releases: https://www.inhofe.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/inhofe-were-not-going-to-win-with-a-strong-military-alone_-but-we-will-lose-without-one
Data license: MIT · Data source: dwillis/congress-press
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| https://www.inhofe.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/inhofe-were-not-going-to-win-with-a-strong-military-alone_-but-we-will-lose-without-one | Inhofe: We're Not Going to Win With a Strong Military Alone - But We Will Lose Without One | 2019-12-16 | 2019 | 2019-12 | Republican | House | OK | James Inhofe | I000024 | www.inhofe.senate.gov | legacy | U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, spoke on the Senate floor today in support of the Fiscal Year 2020 National Defense Authorization Act conference report: As Prepared for Delivery: We're here today to pass the conferenced National Defense Authorization Act. This is the 59th year in a row we'll be passing an NDAA. That's because it's the most important bill Congress does all year, the one that fulfills our constitutional responsibilities. There is an old document no one reads anymoreit's called the Constitutionand it says what we're supposed to be doing here: providing for the common defense or simply put, defending America and all who call it home. This Conference report does exactly that. It's a testament to the good work we can accomplish when we work together both parties, House and Senate. This bill has been a long time coming. We started working on it here in the Senate last January, holding hearings with military leaders about what resources they needed around the world. We started drafting it not long after, and in May, passed the bill out of committee 25-2. In June, we debated it on the floor, incorporating more than 90 bipartisan amendments before it passed with an overwhelmingly bipartisan vote: 86-8. Then we started conference, where we've been working day in and day out since September. This year we had twice the number of big four meetings and more than twice the number of staff level meetings than we normally have, working our way through over 1,500 provisions within the bill. I say this to remind everyone that our committee and our staff have been working on this bill tirelessly for nearly a full year, and today it's time to pass it. If I had to break it down, I would say this year's NDAA has two big overarching principles. First, it resources and aligns priorities to implement our blueprint, the National Defense Strategy Commission report. This bipartisan document outlines the challenges we need to be prepared to meet namely, strategic competition with China and Russia. Accordingly, the conference report funds our military - $738 billion - in line with the Bipartisan Budget Agreement. In addition, the NDAA authorizes $5.3 billion in emergency disaster recovery to help military installations across the country, including Nebraska, Florida and North Carolina, rebuild after recent natural disasters. We created the Space Force as the sixth branch of the Armed Forces, under the Air Force. This is the first new service created in more than 70 years. The Space Force will help us protect space and ensure American dominance in this warfighting domain for years to come. To implement the National Defense Strategy, the NDAA reframes priorities. It accelerates investment in efforts to modernize our Armed Forces, including creating hypersonic weapons, 5G, cyber, long-range missiles, and new equipment areas where we are at risk of, or in some cases already are, falling behind. The NDAA has strong support for nuclear modernization, preserving all three legs of the triad to maintain maximum deterrence against our adversaries. It also provides needed reforms to the way the Department of Defense does business. An efficient, effective Pentagon will help America retain, and in some places, regain, our competitive edge. This includes strengthening and securing our industrial base, creating new pathways for innovation, especially for small businesses, and, critically, preserving accountability and responsibility to the taxpayer. The legislation also keeps President Trump's promise to continue rebuilding our military. The legislation invests in the equipment, resources, and training needed to restore our military readiness. These investments mean we will have a larger Navy, a stronger Army, a more agile Air Force, and a more lethal Marine Corps a force that's ready to deter or, if necessary, defeat, any threats that might come our way. So that's what the bill does to rebuild our military and realign to be able to compete with China and Russia. Now, I said that this bill does two main things. The second part is that this is a bill that really looks out for our service members and their families. To tell the story of what we do in that area is really to tell the story of two courageous military spouses, Janna Driver and Jane Horton, I have the honor of knowing two women who represent the hundreds of thousands of military spouses around the country. About one year ago, Janna Driver reached out to my office to share the horrible conditions she and her family were facing in their housing at Tinker Air Force base. She told me about the mold in her unit and that she couldn't get the contractor to fix it. We started looking into the problem and learned it was bigger than thisit was all around the country. We got to work holding hearings, inspecting homes and demanding answers. As a result - the NDAA includes landmark overhaul of the military privatized housing