James M. Inhofe National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023

Floor Speech

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Mr. KELLY of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of Jim Inhofe National Defense Authorization Act. He is my friend, and he will be missed. He also will be missed as the former chairman and ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

I thank Chairman Smith and Ranking Member Rogers for their hard work and my subcommittee friend, Ruben Gallego, who is the chairman of the Subcommittee on Intelligence and Special Operations.

We have done many things in the area. We have gotten new authorities for them to operate. We have gotten resources for them to operate throughout the world, to help us both in the counterterrorism fight and global power struggle with some of our competitors.

Our Nation faces unprecedented challenges. I am very proud that this includes the COVID mandate being removed, that we will not be losing any more soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines; that we also will not keep recruiting to stay low; that we will have more people who join a force that now is not hitting its commitment goals.

I am committed to free-cost healthcare for all of our servicemembers, which includes our National Guard and Reserve.

I thank Ms. Speier, who I served with on the Subcommittee on Military Personnel. We are going to miss her and also you, Mr. Speaker.

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