William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021

Floor Speech

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Mr. KELLY of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, I first want to thank Chairwoman Speier for the hard work that we did together on the Military Personnel Subcommittee, Ranking Member Thornberry, who has provided leadership my entire time, and Chairman Smith for the great job that they have done in passing a bipartisan bill out of committee.

I stand before you today in proud support of the bipartisan defense bill that we unanimously voted out of committee during the extraordinary circumstances of COVID-19. This bill does more for families and servicemembers than any that come to my mind. It is a huge step forward, but there is still work to do.

However, I am concerned with the many amendments that would impose across-the-board budget cuts that may affect programs that support our military families. I am also concerned with the potential size of this cut, which, by my understanding, would be about $73 billion, more than twice the impact of the fiscal year 2013 sequester.

The bill that was voted out of committee continues to support and improve the lives of those who sacrifice for our country on a daily basis by authorizing a military basic pay raise of 3 percent.

This bill reinforces the committee's longstanding commitment to the military family by requiring the Department of Defense to redefine military family readiness and military family resiliency, and it provides for significant reforms to the Exceptional Family Member Program.

This bill addresses the COVID-19 pandemic by requiring the military to assess the diagnostic equipment, testing capabilities, personal protective equipment, and treatment capabilities of the Armed Forces. It also requires the National Security Strategy to include the drugs, vaccines, and other critical medical equipment that will ensure combat readiness and lethality by safeguarding the health of our Armed Forces.

Mr. Speaker, I want to again thank Chairwoman Speier, because this bill will continue to support our servicemembers and retain their families.

Mr. Speaker, this is an outstanding bipartisan bill dedicated to our servicemembers, military families, and retirees, and it gives them the care and support they need, deserve, and have earned.

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Mr. KELLY of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, this is dangerous. This same amendment, but in a lesser form not nearly as dangerous and not nearly as restrictive, was defeated in a bipartisan manner in committee. The reason that it was is because we are having a knee-jerk reaction to what we think the President might do--not what he did, but what we think he might do.

This is dangerous. I can tell you, Mr. Speaker, I come from a State where, had the Insurrection Act not been in effect when Eisenhower and Kennedy were Presidents, we would be in a different-looking Chamber today. They allowed the schools of Mississippi, Arkansas, and Alabama to be integrated. Those Presidents allowed, through the Insurrection Act, the Freedom Riders to go through the State of Mississippi with the National Guard.

But here we are with more restrictions. Not only do we want to put troops out there when we say it is okay--and I don't know who ``we'' is, but it doesn't need to be a ``we''--but we are going to further restrict the President, and we are going to tie the hands of those servicemembers whom we send in harm's way. It is dangerous. They can't search, and they can't participate.

Mr. Speaker, we need to defeat this amendment, and there needs to be a long discussion if we want to change that. But it doesn't need to be in this bill. This is a poison pill. Let's defeat this amendment.

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Mr. KELLY of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, the UFR list does not add any additional spending authorizations to the NDAA. Congress has a constitutional responsibility to fund the military. These lists provide us with insight into senior leader requirements. It allows us to allow the combatant commanders, the people down there who are closest to the troops, to tell us what they need.

I am surprised that she is for the current administration, and the DOD that is appointed by the current administration, to tell us how we need to spend our money in Congress. I am not for that with any President.

We need to do our job as Congress, and we need to listen to the people closest to the ground, and it does not add any money to the current NDAA process.

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