{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.thune.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=AA5E904A-FF72-4324-818F-D9722628E16F", "Thune: Annual Defense Bill Provides Critical Funding for Ellsworth Air Force Base", "2023-12-12", "2023", "2023-12", "Republican", "Senate", "SD", "John Thune", "T000250", "www.thune.senate.gov", "thune", "https://www.thune.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases", "scraper", "Click here to watch the video.\n\nWASHINGTON \u2014 U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) today spoke on the Senate floor ahead of the final passage of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for fiscal year 2024, which contains numerous priorities that benefit South Dakota and the B-21 bomber mission at Ellsworth Air Force Base. Thune noted that in addition to the NDAA, Congress must prioritize passing a national security supplemental bill that provides support to the United States\u2019 allies \u2013 like Israel and Ukraine \u2013 and contains meaningful measures to secure the southern border.\n\nThune\u2019s remarks below (as prepared for delivery):\n\n\u201cMr. President, this week the Senate will vote on the final version of the National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA \u2013 one of the most important bills we consider each year.\n\n\u201cWe had a robust floor debate on the Senate version of this bill in July, featuring the kind of open amendment process that we should be using on a regular basis to debate important legislation.\n\n\u201cAll told, more than 900 amendments were considered and 121 amendments were adopted during floor consideration \u2013 making this the most open NDAA floor debate in years.\n\n\u201cI wish we had been able to take up a final version of this legislation earlier.\n\n\u201cBut I am glad we are on track to finally pass it this week.\n\n\u201cMr. President, I\u2019ve said it before and I\u2019ll say it again \u2013 if we don\u2019t get national security right, the rest is just conversation.\n\n\u201cThe security of our nation is the precondition for everything else \u2013 for the continued enjoyment of our freedoms, for a flourishing society, for a healthy economy, for government\u2019s ability to do anything.\n\n\u201cAnd so there is no time when we can afford to let our readiness slide or take the security of our nation for granted.\n\n\u201cBut the unfortunate truth is that we have some catching up to do when it comes to military preparedness.\n\n\u201cWe have military services that are well below their recruitment targets.\n\n\u201cWe are behind on shipbuilding and ship maintenance.\n\n\u201cThere\u2019s a persistent pilot shortage, and in a number of cases we have too few mission-capable aircraft.\n\n\u201cWe\u2019re not doing an adequate job of maintaining the kind of supply we need of munitions.\n\n\u201cAnd the list goes on.\n\n\u201cThis is not an acceptable situation, Mr. President.\n\n\u201cAnd it could have very serious consequences.\n\n\u201cTo give just one example, recent war games envisioning a U.S.-China conflict following an attack on Taiwan have had grim results, showing enormous military and economic costs on both sides.\n\n\u201cOne story on these war games noted, and I quote, \u2018And while the ultimate outcome in these exercises is not always clear \u2014 the U.S. does better in some than others \u2014 the cost is [clear]. In every exercise the U.S. uses up all its long-range air-to-surface missiles in a few days, with a substantial portion of its planes destroyed on the ground.\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018In every exercise the U.S. uses up all its long-range air-to-surface missiles in a few days, with a substantial portion of its planes destroyed on the ground.\u2019\n\n\u201cNeedless to say, Mr. President, we have some serious work to do.\n\n\u201cAnd I am pleased to report that this year\u2019s NDAA does make some genuine progress on the readiness front.\n\n\u201cThe bill expands the Pacific Deterrence Initiative and deepens our ties with our ally Taiwan to help deter Chinese aggression.\n\n\u201cIt rejects the president\u2019s dangerous plan to shrink the U.S. Navy, and authorizes investment in new ships.\n\n\u201cAnd it contains multiple measures to increase our supply of munitions, including the addition of six critical munitions to the Pentagon\u2019s multi-year procurement program.\n\n\u201cTwo of these munitions \u2013 Tomahawk missiles and Mark 48 torpedoes \u2013 play an important role in our ability to deter China.\n\n\u201cI\u2019m also pleased that the committee responded to my requests and included significant funding for Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile procurement, the Long-Range Anti-Ship Missile, and development of the nuclear Long Range Standoff weapon, or LRSO.\n\n\u201cThese are essential arrows to have in the quiver for our bombers, and the future LRSO will help modernize the air leg of our nuclear triad.\n\n\u201cThis year\u2019s NDAA also \u2013 critically \u2013 invests in recruitment.\n\n\u201cAs I mentioned earlier, we have multiple military services that are well below their recruitment targets.\n\n\u201cThese represent serious future personnel deficiencies.\n\n\u201cAnd all the ships, planes, and munitions in the world will be of very limited help if we don\u2019t have the personnel necessary to deploy those resources.\n\n\u201cAnd so expanding and improving our recruitment efforts has to be a priority.\n\n\u201cWe also have to continue to work to improve the quality of life of our military members and their families \u2013 which is why I am pleased to report that this year\u2019s bill includes a 5.2 percent pay increase for our troops, as well as measures to improve barracks quality and expand access to mental health care, among other things.\n\n\u201cI\u2019m also pleased that this year\u2019s NDAA takes measures to keep our military\u2019s focus on warfighting, and not the dissemination of \u2018woke\u2019 ideologies by Pentagon bureaucrats.\n\n\u201cAbove all, I\u2019m proud to report that this year\u2019s bill authorizes full funding for the next steps of the B-21 mission \u2013 the Air Force\u2019s new long-range strategic bomber, which will revolutionize our long-range strike capabilities and be hosted at South Dakota\u2019s own Ellsworth Air Force Base.\n\n\u201cThe Air Force calls the B-21 Raider the future backbone of its bomber force.\n\n\u201cAnd one of my top priorities here in Congress over the past several years has been ensuring that the Air Force \u2013 and Ellsworth in particular \u2013 has everything it needs for this critical advancement in our nation\u2019s readiness.\n\n\u201cAnd this year\u2019s NDAA will once again fund not only the B-21 bomber, which we excitedly saw take flight one month ago, but the support facilities at Ellsworth that will be needed to maintain this aircraft once it enters service.\n\n\u201cMr. President, while, as I said, we are passing this bill a little late, I am pleased that we are finally passing it, and in what I expect will be a strongly bipartisan fashion.\n\n\u201cNow we should turn to addressing another important aspect of our national security in a bipartisan fashion \u2013 securing our border.\n\n\u201cThe kind of unchecked illegal immigration we\u2019re currently experiencing at our southern border represents a serious national security threat \u2013 one that so far Democrats are refusing to meaningfully address.\n\n\u201cI hope that their position will shift in the coming days and that we\u2019ll be able to work together to pass a supplemental bill that not only provides support for our allies but also contains real measures to secure our border.\n\n\u201cThe NDAA should not be the only national security legislation we pass this December.\n\n\u201cMr. President, I yield the floor.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:56:20Z"]], "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=AA5E904A-FF72-4324-818F-D9722628E16F"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.8045241702347994, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", 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