National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021--Conference Report

Floor Speech

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Mr. REED. Mr. President, I also want to thank the chairman for his extraordinary leadership in getting us to this point.

For 59 years straight we have passed the National Defense Authorization Act, and I think, honestly, without the chairman's leadership we would have failed this year. So he is owed a great debt of gratitude by all of us and appreciation, particularly from the men and women of the military.

Let me speak a bit about this year's bill: the William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021.

We reached a conference committee report which was fair and bipartisan. In fact, I think the best testimony of that was the vote last evening by the House of Representatives--335 to 78, with 1 Member voting present. That is, by definition, bipartisan, substantive, overwhelmingly supported by both sides as a fair--not only fair but extraordinarily beneficial piece of legislation for the country.

You don't get that vote on something that is partisan and narrowly defined and divisive. This bill is bipartisan. Again, Exhibit A: the vote last night in the House of Representatives.

We have passed it for 59 years. There should be no exception this year. This is the 60th. And I hope we complete that and I expect we will complete that tomorrow.

And, indeed, this whole effort, like everything else in this country, has been twisted and exacerbated by the COVID virus. We have to deal with that, but we recognize that, despite all the complications, despite all of the issues that come before us, one of our most important constitutional duties is to provide for the security of this Nation and provide for the men and women who wear the uniform of the United States. This bill does that.

This important bipartisan legislation enhances our national security, strengthens military readiness and defense capabilities, protects our forces and their families, and it supports the defense industrial base.

This bill authorizes the active and reserve component end strength necessary to meet national defense objectives, provides a 3-percent across-the- board pay raise for the troops, and authorizes a number of bonus, special, and incentive pay authorities necessary to retain and recruit the highest quality individuals for military service.

The conference report, as I indicated, passed by an overwhelming margin in the House, and I hope and believe we will have that same outcome tomorrow in the Senate.

Despite everything in this bill to support our forces and bolster our national security, there have been threats to veto the bill by the President. That is his prerogative as President of the United States, but our responsibility and our prerogative is to pass legislation which is sound, we hope bipartisan, and serves the needs of the Nation and, particularly in this case, the troops. And I believe we have done that.

There has been some discussion by the President of a repeal of section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996. Obviously that is not in our jurisdiction. It is a complicated issue. To simply, at the end of this process, stick it in does a great disservice to the committees of jurisdiction, as well as to the complexities involved in taking away a major factor in the operation of social media companies all across this country.

So, once again, I think it was wise to resist trying to insert a repeal of section 230 into the bill. Indeed, our national security and our troops should not be held, in a sense, hostage to a very specific business concern, and our legislation does not do that.

As I mentioned a moment ago, the crisis affecting every citizen is an exponential spread of the COVID-19 virus, and our military is not immune. As of last Wednesday, more than 31,000 military personnel were infected. If you add their families and Defense Department civilians, the number is over 48,000. These infections undermine our readiness, including the ability to train and to deploy safely.

To respond to this health crisis--again, the most serious crisis we have faced in 100 years, with respect to the pandemic--the conference agreement requires the Department to develop a strategy for pandemic preparedness and response, maintain a 30-day supply of personal protective equipment, and to have the capability to resupply such equipment rapidly and review the Military Health System's response to COVID-19.

The conference agreement also requires the creation of a registry of TRICARE beneficiaries diagnosed with COVID-19 and provides transitional health benefits for National Guard members and their families.

I can't think of a more timely and necessary provision than this provision in our legislation, which addresses this pandemic that faces us today.

Now, there has been one very high profile--there are several high profile but one high profile issue that is surrounding the bill this year, and that is the conference agreement inclusion of the Senate provision renaming military installations that are named after Confederate leaders.

This provision establishes a commission to make recommendations for the renaming or removal of names, symbols, displays, monuments, and paraphernalia that honor or commemorate the Confederacy or any person who served voluntarily with the Confederacy. The provision also requires the Secretary of Defense to rename and implement the commission's plan within 3 years of enactment.

Now, I know the President recalls this, but this passed our committee by voice vote with one, I recall, objection by the Senator from Missouri. It came to the floor, and there were some attempts to make changes, but changes were not made. The bill passed overwhelmingly for--I believe over 80 votes--including the precise language that is in this conference report.

