National Pulse Memorial

Floor Speech

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Mr. TURNER. Madam Speaker, I thank the ranking member for yielding.

Madam Speaker, I rise in support of the Fiscal Year 2022 National Defense Authorization Act. I thank Chairman Smith, Ranking Member Rogers, and, of course, chairman of the Strategic Forces Subcommittee, Jim Cooper, for once again delivering a National Defense Authorization Act in a bipartisan manner.

This is, as the chairman was saying, the one time a year that we all come together, and that is counter to the narrative you see in Washington, that this truly is a bipartisan product. I thank the committee staff for continuing that culture.

Madam Speaker, DOD leaders have made it clear that we must do more to deter adversaries. I am confident that this bill will do that in countering both Russia and China. As the ranking member of the Strategic Forces Subcommittee, I am particularly proud of the progress this bill makes on the issues of nuclear modernization missile defense in space.

Specifically, the bill fully funds our triad modernization program, to include the Ground Based Strategic Deterrent, the Long-Range Standoff Weapon, the B83 gravity bomb life extension, and the two-site solution for plutonium pit production in Los Alamos and the Savannah River Site.

The bill prohibits the retirement or reconversion of the W76-2 low- yield warhead; requires the integration of the LRSO air-launched cruise missile with the B-21 bomber; and creates a floor of 400 U.S. ICBMs.

On missile defense, it fully funds the Next Generation Interceptor and supports ensuring our homeland missile defense outpaces the North Korean ICBM threat. It also funds Guam and additional THAAD interceptors.

On Space, we continue to push for declassification of programs that will help us counter China and Russia.

Madam Speaker, I thank the ranking member for his comments and the chairman for the work in this bill that is done to try to deter and prevent sexual assault.

Madam Speaker, this NDAA bolsters our national security. It improves the lives of our servicemembers, and will help us counter the threats of China and Russia.

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