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[Page S3632]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
JOHN S. McCAIN NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT
Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, on a related subject, all of these
events I have discussed, from Iran's misbehavior to China's
aggressiveness, underscore one thing very clearly: The United States
needs to remain engaged, prepared, and powerful.
We need to leave zero doubt among our friends and allies, our most
violent foes, and everybody in between that while the United States
does not seek conflict, we must be prepared to decisively defeat our
adversaries if conflict is forced upon us. That is called deterrence.
The growing global unrest should be a lesson to us as the Senate gets
ready to turn to the National Defense Authorization Act later this
week. I know my colleagues on both sides share my hope that this year's
NDAA can build on the successes of the past 2 years.
Our first obligation to the American people is to ensure for their
defense. It is essential that we continue rebuilding our military by
authorizing sufficient support to modernize and sustain the advantages
that America's all-voluntary Armed Forces have over our adversaries.
Working with the Trump administration in recent years, we have been
able to end a chapter of harmful spending cuts that have left military
leaders less able to address emerging challenges. As a result, last
year's legislation--named for our dear colleague, the late John
McCain--authorized the largest year-on-year increase in defense
spending in 15 years.
The bill introduced last week is a step further toward implementing
our important new national defense strategy, toward renewing the
readiness and lethality of our forces, and toward making sure that we
never ask brave American men and women to step into harm's way without
all possible tools and training to help them succeed. This crucial
legislation has a chance to be a major bipartisan success story of this
Congress. It is already off to an encouraging start, having been voted
out of the Armed Services Committee by an overwhelming bipartisan
margin.
And it is easy to see why. As great-power competitors like Russia and
China continue to challenge U.S. interests, this NDAA will help to
maintain and expand our alliances and partnerships, along with our
ability to stand firm.
The bill puts readiness front and center. In recent decades, our most
formidable competitors have taken every opportunity to deploy new
technological threats. Keeping American and allied servicemembers out
of harm's way means keeping up with these developments and outpacing
them.
The bill takes steps to expand oversight and increase efficiency at
the Pentagon. It honors the tremendous sacrifices made by
servicemembers and their families by securing the largest pay raise in
a decade, along with several other important reforms.
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