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

Floor Speech

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Mr. ROGERS of Alabama. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 7776, the James Inhofe National Defense Authorization Act.

Providing the authorities and resources our warfighters need to defend our Nation and defeat our adversaries is the greatest responsibility that we have in this Congress. We fulfill that responsibility with this NDAA.

We put our servicemembers first, providing a 4.6 percent pay raise and expanding benefits for military spouses and families.

To counteract the effects of record inflation on our military families, this bill increases housing allowances and lowers prices at commissaries, which offset the skyrocketing costs for rent and food; and it expands eligibility for low-income military families to receive additional allowances to cover basic needs.

This bill also ends the COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The mandate has been needlessly forcing out thousands of talented and experienced servicemembers. I am pleased that we have reached an agreement on this.

This bill is also focused on ensuring our warfighters are the best equipped and trained in the world.

We increase funding for readiness, reversing cuts in military construction and housing projects; expanding training availabilities for servicemembers; and improving the safety of the ships, aircraft, combat vehicles, and facilities where our warfighters serve.

We also divest of over $6 billion in the legacy systems that do little or nothing to deter China, or our other adversaries.

We reinvest those savings in emerging technologies, such as IA, quantum computing, hypersonic weapons, and autonomous systems. These are the technologies we need to ensure our warfighters prevail in future battlefields. The threats against us are rapidly evolving.

H.R. 7776 is laser-focused on preparing our military to counter threats from China and our other adversaries. It makes critical investments in new systems capable of surviving in contested environments.

It includes provisions that will further harden our supply chain and industrial base against filtration from China; and it reaffirms our support to allies in the region, especially Taiwan.

Finally, it strengthens our European alliance, as these democracies face grave threats from that crackpot in the Kremlin.

I am very proud that we have, once again, come together in a bipartisan, bicameral fashion to fulfill our constitutional duty and produce a fiscal year 2023 NDAA. I urge all Members to support it.

Also, like the chairman, I thank our staff for doing an incredibly good job of helping pull this together. I couldn't have a better partner in running this committee than Chairman Smith. So I thank him very much for his leadership.

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Mr. ROGERS of Alabama. Madam Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Lamborn).

I will concur with my friend and colleague from California. You are going to be missed, not only as a member of our committee but as a Member of this body. We have been fortunate to have had the privilege of serving with you.

Similarly, I would like to recognize my friend and colleague from Missouri, who is also going to be sorely missed. She has been a very valuable member of our committee for a long time and a leader on our committee.

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Mr. ROGERS of Alabama. Mr. Speaker, I do want to say, I am going to miss the gentlewoman from California. She has been a great member of our committee and has really championed some important issues that she just addressed. We will miss her.

I do want to respond to her last remark and make a point. There is nothing in this bill that authorizes leave and paid travel for servicemembers to get an abortion. There is no policy in place in the Department for this.

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Mr. ROGERS of Alabama. Mr. Speaker, I wholeheartedly agree with Mr. DeFazio on those icebreakers. It is just inexcusable that we don't have that capability.

Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers. I reserve the balance of my time until the chairman is ready to close.

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Mr. ROGERS of Alabama.

I want to close by thanking Chairman Smith. There is no better partner that I could have, and I am grateful for his leadership.

I also want to thank Chairman Reed and Ranking Member Inhofe. As many know, Jim Inhofe is retiring at the end of this Congress. Throughout his decades of service, he has been a consistent champion for our men and women in uniform. It was very fitting and appropriate that we name this year's NDAA after Jim Inhofe.

Finally, I thank our staff on both sides of the aisle for their tireless work on this product. I thank the staff of legislative counsel and the CBO for their tremendous contributions, as well.

Mr. Speaker, yesterday was the 81st anniversary of the devastating attack on Pearl Harbor. In its aftermath, we built the strongest military in the world with a mission to protect the greatest Nation on Earth. This bill before us today will ensure our military can continue to carry out that sacred mission.

Mr. Speaker, I urge all Members to support it, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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