National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019

Floor Speech

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Mr. BLUMENTHAL. Madam President, this amendment very simply directs the Postmaster General to issue a Forever Stamp to honor Gold Star families who have lost a family member in combat. It is about as simple and straightforward as an amendment to this immensely complex and costly measure could be.

We are now in the second decade of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan at humongous costs to our Nation: In treasure, some $5 trillion, and in lives, close to 7,000 Americans have perished.

On this Flag Day, and at the beginning of the Father's Day weekend, I ask that this body approve an amendment that very simply would issue and direct the Postmaster to issue a Forever Stamp commemorating the sacrifice and loss of our Gold Star families.

All of us in this body have attended funerals. We have seen firsthand the losses suffered by brave Americans, their families, their loved ones, their friends, their dads, and their moms. All of us ought to be joining in paying tribute to those families by directing the Postmaster General to issue a Forever Stamp, which will be valid for whatever time it is used.

There is precedent for this kind of stamp. In fact, I was reminded of it by a friend and constituent, Joe Kaliko of Greenwich, CT, who was inspired by his childhood stamp collection to suggest a stamp for Gold Star families, permanently recognizing and commemorating these national heroes. The stamp was issued in 1947 for Gold Star mothers. It expired about a year thereafter. Since then, this Nation has never issued such a stamp again, but there is no better time than now to recognize this service and sacrifice.

This amendment is a very simple way to pay tribute to Americans who have lost loved ones in wars that we have permitted and authorized to go forward. Indeed, this defense bill has more than $700 billion, and a good part of it will be in support of continued American service and sacrifice in Iraq and Afghanistan.

So my question to colleagues is: Who knows better about whether this stamp ought to be issued, the Postmaster General or ourselves? Their objection is that somehow there is bad precedent here in Congress authorizing a Forever Stamp. We ought to be proud of that precedent because this cause is different. Especially as we pass a measure that will support continued war efforts in defense of our Nation, protecting our national security, we ought to be especially mindful of the need to remember and pay tribute to families who have sacrificed loved ones in the service of our country.

I know that every one of my colleagues joins me in this feeling. I hope that every one of my colleagues will join me in making that feeling known to the Postmaster General. This amendment is one way of doing it.

To all of us whose sons or daughters have served--as two of mine have--during this period of war, we must be haunted by the idea that we could be one of those Gold Star families. No doubt, some of my colleagues have been touched directly and immediately--I would say almost all of us--by friends, neighbors, or relatives who have suffered these losses. Let us remember them in this special way, as the Nation did after World War II. Let us remember the moms and the dads on Father's Day, on Flag Day, and on every day.

I want to speak more generally about the National Defense Authorization Act because it is a vital and profoundly significant step toward sustaining our national defense and security.

In an era of unprecedented threats to our great Nation, the dangers have never been greater. The need for this defense--particularly in areas and domains where we are at a disadvantage, like cyber--is critically important.

The United States is the strongest and greatest Nation in the history of the world. Militarily, we have no peer. But other nations are rapidly advancing in many of the spaces and domains where our advantage was secure. In undersea warfare, in space and cyber and robotic combat, we must invest.

We need to invest not only in the hardware but also in the people--in the men and women who fight, who put their lives on the line, who wear the uniform and, equally, in the men and women who make the arms and equipment and weapons platforms they take into combat. They should never have a fair fight. The defense industrial base requires skill and training so they can make the submarines, helicopters, and Joint Strike Fighters, which we do in Connecticut and in States around this country.

The men and women who make that stuff are equally important to our national defense, and their skill training and jobs are vital to our national security. I think we need to recognize that education and training are vital parts of our defense, even though they may not be included in this bill.

I was proud to author a provision which will ensure that survivors of military sexual trauma, assault, and harassment are eligible for ``liberal consideration'' during discharge upgrade petition.

Throughout my service in the Senate, I have worked to improve discharge upgrade provisions to ensure that servicemember petitions are treated fairly and expeditiously. This policy change was a crucial next step in reforming that discharge petition upgrade process.

Another provision I have led will require a zero tolerance policy toward domestic violence in the military, a long overdue provision which will ensure that offenders in the armed services are held accountable and referred to the FBI.

In defending our Nation against Russian cyber attacks, a provision in this year's NDAA will authorize USCYBERCOM to detect, deter, and defend against Russian information and weapons cyber warfare campaigns that target American Government officials. We should be doing vastly more against cyber attacks from Russia and other adversaries around the world, rather than coddling or cozying up to them, as this administration seems to want to do repeatedly. We should be recognizing they are attacking us, literally, daily in the cyber domain.

