National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023

Floor Speech

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Mr. SMITH of Washington. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 1224, I offer amendments en bloc.

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Mr. SMITH of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I have no speakers at this time on this amendment and I am prepared to close.

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Mr. SMITH of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

We are going to have three other amendments after this en bloc, so I just want to do a quick closing and urge all Members to vote in favor of the bill.

You have seen the process play out. I think this has been an incredibly inclusive process, starting in the committee in a bipartisan way and moving to the floor, where we have had the opportunity for all Members to contribute and participate in this process.

I think we have a good product that is going to enable us to continue to exercise our oversight of the Pentagon, fulfill our duties as Members of Congress, and support the men and women of our Armed Forces in carrying out the missions that we ask them to do. I urge Members to support the bill.

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Mr. SMITH of Washington. Mr. Speaker, in closing, I urge all Members to support the defense bill. I appreciate the staff and everybody who worked on the effort. I recognize the Rules Committee staff, the Armed Services Committee staff, the floor staff, and the Parliamentarians who are the ones who have to process those 1,200 amendments, figure out how to write them out, how to make sure we are doing it right.

I don't understand fully how you are able to do that, so I very much appreciate that you do, and we get a good product at the end of it. I think we have all participated in a good process. I urge Members to support the bill.

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