Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2025
Floor Speech
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Mr. CALVERT. 8774, and that I may include tabular material on the same.
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Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chair, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
I rise today to offer H.R. 8774, the 2025 Department of Defense Appropriations Act. I want to start by thanking Chairman Cole for his leadership in this process. I also thank the Defense Subcommittee ranking member, Ms. McCollum, for her friendship and partnership through this. Finally, I thank the Defense Subcommittee staff for their tireless work on this year's bill.
H.R. 8774 provides $833 billion for the Department of Defense and the intelligence community. Consistent with the Fiscal Responsibility Act, this is 1 percent, or $8.5 billion, above fiscal year 2024 enacted levels.
While $833 billion is the discretionary cap, the subcommittee has little discretion over 62 percent of this bill. The funding goes toward must-pay bills, including troop and civilian pay; military benefits, medical care, and family services; sustainment of current weapons systems; fuel, utilities, IT, basic supplies; and training and education. This is to say nothing of necessary investments in major weapons systems to keep our military dominant in an intensifying threat environment.
These factors are why I believe the current defense top line is too low for today's needs.
Present and emerging threats mandate a robust U.S. military, which, as former Secretary of Defense James Mattis said, requires at least 3 to 5 percent real growth above inflation.
Finally, due to the decision to consolidate our defense industry over 30 years ago, America's defense industrial base is brittle and unable to mobilize without significant investment.
While the defense allocation under the FRA is too low to meet America's national security needs, it is the law of the land. This bill is written to be consistent with this law.
Today's threats mandate a resolute United States made credible with a capable, lethal, and ready military.
The Appropriations Defense Subcommittee scrutinized the fiscal year 2025 budget request line by line and conducted rigorous oversight. This resulted in $18 billion in cuts of requests that were unnecessary or unjustified. This bill provides no blank checks.
Instead, this bill builds on the priorities from fiscal year 2024. These include prioritizing the fight against China, promoting innovation and modernization, supporting our servicemembers and their families, optimizing the Pentagon's civilian workforce, increasing the Department's role in countering the flow of illicit fentanyl and synthetic opioids, supporting America's close ally, Israel, and ensuring the Department focuses on its core mission of training and equipping our warfighters and not culture wars.
Time is not on our side. President Xi is planning to invade Taiwan potentially by 2027, if not sooner. The only way to prevent Chinese aggression is by fielding and operating capabilities that demonstrate America's military advantage.
To this end, the bill increases investments in fifth- and sixth- generation aircraft, procures deliverable capability including several INDOPACOM unfunded priorities. It prohibits the divestment of certain naval and air assets that are still combat-credible. It provides $200 million for Taiwan security cooperation programs while prioritizing defense articles and services to the threatened island.
The bill also continues investments in the reawakening and acceleration of American defense innovation. Our defense industrial base is fragile, and competition is stifled. Almost every major defense acquisition program is plagued by persistent inflation, an aging workforce, costly infrastructure, weak supply chains, overly optimistic schedules, unrealistic budgets, and ultimately overpromised results.
We can trace this back to then-Secretary of Defense Aspin's defense contractor version of the Last Supper back in 1993 when the defense industrial base consolidated from two dozen defense prime contractors to the five that we have today. The consequences of this decision mandate action, which must be achieved through an innovation intervention. America's legacy of innovation and entrepreneurs gives us an asymmetric advantage our competitors could never replicate.
This bill seeks to tap into that opportunity with over $1.3 billion for the Department of Defense Innovation Unit and related innovation efforts, including $400 million for the highly successful APFIT program.
Modern and innovative practices are needed in more than just our defense capability. The Pentagon workforce and business practices also need to enter into the 21st century. This bill cuts $916 million in unjustified civilian workforce requests and finds more efficient ways to do business.
Recognizing the national security threat posed by China's supply of fentanyl-based chemicals to Mexican drug cartels, this bill maintains high levels of funding for DOD's drug interdiction and counterdrug activities with $1.14 billion. This includes an increase for the National Guard Counterdrug Program and the National Guard Youth Challenge Program, empowering States to take a more active role in the defense of their communities from our number one foreign adversary.
This bill also transfers Mexico from NORTHCOM to SOUTHCOM for improved coordination and prioritization.
As I mentioned at the outset, this bill focuses the Department on its warfighting mission. The bill includes multiple general provisions from the House fiscal year 2024 bill that pivot the Pentagon away from divisive partisan policies and toward military readiness.
Finally, underpinning all of these priorities funded in the bill is the imperative to support our servicemembers and their families. The bill includes a 4.5 percent pay raise for all military personnel plus $2.5 billion toward an additional 15 percent pay raise for junior enlisted servicemembers. This will have a positive effect on recruitment and retention and will improve the quality of life for our servicemembers and their families serving with them.
