Haiti Development, Accountability, and Institutional Transparency Initiative Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding.

I rise today in strong support of this omnibus appropriations package. As the ranking member of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, I will outline why America's position in the world depends on the passage of this bipartisan bill.

But first I want to thank Chair DeLauro for her hard work and Ranking Member Granger for putting this together. I thank my partner and friend, Chair Betty McCollum, for the hard work that she has put into this bill to make it a reality, and certainly the staff on both sides who have been working day and night to put this together and certainly my clerk, Johnny Kaberlie, who has done a yeoman's job of getting this done.

Over the past several weeks, we have witnessed Russia invade a sovereign nation, indiscriminately killing civilians to the horror of the world. As a matter of fact, just a few hours ago a maternity ward was bombed by Russia, killing new mothers and babies just a few hours ago. And while this happens, President Xi, Kim Jong Un, and other autocrats are watching closely to see how the United States will respond.

I firmly believe that today we are closer to a large-scale conflict with a near-peer adversary than we have been in recent memory. We must get this bill to the President's desk as soon as possible to respond to these acts of aggression. Weakness is provocative, and a year-long continuing resolution would undoubtedly demonstrate weakness on a global stage.

Included in the defense portion of this bill are many priorities for Members of both parties that will strengthen our military. These include 13 new Navy ships, increased investment in next-generation capability, like hypersonics, full funding for our nuclear modernization, and investments in our servicemembers and their families.

And as ranking member, I fought hard to make sure this bill gets the DOD what it needs. We began hearings for the fiscal year 2022 saying that the Mattis national defense strategy is the correct strategy, that we need a 3 to 5 percent net real growth above inflation for fiscal years 2022 to 2025. Although nobody anticipated inflation at the levels we have seen, I am proud to say the Republicans secured a 6 percent funding increase over last year's funding level.

I am also proud to say that we worked closely with the Armed Services and Intelligence Committees to make sure all the priorities across national security were addressed.

Thanks to the bipartisan commitment of Chairwoman Betty McCollum, House Republicans were able to secure over 2,000 Member funding priorities on our side of the aisle like additional Strykers, C-130Js, F-35 modernization, and critical programs. I thank Chair McCollum for her staff and her hard work on this package.

Failing to pass this piece of legislation will only further extend the devastating effects of our military readiness, modernization, and lethality that we have witnessed over the last 6 months.

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Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Speaker, as the world watches, we must send the message that this Congress stands ready to strengthen its military, to stand by its allies, and continue to make the world a safer and more prosperous place.

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