Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2019

Floor Speech

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Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, before I talk about what I came here to talk about, let me add my congratulations once again to the vice chairman of the Appropriations Committee, Senator Leahy, and to Senator Collins, both of whom are critical members of the Appropriations Committee. They have gotten us much further than we have gotten in the last 15 years when it comes to the appropriations process.

I am optimistic that we will be able to wrap this up tomorrow. If we do, the Senate will have voted to fund 87 percent of discretionary spending. The last time we sent him an appropriations bill, the President told us: Don't send me another omnibus. He is exactly right. Omnibus appropriations bills are the worst way to do business; maybe close behind that is a continuing resolution.

We are not doing our job if we don't act in a bipartisan way to move these appropriations bills forward, especially since we have agreed to the spending caps.

I would just congratulate all the members of the Appropriations Committee--Chairman Shelby and all of the committee--for their good work. Army Futures Command

Mr. President, tomorrow I will be heading back home to Austin where, on Friday, I will be attending the activation ceremony for the new Army Futures Command. The establishment of this command, which began operations last month, is the most significant Army reorganization since 1973. Its new headquarters is in the capital of Texas--Austin. It will make that the epicenter of Army technology development.

So what does the Army Futures Command do? How does it fit into the existing organizational structure? Why is it necessary?

Let's start with what it does. It seeks to modernize the Army, period. It will do this by leveraging commercial innovation, science and technology, and delivering them to warfighters in useful, cutting- edge ways. In a world with rapidly evolving threats distinct from others we have faced throughout our Nation's history, the Futures Command could not come at a more pivotal time.

The Army chose Austin because it wanted to be close to a hub of innovation, which Austin certainly is these days. It has roughly 6,500 high-tech companies nestled among what is affectionately referred to as ``Silicon Hills.'' We have Silicon Valley and Silicon Hills.

There are major academic institutions nearby, like the University of Texas in Austin, St. Edward's, Texas State, and Texas A&M, with thousands of students graduating each year with degrees in STEM fields--science, technology, engineering, and math.

It is also worth noting that Austin has become a hub for startup culture and is ground zero when it comes to useful talent, technological ingenuity, and path-breaking ideas that are changing industries, institutions, and what our normal ways of doing things were in the past. What sometimes people refer to as ``disruption''-- certainly, we have seen that.

But Austin, let's not forget, is also a military city. We know Camp Mabry is there, the headquarters of the Texas Army and Air National Guards, and the Texas State Guard. Not far away is the ``Great Place'' called Fort Hood, as well as Joint Base San Antonio to the south.

Those military installations will now be joined by the Army Futures Command in Austin, giving the bustling, live music capital of the world an entirely new brand and reason for attention. If San Antonio, my home town, is ``Military City, USA,'' you might call Austin ``Military Innovation City, USA.''

You might be wondering how the Army Futures Command fits into the existing organizational designs of our military. In short, it complements the Army's three other four-star headquarters: the Forces Command, Training and Doctrine Command, and Army Materiel Command.

The first of those trains and prepares combat-ready soldiers. The second is essentially the Army's architect. It recruits, designs, and builds the Army. And the third sustains the Army by providing the necessary equipment.

Now the new fourth command will modernize the Army by integrating technology as it is developed in research labs and other facilities. When staffed at full capacity, the Austin headquarters will be home to 100 soldiers and 400 Department of the Army civilians. That is just a start.

Leading them will be GEN John Murray, who was nominated and confirmed just 2 nights ago to be the commanding general of the Futures Command. My friend and our colleague, Senator Cruz, said it well. He said: ``Just as Austin is uniquely positioned to ensure the Army succeeds in this new mission, General Murray's long career and dedicated service in uniform makes him the right leader for Army Futures Command.'' I agree wholeheartedly.

General Murray and others will help create cross-functional teams designed to focus on specific things that the Army wants to build or improve--for example, next-generation combat vehicles, soldier lethality, or cloud and network capabilities.

The next question I want to answer is, Why is it necessary? I think the only answer is because our country's future military readiness depends on it. That is why it is necessary. Our ultimate goal here is to increase the Army's lethality against near-peer competitors in the global conflicts that could arise at some point down the road.

So the Army Futures Command is really the hub of modernization efforts for the Army. It takes new concepts from the realm of the abstract, and it puts them to use concretely in the form of real-world technology that the Army can acquire for its own purposes. Then it helps the warfighters implement and use these new tools in the field.

There is a rough consensus in Congress that the Army's acquisition machinery needs to operate faster and more efficiently--certainly, more cost effectively. It is my hope that the many entrepreneurs, the college graduates, and the military reservists collaborating with the Army Futures Command in Austin will provide innovative ideas to help remedy these problems. The Futures Command could reduce redtape, making it easier to make decisions or changes quickly, particularly ones involving the purchase or upgrade of equipment and systems.

In a world still marred by conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, strained by escalating cyber security threats, and threatened by the increased belligerence of China and Russia, the U.S. military must keep pace with evolving technologies in order to maintain our strategic advantage and to maintain the peace.

Modernization is the key to deterring aggression, promoting peace, and projecting American strength around the globe. Secretary of Defense Mattis has made it clear that this ranks among his top priorities.

In closing, let me say that the Army Futures Command is aptly named. When it comes to our national defense, we should always be looking toward the future. It is incredible to think that starting in just under 3 weeks, young people born in the aftermath of 9/11 will be eligible to enlist in the Army with their parents' consent. That is an amazing statistic. That tells you something about the rapid pace of modern life and some of the transitions that are occurring right before our eyes.

These young people born right after the terrible events of 9/11 have grown up in a world that sees new forms of conflict, as well as terrorism, the likes of which the Founders of this great Nation could never have imagined. It is imperative, as brave men and women continue to answer the call to service, even in such harrowing times as ours, that we do our part to give them the tools they need to be successful. The Army's Futures Command, therefore, is most definitely a step in the right direction.

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