Coupleted in committee a weeks ago and had over 650 amendments submitted to the official mark of the chairman and the subcommittee marks. We process to those amendments and adopted 475 amendments in. Ommittee i want to thank our staff for the incredible amount of work to work with members and various interested parties to get us to that product. I am very pleased we were able to get that done and pass the bill out of the Armed Services committee unanimously 560 with broad support. I want to thank the Ranking Member of the committee for his incredible leadership during this process. Partnereen a terrific as the chairman of the committee and as the Ranking Member. As heill be his last ndaa is retiring from congress. I want to thank him for his great work and leadership. I want to emphasize a point i have made many times, the Armed ServicesCommittee Works in a bipartisan way and produces a legislative product in a manner i think should be an example for all of congress. That does not happen by accident, it happens because of leadership. When he became the chairman and i was Ranking Member he showed leadership from the start. He understood the priority of getting the bill done and working in a bipartisan way to do that. Because of that leadership and example has been set and we work to continue to accomplish that. I want to thank the committee. That is not an the rules committee, that is not an easy job in the best of times. 750 amendments were submitted to be added. The rules committee had to process all of those amendments to produce the rule we just approved today. I think their staff for doing that incredible work and i want to pause one moment to thank the staff for the work they did in light of covid19. We know things cannot be run the way they normally are, we have to make adjustments and the staff in particular had to make those adjustments just getting the Committee Hearing room set up so we could accommodate a socially distant our cup, it took an enormous amount of time and technological knowhow and the staff did a great job to get us to this point. I am saying it is no accident we are here, a lot of work got us to this moment to have an excellent product. We cannot forget the central premise behind this product, to support our National Security policy and make sure the men and women who serve in our military, who we assigned with the task of implementing that policy have the tools, training, and equipment they need to perform whatever tasks we ask them to do. We can and should have a robust debate on what those jobs should be and what our National Security priorities are. Something we should never disagree on is the idea that whatever that is that we decide, the troops, the men and women in charge of implementing it, are well equipped, protected, and supported in carrying out that mission. Bill has agreement from the last year budget on 740 billion, that was a good agreement we reached on the defense and nondefense discretionary budget. I think this is one of the greatest challenges we will face. We had a difficult budget environment before covid19 and it is even more difficult now. We are going to have to make some very difficult choices in the decade ahead about what to fund. Not just to meet National Security priorities but to meet all of our priorities within the budget context. I want to thank the secretary of defense for his leadership in that regard. The pentagon has gone through Great Lengths to take a hard look at where they are spending money and finding savings, sometimes in the tens of billions of dollars. That effort will be ongoing Going Forward if we are to have a rational National Security policy. I want to commend members in our committee who have worked to focus on diversity in this year possibility. In this years bill. The reckoning we have in this country for the historic racism and bigotry we have wrestled with is a normal important and we address that. This is societywide but within the department of defense there are issues as well. Of 17ed to the tune million aggressive efforts to increase the relationship between the department of defense and historical black colleges and universities to create and grow the pipeline of diversity into the department of defense with jobs for civilians and activeduty. Chair ofreated a diversity within dod whose job it is to make sure that we are in fact hiring and promoting people in a way that is equitable. We have also set aside a special Inspector General to examine that question and thanks to the leadership of congressman Anthony Brown and jackie spear among others we are looking at how you cmj is implemented. Is it being implemented in a way that is fair and unbiased . These are efforts to create the diversity we need within our armed verses and our society. Overall i am very pleased with this product, more than anything i am pleased with the people who worked together to put it together. , not are a lot of opinions just democrat and republican, but within each party. Even within our own parties we were able to Work Together and produce what i think is an excellent product that we should be proud to support. I reserve the balance of my time. From texas, mr. Thornberry is recognized. I yield myself three minutes. Want to say first i like all of my colleagues i mourn the passing of john lewis. As someone said this weekend, he lived a consequential life and i would add one that we all admired. On the bill before us, i am grateful for the kind words of chairman smith as well as for the generous amendment he offered in committee related to and the of this bill very generous response of all members on both sides of the aisle. Thisl confess that all of naming business makes me uncomfortable, because this bill is not about any of us, it is about the men and women who serve our nation and their families and american National Security. As the chairman points out that is the focus of this bill for 59 straight years. With his leadership and the leadership of senator reid and senator inhofe i think it will be number 60. I do not agree with everything in the bill, but on balance it is a good bill and in some particulars it is a very good bill. Highlight the family resiliency and readiness provisions, thanks the good work from mr. Kelly and misspeak her miss spear. I want to highlight the