I am proud of this year's Defense appropriations bill, which adheres to the fiscal year constraints while providing a strong military to defend America, our allies, and our partners.
This bill procures where we can, trains where we must, and invests in capability that will make our adversaries wake up every day and say: Today is not the day to provoke the United States of America.
Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to support this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.
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Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chair, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Ellzey), a member of the Defense Subcommittee.
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Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chair, I yield an additional 30 seconds to the gentleman from Texas.
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Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chairman, I yield to the gentlewoman from Missouri (Mrs. Wagner) for the purpose of engaging in a colloquy.
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Mr. CALVERT. This committee recognizes the importance and the role of the F-15EX. I thank the gentlewoman from Missouri for raising this issue, and I look forward to working with her as we move forward with this bill.
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Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Higgins).
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Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chair, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from California (Mr. Mike Garcia), who is a member of the Defense Subcommittee.
Mr. MIKE GARCIA of California. Mr. Chair, I thank the chairman of the subcommittee, Ken Calvert, who has been a true leader on the bill.
Mr. Chair, I rise in support of the bill.
The minority will talk about environmentalism and social justice messaging, but the reality is that this bill goes beyond those. We must remember that the goal of the military is to deter a war, and if unable to deter a war, then to win a war.
Today, especially, the pacing threat is China.
This bill does just that. It helps us not only accelerate programs but keep pace with China in a budget constrained environment of only $833 billion. We are trying to gain efficiency so that it behaves like $1 trillion.
It supports all the weapons systems from high to low, B-21s, as well as supporting and protecting U-2 classified programs.
In my opinion, the most important thing is a 20 percent pay raise for E-1s through E-4s.
I strongly urge support of the Defense appropriations bill, and I applaud Chairman Calvert's leadership on this issue as we try to make the world a safer place.
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Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chair, this bill is a good bill. It moves the country in the right direction. I encourage all our Members to support the bill.
Mr. Chair, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Iowa (Mr. Nunn).
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Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chair, I have no additional speakers.
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Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to support this bill. I yield back the balance of my time.
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Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chair, pursuant to House Resolution 1316, I offer amendments en bloc.
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Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chair, these are noncontroversial messaging amendments supported by both sides.
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Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chair, I urge adoption of the package, and I yield back the balance of my time.
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Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chair, pursuant to House Resolution 1316, I offer amendments en bloc.
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Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chair, these are noncontroversial, bipartisan messaging amendments supported by both sides. I reserve the balance of my time.
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Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chair, I urge adoption of the package, and I yield back the balance of my time.
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Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chair, pursuant to House Resolution 1316, I offer amendments en bloc.
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Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chair, these are noncontroversial bipartisan amendments supported by both sides.
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Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chair, I yield to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Thompson), the chairman of the Committee on Agriculture.
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Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chair, I yield to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Langworthy).
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Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chairman, I urge the adoption of the package, and I yield back the balance of my time.
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Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chair, pursuant to House Resolution 1316, I offer amendments en bloc.
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Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chair, these are noncontroversial, bipartisan amendments supported by both sides.
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Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chair, I have no additional speakers. I urge the adoption of the package, and I yield back the balance of my time.
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Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chair, pursuant to House Resolution 1316, I offer amendments en bloc.
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Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chair, these are noncontroversial, bipartisan amendments supported by both sides, and I reserve the balance of my time.
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Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chairman, I yield to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Langworthy).
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Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman for his comments. I urge adoption of the package, and I yield back the balance of my time.
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Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chair, I claim the time in opposition to the amendment.
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Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chairman, the Secretary of Defense serves at the pleasure of the President of the United States. He implements the President's policies.
We have, in many ways, been addressing our serious differences with the Department and this administration. We have done so on multiple occasions, and we have done so within this bill.
Mr. Chair, I oppose this amendment, and I yield to the gentlewoman from Minnesota (Ms. McCollum).
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Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.
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Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chair, I claim the time in opposition to the amendment.
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Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chair, unfunded priority lists are an important tool to provide Congress with unfiltered information on what our military services and combatant commanders need. This has been the law of the land since FY 2017.
Unfunded priority lists give military services and the combatant commanders a direct channel to Congress, which allows Congress to make more informed decisions.
Mr. Chair, I urge a ``no'' vote, and I reserve the balance of my time.
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Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.
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Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chair, I move that the Committee do now rise.
The motion was agreed to.
Accordingly, the Committee rose; and the Speaker pro tempore (Mr. Ogles) having assumed the chair, Mr. Obernolte, Acting Chair of the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union, reported that that Committee, having had under consideration the bill (H.R. 8774) making appropriations for the Department of Defense for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2025, and for other purposes, had come to no resolution thereon.
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