So we went from committee to the floor, to the conference with the same language that was not objected to significantly by anyone. I think that should be pointed out.

The senior Department officials at the Department of Defense are all open to changing these names. There is bipartisan support and cooperation on this issue, and I think it will be something that will be implemented and will be appropriately implemented.

The conference agreement also includes a number of provisions aimed at increasing diversity and inclusion within the Department of Defense and military services, including the creation of a Chief Diversity Officer within the Department and the inclusion of programs at the Department to respond to White supremacist, extremist, and criminal gang activity within the Armed Forces.

I say with some sense of remorse and regret that, unfortunately, there are some--I don't think significant numbers but some of these individuals. We have to respond to them, and we are responding to them.

The conference report also includes the Elijah Cummings Anti- Discrimination Act of 2020, which expands and enhances anti- discrimination employee protections for Federal workers.

Also, the conference agreement strengthens the Department's civilian workforce by including technical fixes and improvements to the Paid Parental Leave Program authorized in last year's Defense bill.

As the Presiding Officer recalls, last year was a major breakthrough, giving Federal employees the incentive of paid parental leave. It has been extremely well received. Now we have made sure that no one has been left out.

We are all, I believe, disappointed that, as we look at the record of all the services dealing with sexual assault in the military, they have not made the progress I think we all deem necessary. To reduce barriers and encourage victims of sexual assault to report that they were assaulted, the conference report requires the Secretary of Defense to establish a safe-to-report policy that would allow victims to report sexual assault without being punished for minor misconduct related to the assault.

We are also concerned about the issue of domestic violence affecting our military families. The conference report requires the Defense Department to contract with a private sector independent entity to assess the Department's domestic violence program and to recommend improvements to enhance the prevention of and response to domestic violence in the military.

Let me turn to the requirements of specific military services. The conference report supports a number of programs necessary for modernization, including robust funding for the Army's Future Vertical Lift Program and long-range precision fires.

For the Navy and Marine Corps, the bill would add roughly $3 billion to authorize a number of unfunded priorities identified by the Chief of Naval Operations and the Commandant, including funding for the CNO's top unfunded priority, the 10th Virginia-class submarine in the current multiyear procurement program. It also mandates changes in the oversight and execution of shipbuilding and unmanned systems development programs--changes that should help instill more rigor and discipline within the Navy's efforts.

With respect to the Air Force, the bill helps improve oversight of the Department by requiring the Secretary of Defense to submit an annual 30-year plan for the procurement of aircraft across the services--all the services--which is similar to the 30-year shipbuilding report that is already in statute. The bill also supports the Department's efforts to achieve reduced operating and support costs of the F-35 program.

Turning to science and technology, I am pleased that the bill increases funding for important research activity such as artificial intelligence and quantum computing. It also includes several provisions that strengthen our domestic manufacturing and industrial base, including in critical sectors such as microelectronics, pharmaceuticals, and rare earth materials.

The conference report adopts a large number of recommendations from the Cyberspace Solarium Commission, which was cochaired by Senator King. I must applaud him for his extraordinary work. They did remarkable work, Senator King and his colleagues in the Senate and the House of Representatives.

The conference report establishes the National Cyber Director position within the Executive Office of the President to provide national leadership for cyber security, which cuts across many different agencies and jurisdictions. This is one of the key recommendations, but we have many more recommendations included in the report.

As we turn and look at the world outside of the United States, particularly with regard to Russia and Europe, the conference report enhances our ability to deter Russian aggression, maintains strong support for Ukraine, and reaffirms our commitment to the Transatlantic Partnership by calling for a strong U.S. force posture and capabilities in Germany.

The conference report also expands sanctions on entities engaged in the construction of the Nord Stream 2 Pipeline and a requirement to impose sanctions under the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act, CAASTSA, on Turkey for its purchase of the Russian S-400 air defense system.

Turning to China, our other major adversary--and as the chairman pointed out the two major features in the new national defense strategy authored under the guidance and direction of President Trump--turning to China, the bill established the Pacific Deterrence Initiative, a new authority for the Department of Defense modeled after the European Deterrence Initiative, and authorizes an additional $150 million in funding. And I give great credit to the chairman because it was his idea, and he asked me to participate with him. But it is a great recognition of the world as it is today--China in an adversarial position--and we responded to it.

