OFFICIALS LEGISLATION INTEREST GROUPS PUBLIC STATEMENTS COMMITTEES VETOES

Streamlining Procurement for Effective Execution and Delivery and National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026

Floor Speech

Date: Sept. 10, 2025
Location: Washington, DC

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Mr. MAST. Mr. Chair, I rise in opposition to the amendment.

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Mr. MAST. Mr. Chair, I rise in opposition to this amendment I am going to say for procedural reasons, but there are procedures that are important here. The ranking member should know this.

As members of the Foreign Affairs Committee, we have sole jurisdiction over powers of war. What goes on abroad with war is not flippant activity. It affects the lives of soldiers, sailors, marines, and airmen that are stationed abroad in Europe, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East. While I agree with a lot of the comments that the ranking member just made about reasons to say there should be sunsets on AUMF--and I didn't hear everything that my colleague Mr. Meeks said, but I am sure undoubtedly we have agreement on why there should be sunsets on these things--it cannot be done without bringing in the CENTCOM commander and this commander and this commander and this commander and saying: What are your thoughts on this? What effects does this have on our ability to react or deploy? What effects does this have on those downrange in counterterrorism operations as we speak? What needs to be put back in place in order for us to not be afoul of something that we are doing right now?

These are questions that were not asked, and the answers were not given. This goes beyond just our generals in the Pentagon. It goes to our Secretaries. It goes to others. They are absolutely questions that I am committed to asking and questions that I am committed to finding the answers to and in a timely way. I consider it to be vitally important.

Again, we have, I think, probably large agreement on reasons to sunset things, but it should not be done in the absence of doing something of this gravity in the proper way.

Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.

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Mr. MAST. Mr. Chair, I demand a recorded vote.

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