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[Pages S7089-S7090]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
VOTE EXPLANATION
Mr. MERKLEY. Madam President, I wish to state for the record that
although an important engagement in Oregon kept me from being present
in the Capitol to participate in the cloture vote on this year's
National Defense Authorization Act, NDAA, I would have voted nay had I
been present.
I am pleased that the NDAA would phase out the reduction of survivor
benefit plan annuities to ensure that the families of our fallen
servicemembers receive the Federal support they need and deserve; would
guarantee 12 weeks of paid family leave for Federal employees; fence
funds for the introduction of new Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces,
INF; limit nuclear cooperation agreements under section 123 of the U.S.
Atomic Energy Act with countries that lack safeguards; and support the
legally-binding and verifiable limits of the New START Treaty as being
in the national security interest of the United States. However, other
aspects of the bill are cause for serious concern, outweighing these
strong points, and must not be overlooked.
I am deeply concerned by this legislation's failure to prohibit funds
for unauthorized war with Iran. There is no doubt that war with Iran
would be a reckless, disastrous mistake. Yet the President has made a
number of impulsive, provocative public statements that risk escalating
tensions. Congress must protect its authority to declare war, and that
means no blank checks to the administration for an unauthorized war
with Iran.
It is also unthinkable that the final NDAA does not prohibit funds
for intelligence support to the Saudi-led coalition in a war that has
caused a catastrophic humanitarian crisis in Yemen. Communities have
crumbled as a result of this conflict, and an acute cholera outbreak
and famine have killed more than 85,000 children under the age of 5.
The United States has no place supporting, prolonging, or being
complicit in this war's widespread civilian casualties.
In addition, I am concerned that the NDAA does not prohibit funds for
the deployment of a low-yield warhead on a submarine-launched ballistic
missile. The use of this powerful and aggressive tool could drastically
increase the risk of instigating a destabilizing nuclear arms race.
[[Page S7090]]
Here at home, the final NDAA conference report removed provisions to
address PFAS water contamination. More than 16 million Americans
currently drink water contaminated with PFAS chemicals, which can
affect every major organ in the human body and put humans at higher
risk of a wide variety of health conditions and complications including
liver and kidney damage and thyroid disease. The decision to reject
remedies to this urgent public health issue in the NDAA is deeply
disturbing and completely unacceptable.
Finally, this NDAA does not include adequate safeguards to ensure
accountability for wasteful defense spending. At a time when America
far outspends every other nation in the world militarily, while working
families are grappling with stagnant wages and rising costs of living,
it could not be more important that the Pentagon and its contractors
are accountable to American taxpayers. We should be doing far more to
scrutinize defense spending and to evaluate whether we could maintain a
strong military while redirecting badly needed funding to the American
people's priorities on health care, housing, education, and
infrastructure.
Mr. President, I wish to state once again that I would have voted nay
had I been present. I look forward to working with all of my colleagues
to resolve these critical issues in future bills and to advance the
health, safety, and well-being of all Americans.
____________________
