{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.thune.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=7DD27A96-86ED-4CEB-A60B-4C34C368CBCE", "Thune: NDAA Prioritizes Readiness, Deterrence, and Safety", "2025-12-16", "2025", "2025-12", "Republican", "Senate", "SD", "John Thune", "T000250", "www.thune.senate.gov", "thune", "https://www.thune.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases", "scraper", "Click hereto watch the video.\n\nWASHINGTON \u2014 U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) today delivered the following remarks on the Senate floor:\n\nThune\u2019s remarks below (as delivered):\n\n\u201cMr. President, this week the Senate will be taking up the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026.\n\n\u201cFor the 65th consecutive year, the NDAA is the product of a bipartisan process in both chambers.\n\n\u201cThis bill reflects the input, expertise, and tireless efforts of many of our colleagues.\n\n\u201cAnd I\u2019m especially grateful for the work of our colleagues on the Armed Services Committee and for the leadership of Chairman Wicker on this year\u2019s bill.\n\n\u201cMr. President, this annual defense bill is critical to ensuring the United States military is prepared for any threat that we face.\n\n\u201cAnd not just the threats that may come in the next year.\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s about putting us on a path that will ensure our military can deter \u2013 and if necessary, defeat \u2013 any threat that may arise in the future.\n\n\u201cUnfortunately, this long view has not always prevailed, and we continue to see the consequences of underinvestment in our military.\n\n\u201cIn the last few years, we\u2019ve had repeated reminders that the world remains a dangerous place.\n\n\u201cThat there are evil people in the world bent on aggression.\n\n\u201cAnd that there are those who wish Americans and our allies harm.\n\n\u201cSadly, that was clear this weekend.\n\n\u201cAnd my prayers today are with the families of the three Americans \u2013 two soldiers and an interpreter \u2013 who were killed in Syria on Saturday in an apparent ISIS attack.\n\n\u201cMr. President, the surest way of securing peace and keeping it is through strength.\n\n\u201cAnd it\u2019s a long-held tenet of American national security.\n\n\u201cAnd it\u2019s a view that the American people widely share.\n\n\u201cRepublicans have made it a priority to restore peace through strength.\n\n\u201cAnd we know we have no time to waste.\n\n\u201cAnd that\u2019s why we made a generational investment in our armed forces in the One Big Beautiful Bill this summer.\n\n\u201cAnd the NDAA before us this week builds upon that important work.\n\n\u201cIt aims to grow our Navy fleet to deliver more ships capable of deploying American power anywhere in the world \u2013 and help narrow the gap between China\u2019s shipbuilding and our own.\n\n\u201cIt supports the construction of the Golden Dome missile defense system to keep our country safe from missile, drone, or other airborne attacks.\n\n\u201cIt proposes to ramp up munitions production, to ensure that we have sufficient munitions for whatever may come our way \u2013 with the added benefit of helping to revitalize the industrial base and support industries in South Dakota and across the country.\n\n\u201cAnd then there\u2019s our air power.\n\n\u201cThe National Defense Authorization Act supports delivery of next-generation aircraft.\n\n\u201cThat includes the B-21 Raider, the sixth-generation stealth bomber that will soon be making its home at South Dakota\u2019s Ellsworth Air Force Base.\n\n\u201cI\u2019m proud that this bill fully authorizes the B-21 program and procurement of these aircraft, which will be the backbone of our future bomber force \u2013 as well as the military construction efforts underway at Ellsworth to support the new mission.\n\n\u201cMr. President, investing in weapons and technology is important, but strengthening our military also means supporting the men and women who wear the uniform.\n\n\u201cAnd this bill has their back.\n\n\u201cFor one, it authorizes the first increase in active-duty end strength in several years.\n\n\u201cAnd it will help ensure that we can sustain the record recruitment levels that we\u2019ve seen this year.\n\n\u201cIt also supports critical investments in service-member quality of life.\n\n\u201cThat includes a 3.8 percent pay raise for our troops.\n\n\u201cAnd it includes investments in on-base housing, education opportunities, child care, and other support for military members and their families.\n\n\u201cMr. President, this bill will help rebuild our military.\n\n\u201cBut what makes this year\u2019s National Defense Authorization Act exceptional is not how it rebuilds, but how it reforms.\n\n\u201cThanks to Chairman Wicker\u2019s leadership, this NDAA will make the most significant reforms to the way the Pentagon does business in a generation.\n\n\u201cIt takes dozens of burdensome rules and laws off the books.\n\n\u201cStreamlines the buying and innovation processes.\n\n\u201cAnd ensures more American businesses will be able to contribute to America\u2019s arsenal, including small businesses and start-ups.\n\n\u201cThis bill will harness the full strength of American innovation to get America\u2019s men and women in uniform the very best capabilities that our country has to offer.\n\n\u201cAnd not just get it to them, but get it to them faster and at a lower cost to the taxpayer.\n\n\u201cMr. President, these reforms will make our military stronger, more agile, and more ready for whatever the mission may be.\n\n\u201cAnd that needs to be our mission here \u2013 to do whatever it takes to support American soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines, and guardians.\n\n\u201cWe ask a lot of the brave Americans serving in uniform.\n\n\u201cAnd they give a lot.\n\n\u201cAnd I\u2019m proud that this year\u2019s National Defense Authorization Act will help ensure that they have what they need to keep America safe in a dangerous world.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:09:11Z"]], "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.thune.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=7DD27A96-86ED-4CEB-A60B-4C34C368CBCE"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.7286330219358206, "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"}