly 200,000 men and women stationed at places like Fort Hood, Joint Base San Antonio, the Red River Army Depot and Ellington Field. These are the people I think of each year as we take up and pass the Defense authorization bill. They rely on us to supply them what they need in order to do the tasks they have volunteered to do.

One thing this bill will do--and it sounds very modest--is provide a 2.6-percent pay increase, the largest in nearly 10 years for our uniformed military.

Given the state of today's world, maintaining our military readiness has never been more important or more difficult. The array of national security threats facing the world is more complex and diverse than at any time since World War II. Our leaders say, the strategic environment has not been this competitive since the end of the Cold War. Simply put, America no longer enjoys a comparative advantage that it once had over its competitors and its adversaries.

Secretary of Defense Mattis and the Department of Defense have admirably crafted the national defense strategy that was delivered to Congress earlier this year. This is a critical first step for the administration to lay out its strategy, but now that strategy must be implemented, and the Defense authorization bill will align our policies and resources in a way that will accomplish that.

This legislation will modernize the military's rigid, outdated personnel management system to increase the adaptability of the force, increase its lethality, where necessary, invest in emerging technologies to ensure that our troops have what they need in order to be successful, and reform the Department of Defense to empower strong civilian leadership.

I am glad there are two pieces of this bill that are included and that I want to highlight in particular.

The first is called the Children of the Military Protection Act. I believe the Senator from Maine is my chief cosponsor, and I thank him for that. This will close a jurisdictional loophole affecting military installations where minors commit criminal offenses on base. This issue was brought to my attention by an Army JAG officer--a judge advocate general, a lawyer--who was concerned that juvenile sexual assault cases were falling through the cracks when the Federal Government chose not to prosecute because, naturally, this would end up in the jurisdiction of U.S. attorneys and the Federal courts, and certainly their plate is full. This was a particular problem, though, at Fort Hood in Central Texas.

This legislation will allow Federal prosecutors to retrocede jurisdiction to the State; that is, allow the State to step up and prosecute these cases, allowing State-level authorities to take up the case when the Federal Government's other responsibilities and finite resources prevent it from being able to do so.

This is, as I said, a bipartisan priority that Members of both sides of the aisle should rally behind.

Our children who live on military bases must be protected at all costs, and when they are sexually assaulted, their juvenile assailant should not escape justice because of the constraints of the status quo.

The second piece of legislation I have introduced and that I am pleased has been included in the NDAA--the Defense authorization bill-- involves how we address future threats to our national security. I have spoken quite a bit about China recently. My friend from Maine, who serves on the Intelligence Committee, as do I--we hear quite often about the challenges confronting us from our rival China. But that country bears mention again right now because of its connection to the Defense authorization bill.

The chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, Chairman Thornberry, has recently said that it is in ``the Indo-Pacific region [where] the United States faces a near-term, belligerent threat armed with nuclear weapons and also a longer-term strategic competitor.'' He has described that as being a threat to the United States in the Indo- Pacific region where we face a near-term belligerent threat armed with nuclear weapons--that would be North Korea--along with a long-term strategic competitor, and that would be China, that Chairman Thornberry is referring to.

That is why this year's Defense authorization bill, among other goals, prioritizes military readiness in that region and strengthens key partnerships. It promotes stability and security in the Indo- Pacific region through exercises with our allies, and it maintains our policy of maximum pressure on North Korea as we seek to negotiate the denuclearization of the North Korean peninsula.

But another main provision in this legislation that has to do with the Indo-Pacific region in particular, which I have cosponsored, along with Senator Feinstein, the senior Senator from California, is known as the Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act, or FIRRMA. This legislation will allow us to better intercept threats to our national security posed by China when its companies masquerade as normal corporate actors. But it has been well documented that China is intent upon not only stealing our intellectual property, but also acquiring the know-how to build dual-use technology in China and thus undermine our industrial base here in the United States. They do so by evading current law, by mergers, acquisitions, and joint ventures. This legislation will modernize the review process led by the Secretary of Treasury to make sure that foreign investments in the United States protect our national security.

This is not intended to discourage foreign investment. Foreign investment is a good thing. But when countries have an explicit strategy to try to acquire cutting-edge technology that has military applications, it obviously is a concern to our national security.

As I said earlier, the Defense authorization bill is important for many reasons that hit closer to home. For example, in Texas, this bill has traditionally authorized needed improvements at Texas military facilities. We have an all-volunteer military. That means we have to not discourage people from entering the military or being retained in the military. One of the ways we do that is by making sure that we maintain improvements at our facilities, as well as provide updated aircraft, ships, and ground vehicles. All of these have Texas implications too.

So when I vote yes on the Defense authorization bill soon, I will be thinking of these servicemembers--my constituents back home who proudly wear the uniform of the U.S. military--as well as all of those troops stationed overseas. I encourage all of our colleagues, let's make sure we get this NDAA, the Defense authorization bill, across the finish line as soon as possible.

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Mr. CORNYN. The following Senator is necessarily absent: the Senator from Arizona (Mr. McCain).

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Mr. CORNYN. The following Senator is necessarily absent: the Senator from Arizona (Mr. McCain).

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