National Defense Authorization Act

Floor Speech

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Mrs. FISCHER. Mr. President, I want to join my colleagues today and speak on the importance of passing the fiscal year 2020 Defense authorization bill.

As others have mentioned, the process of negotiating the national defense bill is one that has a long history on Capitol Hill. For the past 58 years, the Congress has found a way to come together and unite behind a bipartisan bill that supports our servicemembers and enables the defense of this Nation. We must continue this tradition, and that means recommitting to the principles of bipartisanship and compromise upon which it is built.

Thanks in large part to the hard work and the leadership of Chairman Jim Inhofe and Ranking Member Jack Reed and the members of the Senate Armed Services Committee, the Senate passed an overwhelmingly bipartisan version of this year's National Defense Authorization Act. The House of Representatives, however, passed a very different bill. The conference process is ultimately about finding the best solution that supports our men and women in uniform, but we have to be willing to compromise and find consensus. We cannot resort to political brinksmanship.

As the chairman said last week and as some of my colleagues have mentioned here today, we are running out of time. It is essential that our colleagues in the House come to the table to pass the fiscal year 2020 NDAA.

We live in a rapidly changing world and unfortunately one that contains a growing number of threats and challenges that our military must face head-on. These threats demand that we be ready, and our military can effectively confront those threats only if we provide our servicemembers with the support they need to execute the missions, defeat the enemies of freedom, and safeguard the Nation.

Providing for the common defense is the highest responsibility this body has, and that is why it is so essential that we pass this legislation in a timely manner.

As I said before, for 58 years the NDAA has been the subject of a bipartisan consensus in Congress despite all of our other disagreements. No matter what other issues arise, the one area in which we must forge agreement is in authorizing the resources our men and women in uniform need.

Time and again, we have heard from our senior military leaders that their greatest obstacle is budget uncertainty and unpredictable funding. If we do not come together and pass this year's NDAA soon, we are at risk of damaging our military capabilities and jeopardizing our ability to confront threats from China, Russia, and other malign actors.

It is essential that we work swiftly to secure an agreement so that we do not fail to provide the Department of Defense with the predictable funding they need. We must do our part and honor the service of all our men and women in uniform by moving this process forward and passing the fiscal year 2020 National Defense Authorization Act.

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