This legislation will invest in that defense industrial base, which is so vital in Connecticut and elsewhere. I am proud that Connecticut plays such a vital role in our defense industry. Five percent of our country's defense contract spending is done in Connecticut, and every dollar is critical to our national security, involving the production of submarines, electric boats, and F-35 engines at Pratt & Whitney, and helicopters at Sikorsky, notably the heavy lift CH-53. Submarines, fighters, and helicopters are proudly produced in this arsenal of democracy.

Groton, CT, is the submarine capital of the world. This bill will support submarines and this important naval installation. The NDAA includes nearly $3.8 billion for the Columbia-class program and $4.4 billion for two Virginia-class submarines. I fought to include an additional $250 million in funding above the President's request for over $3 billion in advance procurement of attack submarines to achieve the Navy's goals of 66 attack submarines for the 355-ship Navy the Nation needs. These submarines are not a luxury or convenience. They are the stealthiest, most versatile, strongest weapons platform we have, capable of delivering surveillance and special operators and cruise missiles and other vital means of war.

I have also championed more than $10.4 billion in funding for 75 F-35 Joint Strike Fighters across the Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps Services for the only fifth-generation fighter in production. I am so glad the administration is now supporting the F-35, after the President expressed doubts at the beginning of this administration. The bill also includes $1 billion for F-35 modernization and spares.

The 2019 NDAA includes very robust funding for helicopter production. Sikorsky helicopters, made in Stratford, CT, have served our Nation for decades. It will support collaboration involving the University of Connecticut and the Navy, $25 million above the President's request in research and development funding for warship partnerships.

As we consider these floor amendments, I want to emphasize one amendment that I have filed concerning the current immigration crisis; specifically, the predicament of unaccompanied minors.

In May, Attorney General Jeff Sessions declared that the Justice Department would prosecute every person who illegally enters the country and separate children from their parents. Previously, families apprehended at the border were released as they waited for civil deportation hearings, but this new, cruel policy will tear apart countless families. It has already separated literally thousands of children of immigrant families from their moms and, yes, on this Father's Day, from their dads.

These heartless family-separation policies are made even more inhumane with the announcement that the Trump administration plans to house these immigrant children, who have been separated from their parents, on military bases. The only reason the Trump administration is even considering detaining children on military installations is because the number they are tearing away from their moms and dads exceeds the facilities they have available right now. The Department of Health and Human Services has already visited four military installations--both in Texas and Arkansas--to assess whether they can be used to shelter children.

Just this week, we also heard that the Trump administration is looking to construct ``tent cities''--yes, ``tent cities''--along the southern border to house unaccompanied migrant children.

This practice ought to make us ashamed and embarrassed as Americans. It is appalling. I am ashamed that the United States is not only actively destroying families and indefinitely detaining children but also using military bases to do this. Turning military installations into detention camps is a disservice to our brave military men and women. Using our military installations to in effect imprison children separated from their parents mocks their purpose and disrespects our brave men and women in uniform who rightly use them in the defense of our Nation.

My amendment in the NDAA would explicitly prohibit the Department of Defense from using any funding authorized in this defense spending package to revise or rebuild or renovate military bases to house these undocumented, unaccompanied minors.

I urge my colleagues to speak out about this disgusting and dangerous policy--not only the separation of children from their moms and dads but also the use of our cherished military bases for that purpose.

I am also proud to have worked with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to stand up to the threat posed by two Chinese telecommunications companies--Huawei and ZTE. This bipartisan opposition to their continued business is a testament to our ability to work across the aisle in defense of our Nation.

Our military and intelligence leaders have repeatedly warned that ZTE and Huawei threaten the security of our networks due to their close ties to the Chinese Government. They have also violated our sanctions, broken our law, and provided equipment and services to rogue regimes, such as Iran and North Korea.

President Trump and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross may be willing to overlook ZTE's track record, but Congress will not do so. Our amendment, which has been included in the managers' package, will prohibit ZTE and Huawei technologies and equipment from entering the networks of the U.S. Government and its contractors for the safety and security of all of us.

It is not just an intellectual point; it is a practical security measure. These two companies are instruments of Chinese influence, and they are peddling that influence throughout the world. We will ensure through this provision that these two telecommunications companies beholden to the Chinese Government are not a part of our communications system in this great Nation.

I am proud to support this NDAA.

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