good work of mr. Gallagher who chaired one of the committees we set up. A number of provisions in this bill strengthen relationships with partners and allies and among others who work on this, mr. Cheney, mr. Turner, there are a lot of very good there is a lot of very good substance in this bill. I want to credit the leadership of the chairman. Not only for assembling a bill of good substance, but for passing it by a vote of 56 to nothing and doing so in a very challenging time. In applauding the staff, not just the substance but the logistics that was required to bring this bill to us. Cannot help but note that whenever there is a crisis in this country we turn to the military. We have seen that several times within the past few months. The thrust of this bill is to say, we are going to turn to the military in times of crisis and we need to support them with the best training, equipment, support of all kinds that we can provide. They are there for us and we need to be there for them. That is the thrust of this bill as it has been in the past. Certainly deserves Member Support as we move forward. I reserve the balance of the time. The gentleman from texas reserves. The gentleman from washington. To yield 3. 5ed minutes to the gentleman from rhode island. The gentleman from rhode island is recognized. For think the gentleman yielding, thank you, mr. Chairman. Support of hrng 63 95, the National Defense authorization act for fiscal year 2021. I want to congratulate chairman smith and Ranking Member thornberry for the strong bipartisan bill that was passed by the committee 560. I am pleased with the provisions in the emerging threat portions of the bill. This reflects key National Security interests and critical oversight areas including intelligence, cyber, science and technology, and special Operations Forces. I want to thank the Ranking Member for her bipartisan cooperation, and the other members of the subcommittee for their extraordinary input. Strong collaboration is what sets this committee apart as we maintain a 60 year tradition of passing a Defense Authorization bill to provide for members of the military and our National Security. Chairmbers and the vice exemplify this spirit. Staff, like to thank the without their input and work this would not be possible. Shannon, josh, jessica, beth, eric, jason, caroline, and my military legislative assistant caroline and allison were instrumental in its development and my director, nick. To the National Defense strategy and i am particularly proud that it incorporates recommendations from two commissions comprising some of our nations most forward thinking defense experts. The committee on Artificial Intelligence will lay the foundation for the countrys workforce, ethics, and security requirements as Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence tools become more relevant. The commission i have the pleasure to serve on, congressman gallagher who cochairs, as provided a provision of cyber deterrence and this includes over 20 recommendations to implement it. This bill enriches the department of defense, science, and Technology Ecosystem. 600 millionr dollars in science and Technology Funding to confront rising science powers. Million, fixing a devastating cut in the president possible budget and we had over 1 million in the pandemic preparedness and resilience National Security fund. This bill diversifies the departments workforce and emphasizes collaboration with historically black colleges and universities and minority institutions. It will protect foreign students at our great universities from being deported. It ensures that special Operations Forces remain the most talented, professional, and agile force ready for highend missions. Bill funds the procurement priority of the columbia class submarine and two virginia class boats. I know what amazing capabilities these submarines provide because they are built in my district in rhode island by the hardworking men and women there. Mr. Chairman, this bill demonstrates our commitment to National Security while increasing oversight and reducing redundant the to ensure to ensure redundancy our tax dollars are spent effectively. I yield back the balance of my time. The gentleman from texas. Threem pleased to yield minutes to mr. Turner. The gentleman from ohio is recognized. I want to join Ranking Member thornberry in noting the passing of john lewis. Heroism and eloquence will be sorely missed. Chairman thank our adam smith, our chairman reached out to the other side and wanted to do a bipartisan bill. That sounds easy but within this environment it is not. It is highly substantive, takes negotiation, and more work than a partisan bill does. He achieved that with a unanimous vote coming out of committee. That takes compromise but this bill does not compromise at all for National Security. To recognize the Ranking Member who is retiring, i appreciate his leadership and i am glad that this bill bears his name. Authorizesauthor the administrations full request of the administration. These funds are critical to ensure our weapons enterprise remains a safe, secure, and effective. We put off this investment for too long. Dayforces are at work every , and they stand and silent as a silent testament to deter adversaries and support add lies and support allies. The world would be less safe. Ground base deterrence of the minuteman 3. The bill also provides progress for space force and provides stability for the National Security space launch program. And makes investments in Missile Defense by funding two of the Missile Defense agents highest priorities, including the 10 sm 3 block 2a. The ndaa will provide support to the people that defend our country. Our troops are receiving a 3 pay raise for the second year in a row. This bill expands the rights of men and women in uniform and their families residing in military housing, it provides more oversight over the private companies responsible for maintaining the health and safety of these homes. This bill also provides remarkable strides in military justice over the justice. This bill also provides protection for Sexual Assault victims. They are getting more rights on appeal, greater access to court records, and adigal protection for retaliatory punishment. I want to thank congressman brown for his work on