National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2024

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, I call up substitute amendment No. 935.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. SCHUMER. I call up amendment No. 936 and ask that it be reported by number.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. SCHUMER. 300; Kaine, No. 429; Paul, No. 222; Hawley-Vance, No. 838; Cruz-Manchin, No. 926; further, that with respect to the amendments listed above, at 3 p.m., the Senate vote on the amendments in the order listed, with no further amendments or motions in order, and with 60 affirmative votes required for adoption and that there be 2 minutes equally divided prior to each vote.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, later this morning, it will be my honor to join congressional leaders in welcoming President Isaac Herzog of Israel to the Capitol for a joint address to Congress.

Since the founding of the Nation of Israel 75 years ago, he has been one of America's most important allies and fiercest friends. The United States was the first country to recognize Israel as an independent state; and to this day, our bond remains strong, our partnership essential.

While we have our differences, the United States and Israel are united in the most profound ways that two nations could be. America's support for Israel must never waver because Israel will be an essential partner for the United States in the 21st century.

I look forward to meeting with President Herzog this morning, and I join congressional leaders in welcoming him to Congress. S. 2226

Madam President, now on the NDAA, last night, the Senate began the process for floor consideration of the annual Defense bill on a bipartisan vote, 72 to 25. This morning, we locked in an agreement to begin consideration of amendments on the floor. We will begin voting this afternoon, and we want this process to be open and fair, without being dilatory.

We want both sides to have input, but neither side should derail the bill. We should avoid the chaos we saw last week in the House that greatly hindered their NDAA process.

So far, we have avoided that. The process in the Senate has been constructive and moved along at a good pace. I am pleased to say the managers' package has 51 amendments--21 from Republicans, 21 from Democrats, and 9 bipartisan. I hope there will be a second managers' package with even more priorities for both sides.

The Senate's NDAA process is an example of how, even with all our disagreements, this Chamber is able to come together to provide for our Nation's defense, take care of our servicemembers, take care of our civilian DOD workforce, and invest in modernizing our defense and intelligence capabilities. If both sides keep working together, I hope we can finish passing the Defense authorization bill before August. I think most of us would like to see that happen. There is no justification for letting it spill into the fall. We have a lot of work to do before we get there, but we are on track to get it done.

We have every reason in the world to finish the NDAA bill quickly because there is a lot both sides can celebrate in this year's bill. Many of the NDAA's provisions might typically fly under the radar because they seem incremental, but in their totality, they make a huge difference in our country.

We will make much needed progress on additional new areas, like outcompeting the Chinese Government. We will take our first steps on AI legislation. We will boost resources in a major way to tackle the fentanyl crisis. We will strengthen the bonds with our allies around the world, especially the UK and Australia.

I hope we will have a vote on the full AUKUS package soon.

On competing with the Chinese Government, I am pleased this year's NDAA will have over a dozen amendments in the managers' package.

On the fentanyl crisis, the amendment by Tim Scott and Sherrod Brown will enhance the Federal Government's ability to disrupt illicit opioid supply chains and punish those who facilitate fentanyl tracking. This is a major piece of legislation that is going to give the President more powers to stop any country--China, Mexico--from sending the precursor materials that are made into fentanyl and kill our children.

Here is what it does: It declares international trafficking of fentanyl a national emergency--a national emergency. It requires the President to sanction criminal organizations and cartel members who traffic this drug. It will enhance the administration's ability to enforce sanctions violations. It will allow the Treasury to take special measures to combat money laundering connected to fentanyl, and much, much more.

Approving our FEND Off Fentanyl Act will be a huge win in the battle against opioids--one of the worst public health crises in the country. I thank Chairman Brown and Ranking Member Scott for championing this measure.

Finally, this year's NDAA will take important steps on artificial intelligence. My amendment, which I worked on with Senators Rounds, Young, and Heinrich, will increase data sharing within DOD, increase reporting on AI's use in the financial services industry, create a ``bug bounty program'' where ethical hackers help us find vulnerabilities in our defenses, and much, much more.

The Senate process on the NDAA stands in sharp contrast with what we saw in the House. In the Senate, Democrats and Republicans worked together, mindful of the importance to preserve our national security, while the process in the House, unfortunately, was sadly delayed and at times derailed by wildly partisan and irrelevant hard-right amendments that have nothing to do with defense. We have not seen that so far in the Senate. We should keep it that way.

For all these great reasons for getting the NDAA done, we hope we can get it done as soon as possible. We will begin voting today on amendments, and I hope we can keep this process moving along. Unanimous Consent Agreement--S. 2226

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. SCHUMER. 935.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source