I believe this is one of our strongest bills yet on countering the threat that China poses to the United States and our partners and allies, including India, Taiwan, and other countries in the region.

With respect to countering the continued threat posed by ISIS, the conference report extends the Iraq and Syria train-and-equip programs at the requested funding level, while ensuring appropriate congressional oversight of the use of such funds.

Specific to Iraq, the conference report continues efforts to normalize security assistance to Iraq by transitioning funding to enduring authorities and not other temporary authorities we have been using over the last several years--many years, frankly.

For Afghanistan, the bill extends the authority to train and equip Afghan security forces and enhances congressional oversight. It requires an assessment of the progress made on such issues as anti- corruption, recruitment and retention of security forces, and commitments made by the Afghan Government in support of intra-Afghan negotiations. It also includes a restriction on funding to reduce U.S. forces in Afghanistan until the administration submits an assessment of the impact of such actions on U.S. interests.

In addition, the bill includes a provision to enhance congressional oversight of the administration's negotiations with the Taliban to ensure the Taliban is in compliance with the commitments made on February 29, 2020, and to address current and projected threats to the homeland emanating from Afghanistan.

The key commitment is that we would be able to maintain a counterterrorism presence that would be adequate and sufficient to suppress any threat emanating from Afghanistan, and that has to be confirmed. We are still waiting for that confirmation.

I am also pleased the conference agreement includes several provisions, collectively known as the United States-Israel Security Assistance Act, to extend foreign assistance, cooperative development programs, and other support to Israel. These provisions demonstrate our unwavering commitment to Israel.

Turning to our nuclear triad, the conference report authorized the President's request to continue the modernization of our nuclear deterrent, which is quickly nearing the end of its use life, and the President recognizes that very precisely. The conference report will also ensure the continuation of much needed modernization efforts to continue to rebuild our aging National Nuclear Security Administration infrastructure. The conference report does not support additional testing, as the directors of our weapons labs have assured us and certified that it is not necessary at this time.

The bill before the Senate is bipartisan, with strong support in Congress. This bill is critical to our national security, but more importantly, it provides the resources our troops need in order to do their job and return home safely to their loved ones. Any discussion of vetoing this bill undermines the commitment, I believe, that we have made to our servicemembers and should be off the table. Vetoing this bill would send the wrong signal to our forces, our allies, and our adversaries at exactly the wrong time. It is not necessary, and it should be avoided.

Let me close in the way that I began. Let me commend Senator Inhofe. He has worked this bill tirelessly, and I believe he has been fair and transparent throughout the process. As I said before, the reason we have this bill for the 60th year--assuming our vote is strong tomorrow--is because of the chairman and several others, but it is the chairman principally.

I would also like to take a moment to commend Mac Thornberry. The bill is named after Mac. He is an extraordinary gentleman. I had the privilege of serving with him for 2 years in the House of Representatives. He is an individual whose wise counsel, whose integrity, whose decency, and whose dedication to the men and women of the armed services is unparalleled. He is an extraordinary gentleman. I can't think of a more fitting tribute and a more apt tribute than naming this bill after Mac Thornberry.

I have to conclude by saying that despite the appearance we have done all this work, our staff is extraordinary. John Bonsell and Liz King-- the staff directors--did superb work. Let me recognize my staff, my Democratic staff: Jody Bennett, Carolyn Chuhta, Jon Clark, Jonathan Epstein, Jorie Feldman, Creighton Greene, Ozge Guzelsu, Gary Leeling, Maggie McNamara Cooper, Kirk McConnell, Bill Monahan, Mike Noblet, John Quirk, Arun Seraphin, Fiona Tomlin, and last but not least, Elizabeth King.

Again, this Fiscal Year 2021 National Defense Authorization Act conference report is the culmination of months of hard work. It is a good bill. I would say, in fact, it is one of the best bills that we have had in many, many years, and it will provide for our national security and our men and women in uniform and their families. I urge my colleagues to support it.

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