{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.ricketts.senate.gov/news/press-releases/ricketts-celebrates-nebraska-wins-in-defense-bill/", "Ricketts Celebrates Nebraska Wins in Defense Bill", "2024-12-18", "2024", "2024-12", "Republican", "Senate", "NE", "Pete Ricketts", "R000618", "www.ricketts.senate.gov", "ricketts", "https://www.ricketts.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/?jsf=jet-engine:press-list&pagenum=", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator Pete Ricketts (R-NE)celebrated passage of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which included provisions from his bipartisan BOLSTER Act. Ricketts made the comments on a conference call with Nebraska media.\n\n\u201cWe live in the most dangerous period in our country\u2019s history since World War II,\u201d Ricketts said. \u201cThe People\u2019s Republic of China (PRC), Russia, Iran, and North Korea all need to be deterred. This NDAA focuses on deterring aggression and keeping Americans safe. It\u2019s one way we help restore American strength. I\u2019m incredibly grateful to Senator Deb Fischer and Congressman Don Bacon for their leadership on the Armed Services Committees. And I will continue to fight to ensure our military has what it needs to keep us safe.\u201d\n\nWins in the NDAA:\n\nAuthorizes $895 billion for national defense next year\n\nGives a 14.5% pay raise for junior enlisted servicemembers\n\nGives a 4.5% pay raise to all other servicemembers\n\nAuthorizes critical funding for modernizing our nuclear triad, including the Sentinel ICBM program\n\nIncludes elements of Ricketts\u2019 bipartisan BOLSTER Act, which will strengthen European support for Taiwan\u2019s efforts to deter the People\u2019s Republic of China\n\nNebraska-Specific Wins:\n\nAuthorizes $158 million for facilities to permanently base the Survivable Airborne Operations Center (SAOC) aircraft fleet at Offutt Air Force Base\n\nAuthorizes $6 million for a Consolidated Training Complex and Professional Development Center at Offutt Air Force Base\n\nAuthorizes $3 million to support the innovative NC3 Rapid Engineering Architecture Collaboration Hub program, or REACH\n\nAuthorizes $5 million in research and development funding for the 557th Weather Wing\n\nRicketts\u2019 BOLSTER Act:\n\nRequires coordinated plans with the EU and European countries to impose sanctions in response to specific PRC actions against Taiwan\n\nRequires the president to submit a report on the expected economic impact of a PRC blockade or quarantine of Taiwan\n\nPushes European countries to increase their political and economic engagements with Taiwan\n\nCalls on European countries to increase their support for Taiwan\u2019s self-defense\n\nTRANSCRIPT:\n\nSenator Ricketts: \u201cOne of the federal government\u2019s most important priorities is to provide for the common defense.\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s right there in the preamble to the Constitution.\n\n\u201cThat starts with making sure our women and men in uniform have what they need to keep us safe.\n\n\u201cToday, the Senate passed the National Defense Authorization Act \u2013 or NDAA.\n\n\u201cIt authorizes $895 billion for national defense next year.\n\n\u201cIt gives a 14.5% pay raise for junior enlisted service members and a 4.5% pay raise to all other servicemembers.\n\n\u201cIt authorizes critical funding for modernizing our nuclear triad.\n\n\u201cThis includes funding for the Sentinel ICBM system, parts of which are in Nebraska.\n\n\u201cAnd it includes elements of my bipartisan BOLSTER Act, which will strengthen European support for Taiwan\u2019s efforts to deter the People\u2019s Republic of China.\n\n\u201cI\u2019m especially pleased that this year\u2019s NDAA supports important missions in Nebraska.\n\n\u201cIt includes authorized funding to plan and design various facilities at Offutt Air Force Base.\n\n\u201c$158 million to permanently base the Survivable Airborne Operations Center, or SAOC, aircraft fleet.\n\n\u201cAnd $6 million for a Consolidated Training Complex and Professional Development Center.\n\n\u201cThe bill authorizes $3 million to support the innovative NC3 Rapid Engineering Architecture Collaboration Hub program, or REACH.\n\n\u201cAnd it authorizes $5 million in research and development [funding] for the 557th Weather Wing.\n\n\u201cFinally, this NDAA supports our allies as we work together to deter our adversaries.\n\n\u201cIt fully funds our missile defense programs in cooperation with Israel.\n\n\u201cIt authorizes $15.6 billion to strengthen our deterrence against the People\u2019s Republic of China in the Indo-Pacific.\n\n\u201cAnd as I\u2019ve said, it includes provisions of a bill I wrote to increase our allies\u2019 support for Taiwan\u2019s self-defense.\n\n\u201cWe live in the most dangerous period in our country\u2019s history since World War II.\n\n\u201cThe People\u2019s Republic of China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea all need to be deterred.\n\n\u201cThis NDAA focuses on deterring aggression and keeping Americans safe.\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s one way we help restore American strength.\n\n\u201cI\u2019m incredibly grateful to Senator Deb Fischer and Congressman Don Bacon for their leadership on the Armed Services Committees.\n\n\u201cAnd I will continue to fight to ensure our military has what it needs to keep us safe.\n\n\u201cI\u2019ll make one other point before I take questions.\n\n\u201cThe Senate Armed Services Committee \u2013 including Senator Fischer \u2013 passed its version of the defense bill six months ago.\n\n\u201cThat vote was overwhelmingly bipartisan. 22 to 3.\n\n\u201cSo why didn\u2019t the Senate take this up immediately?\n\n\u201cBecause Majority Leader Chuck Schumer believed holding show votes and confirming Biden nominees was more important than our national defense.\n\n\u201cNot only did this send the wrong signal to our adversaries, but it also delayed starting critical negotiations with the House on a final bill.\n\n\u201cOur women and men in uniform should be our first priority, not our last.\n\n\u201cWe could and should have passed this bill weeks ago.\n\n\u201cNot the last work week of the year.\n\n\u201cNext year, under Republican leadership, the NDAA won\u2019t be put on the back burner.\n\n\u201cInstead, we\u2019ll ensure that nothing comes before keeping our country safe.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:07:19Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.ricketts.senate.gov/news/press-releases/ricketts-celebrates-nebraska-wins-in-defense-bill/"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.5209699049592018, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}