National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019
Floor Speech
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Mr. HOEVEN. Mr. President, there is a reason we have passed the National Defense Authorization Act every year for the past 57 years, and that is because it is vital for the men and women who take responsibility for defending our country. Passing the Defense authorization bill is one of the most important things we do in this Chamber, and I look forward to passing the bill that we have before us out of the Senate and getting it through conference and signed into law very soon.
I want to start by briefly thanking the bill managers for including a number of my amendments, but one I will mention that they have added to the managers' package is an amendment that requires the Air Force and the National Nuclear Security Administration to submit a joint progress report every 6 months on their efforts to develop a new nuclear cruise missile capability. This will help ensure that their efforts are synchronized and that we stay on schedule. The nuclear cruise missile is an important part of our deterrent, and I am grateful for the committee's willingness to work with me on this amendment and include it in the managers' package.
This year's legislation certainly contains its share of noteworthy provisions. I will not be able to mention them all, but I do want to talk about some of them here today. For example, it authorizes a 2.6- percent pay raise for members of the armed services, which is the highest pay raise we have been able to include in more than a decade. It is something they very much deserve.
Thanks to the good work of the Senate Armed Services Committee, the bill also takes important steps to modernize the personnel system to provide greater career flexibility and make sure we can meet the needs of the professionals who serve across our magnificent Armed Forces.
In addition to personnel matters, I am pleased to note that the legislation supports our Nation's strategic priorities as reflected in the National Security Strategy, the National Defense Strategy, and the Nuclear Posture Review. Those documents rightly point out that we face emerging challenges from Russia and China. While we hope to avoid confrontation with these nations, there is no question we are in competition with them, and this year's NDAA helps align our forces to make sure we maintain our competitive advantage.
This legislation also authorizes significant numbers of fighter aircraft and additional numbers of submarines and surface ships. The reason we are able to do that is that we, in the budget agreement this year, provided more funding authority for our military, which, again, is something we very much needed to do.
This legislation also fully authorizes the nuclear modernization program aimed at sustaining and modernizing all three legs of the nuclear triad, as well as extending the service lives of our nuclear warheads. Modernizing our nuclear forces is extremely important for our national security, as well as to my home State. In my State, the Minot Air Force Base is home to two of the three legs of the triad--bombers and ICBMs. These men and women of the Minot Air Force Base are on the frontlines of vital missions, and updating our nuclear force will help ensure they continue to fulfill this vital role in coming decades. In just the past few months, I have visited that base, and we have had ongoing deployments to the Korean Peninsula, based TDY out of Guam, as well as to the Middle East, taking an important role in what is going on in Iraq and Syria.
I also want to highlight in this legislation the Air Force's plan to replace the engines on the venerable B-52 aircraft, something I have worked on quite a bit. We expect that aircraft, which has been a workhorse for us for many years, to remain a key element of not only our nuclear deterrent but also an important component of our conventional bomber force for decades to come. New engines will help keep it flying and ensure that it will continue to fulfill those vital roles.
The legislation also provides for significant investment in emerging technologies that will position our forces to remain the most capable military on Earth, including investments in hypersonic weapons and directed energy weapons.
Another base in my State, the Grand Forks Air Force Base, has the Global Hawk mission. This legislation makes sure we continue support for the Global Hawk, which is an unmanned aircraft that provides an incredibly important role in ISR--intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance--which is a very important part of our global reach.
This legislation also authorizes the annual military construction program, with an Army readiness center in Fargo, ND, and a helicopter operations facility at the Minot Air Force Base representing two examples of military construction projects made possible through this legislation. Again, these are things I have worked hard on, as well as other support for our National Guard in my State and across the country.
This bill includes language that provides higher allowances for Guard members on lengthy or numerous deployments. It also addresses Federal delays in recognizing promotions for National Guard and Reserve members, who play such an important role in our Armed Forces.
There are too many provisions to go through all of them, obviously, but the point is we need to pass this legislation for our men and women in uniform. We have the finest armed services in the world, and they deserve our careful and deliberate attention to ensure they have the benefits they deserve, the tools they need, and the support that we owe them.
Again, I look forward to completing work on this legislation, and then, as a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee--and I am on the Defense Appropriations Committee as well--I will work hard to make sure we have the appropriate funding to go with the authorization we provide in this legislation to make absolutely sure we support our incredible men and women in uniform. We owe them so much, and it is an honor and privilege to work on their behalf.
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