Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2025

Floor Speech

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Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Chair, I rise in opposition to the Republican majority's Defense appropriations bill.

First, I would also like to thank the majority and minority staff, particularly Jennifer Chartrand and Jason Gray for their efforts, and I extend my deep thanks to Chairman Calvert and Ranking Member McCollum for their work on this bill. Unfortunately, I cannot support this bill at this time.

With this bill, Congress has the unique and solemn responsibility of appropriating the funds necessary to defend and to protect our Nation.

I come from a defense-dependent State. I understand the importance of making investments and the kinds of investments we make in this bill, but this bill still does not advance our national defense capabilities.

There is a path laid out for us to responsibly strengthen America's national security and support our armed servicemembers. Instead, under the majority's partisan process, we are considering a bill that promotes chaos in Congress over prioritizing our national security, which sows division instead of supporting our servicemembers' morale and unity. This bill undermines democracy here and around the world, and it disarms our military in the face of the climate crisis.

Especially in an election year, we should not consider legislation that would neutralize the Department of Defense's ability to counter disinformation campaigns when we know foreign actors and our adversaries are seeking to meddle in our elections and our democratic processes.

Why, after this Congress has repeatedly demonstrated broad bipartisan support for Ukraine in its fight against Russian tyranny, are we considering a bill that fails to fund the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, rewarding Russia? In addition to fighting Russian aggression, USAI helps Ukraine integrate with NATO and Western forces, directly supporting our broader national security and defense objectives.

Recklessly, this bill ignores our military leaders. Even under President Trump, our military acknowledged and warned about the dangers of climate change, what it poses to our national security, our military assets, and our servicemembers around the world.

Secretary Mattis said in testimony to the Senate Armed Services Committee: ``Climate change is impacting stability in areas of the world where our troops are operating today. It is appropriate for the Combatant Commands to incorporate drivers of instability that impact the security environment in their areas into their planning.''

We ought to be ensuring our military's readiness and adaptability in the face of a changing climate and worsening disasters, not denying the scientific and strategic reality of the threats that we face.

Finally, this bill contains a laundry list of partisan proposals that divide Americans and divide the Congress, including provisions that hurt women and LGBTQ+ servicemembers and obstruct diversity efforts.

It furthers Republicans' goal of making abortion illegal nationally by making it harder for women in our military to obtain reproductive care. No woman deserves to have her healthcare and family planning decisions made by politicians, but especially those who have put their lives on the line to protect Americans' rights and freedoms.

Every servicemember who wears our Nation's flag is a critical piece of our national defense. American servicemembers come from all over the country and the world. The sum of their skills, their determination, their experiences, and their perspectives is the greatest asset our military has.

Fostering an environment where every American, who would willingly put their lives on the line to protect and serve this Nation, feels that they are welcome and supported should not be controversial.

These policy riders do not belong in appropriations bills, and like last year, we will defeat them, but it is disappointing that we are going through this charade again just months after Republicans and Democrats voted for the 2024 appropriations bills.

Looking across all 12 appropriations bills, the majority is failing to meet the agreement signed into law. The Democrats will accept nothing less than a 1 percent increase over 2024 in defense and nondefense funding. That is what the law provides for.

I cannot support this bill. I urge my colleagues to focus on the end goal of funding our government and preserving America's military strength rather than pushing messaging bills that have no future. Please join us at the table to protect our national security and our military readiness. It is time to govern.

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