system. This legislation gives military families the tools to demand accountability and re-engages military leadership to ensure they are protecting our families. It also makes sure contractors live up to their end of the bargain and give military families high-quality housing. I met Jane Horton at an event in Collinsville, Oklahoma, several years ago. I was getting ready to go to Afghanistan to visit our service members and get a field update. She told me her husband was deployed there the very spot that I was going. I promised her I would visit with him when I was there in about a week's time. I never got that chance. Oklahoma Army National Guard Specialist Chris Horton was killed in action on September 9, 2011. He was only 26. After everything Jane went through after losing her husband, she was then penalized by the widow's tax, a dollar-for-dollar offset to her benefits as a Gold Star spouse. She came to me and we started working together to repeal it. Now, years after we started that process, this year's NDAA repeals the widow's tax in a fiscally responsible way. That's just a fraction of the other benefits it has for military families. The conference report provides for a 3.1 percent pay raise for all our troops the largest pay raise in a decade. The bill also improves access to child care on military installations, helps spouses transfer their professional licenses, and makes moving during a change of station easier. It also continues critical reforms to fight sexual assault and misconduct, and works to improve the military health care system. Sometimes people look at what we spend on defense and wonder why. They point out that Russia and China put together don't spend as much on defense. The answer is simple. Russia and China, they don't take care of their warfighters. We do. That's why we've got the best military in the world. They say you recruit a service member, but retain a family. By making our NDAA dedicated not only to the warfighter, but also to their families, we make America safer. It is as simple as that. Lastly, there are a few other provisions outside the jurisdiction of the Armed Services Committee worth highlighting in this bill: MARAD reauthorization, intel reauthorization, and sanctions designed to punish Syria, Russia, North Korea and China. The result? This is a good bill, and now, we are going to pass it. This is the 59th year in a row we've passed an NDAA. That's how we know it's going to pass because it's always passed. It's one of the few authorization bills that does pass year after year. And that's because everyone knows how important it is. It usually doesn't get bogged down in partisan fighting. This year, the process of getting to a final conference report was certainly tougher than most. It took a few months of hard-fought negotiations, but the end result is a great bill that we can all be proud to support. I want to thank Congressman Smith, Congressman Thornberry, and, most importantly, Senator Reed for their commitment to getting this bill done. Senator Reed especially was an incredible partner to work with throughout this process. I also want to thank the members of the Armed Services Committee, who put in good work to make sure this bill supports the military community and keeps Americans safe. I want to thank President Trump for his leadership and support of this legislationespecially Space Forceand I look forward to him signing this into law in the near future. I would be remiss if I didn't thank the Armed Services Committee staff especially staff directors John Bonsell, for the majority, and Liz King, for Sen. Reed, and my personal office staff, who have put in countless hours to bring this bill to the floor today. From my staff from the Senate Armed Services Committee: John Wason, Tom Goffus, Stephanie Barna, Greg Lilly, Rick Berger, Marta Hernandez, Jennie Wright, Adam Barker, Augusta Binns-Berkey, Al Edwards, Jackie Kerber, Sean O'Keefe, Tony Pankuch, Brad Patout, Jason Potter, J.R. Riordan, Katie Sutton, Eric Trager, Dustin Walker, Otis Winkler, Gwyneth Woolwine, Katie Magnus, Arthur Tellis, Leah Brewer, Debbie Chiarello, Gary Howard, Tyler Wilkinson, John Bryant, Patty-Jane Geller, Baher Iskander, Keri-Lyn Michalke, Jackie Modesett, and Soleil Sykes. And from the minority side: Jody Bennett, Carolyn Chuhta, Jon Clark, Jonathan Epstein, Jorie Feldman, Creighton Greene, Ozge Guzelsu, Gary Leeling, Kirk McConnell, Maggie McNamara, Bill Monahan, Mike Noblet, John Quirk, Arun Seraphin, and Fiona Tomlin. From my personal office: Luke Holland, Andrew Forbes, Dan Hillenbrand, Jake Hinch, Don Archer, Kyle Stewart, Bryan Brody, Esther Salters, Devin Barrett, Leacy Burke, Wendi Price, Laurie Fitch, Whitney Folluo, Mark Powers, Brandon Ellis, and Charlotte Mitchell. And the floor staff: Laura Dove, Robert Duncan, Chris Tuck, Megan Mercer, Tony Hanagan, Katherine Foster, Brian Canfield and Abigail Baker. Now, let's vote on this conference report and let the vote be so overwhelming that there isn't a military family in America who could doubt our commitment to them. Let's use our vote to send a message as well to Russia and China that we're revitalizing American power so we can win the competition for influence that will shape the kind of world our children and grandchildren are going to live in. We're not going to win with a strong military alone but we will lose it without one. That's what this NDAA will do: revitalize American military power so that we can achieve our vision of a safe, prosperous and free world. | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z |