advancing diversity and equality in our Service Member ranks. I was proud to work with congressman brown to advance concrete steps to promote diversity. This years ndaa creates the position of chief diversity officer for d. O. D. And establishes a diversity and inclusion advisory council, and creates more Scholarship Opportunities in historically black colleges. The ndaa enhances our National Security and improves the lives of our Service Members. I urge all my colleagues to support it. Any cuts in funding to this bill would severely weaken our nation at a time when we are facing some of our clearest threats. I yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields back. The gentleman from washington. Mr. Smith thank you, mr. Speaker. Im pleased to yield two minutes to the gentleman from tennessee, chairman of the Strategic Forces subcommittee, mr. Keerp. The speaker pro tempore gentleman from tennessee is recognized. Mr. Cooper thank you, mr. Speaker. Im proud today to speak on behalf of the Strategic Forces portion of the Mac ThornberryNational Defense authorization act for fiscal year 2021. I would like to thank Ranking Member thornberry for his outstanding 25 years of service in this congress. Id also like to extend my thanks to Ranking Member turn earn all our subcommittee members for their contributions to the bill. Our subcommittee has particularly heavy, often technical responsibilities. This bill does make america stronger and safer by improving the odds for peace and stability with regard to our Nuclear Forces. Hyper sonic weapons, and space and Missile Defense. Preventing a Nuclear Attack is the first responsibility of u. S. Government. Its absolutely imperative to ensure our Nuclear Forces are safe, security, and reliable. Secure and reliable. And we strengthen our nonproliferation efforts. This mark ensures the departments of defense and energy with wisely spending their budgets in a responsible and efficient man. Regarding space we continue our focus on protecting our space assets. The bill also focuses on near term priorities for hyper sonic weapons in a way that avoids increasing the risks of ambiguity and miscalculation. We continue oversight in Missile Defense including supporting u. S. Israeli cooperation. In addition after the failure of the redesigned program the bill strengthens oversight of the next generation intercept program. Before i close i would like to thank our outstanding staff, leo nora, jason, maria, grant, and zach. Thank you, mr. Speaker. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. The gentleman from washington reserves. The gentleman from texas is recognized. Mr. Thornberry im pleased to yield three minutes to the distinguished Ranking Member of the subcommittee on readiness, mr. Lamborn. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from colorado is recognized. Mr. Lamborn i thank the Ranking Member for yielding. Today i rise in strong support h. R. 6395, the william m. Mac thornberry National Defense authorization act for fiscal year 2021. It was said the art of war teaches us to rely not on the likelihood of the enemys not coming but our own readiness to receive him. Not on his chance of not attacking but the fact that we have made or position unassailable. As reported out of committee this ndaa funds essential military readiness to support the National Defense strategy. The legislation does a number of things t makes significant investments in operations and maintenance and military construction. Invests in essential capabilities to retain military overmatch. Including cyber, space, hyper sonics, groundbased strategy deterrent, and Artificial Intelligence. Begins to recapitalize our surge sealift fleet. Addresses shortfalls in Aerial Refueling exate. Development a longterm sustainment strategy, codifies the d. O. D. Office of economic adjustment, improves energy and Critical Infrastructure resilient, requires responsible water use by installation, including transparency regarding pfos releases. Authorizes National Guard access to d. O. D. Funds for pfos remediation. And continues military housing so as to protect the families. I want to thank my friend and colleague, john garamendi, for his leadership on the readiness subcommittee and chairman smith and Ranking Member thornberry for their leadership to get this to the floor. Representative thornberry has left a strong mark on this nations National Defense and we appreciate his dedication. This legislation reflects the hard work of members on both sides as well as the bipartisan staff. This morning i voted against the rule. I did so because the democratic leadership appears to be playing political games that could undermine all of this good work. One amendment would have reduced the defense topline if accepted by 10 . By requiring the department to fully fund all of the personnel and medical accounts, all other accounts would have to decrease by 16 . More than twice the cuts can imposed under see questions tion see questions tation sec wes tration. These have nothing to do with National Defense. And they are opposed by many citizens of those states. Using Service Members and their families as pawns to support a partisan agenda is just wrong. I truly hope this remains a bill that can i vote for after this debate and i yield back the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. The gentleman from texas reserves. The gentleman from washington. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from connecticut is recognized. Mr. Courtney mr. Speaker, article 1, section 8 of the constitution States Congress shall have the power to provide and maintain a navy. The sea power and Projection Subcommittee mark rises to that constitutional duty with a coherent ship building plan and a mark that ensures forces are capable of fulfilling their mission. When the administration sent over its budget we were facing daunting challengeses. Air and see left were underresourced and the neap ship building budget was cut. And the lowest since 2009 and the statutory requirement for the department of defense to submit a 30year ship building plan was and continuing to be ignored. Among those hits is the line for the navys actual requested priorities that were not included in februarys budget. Includes nine ships and columbia, two destroyers and two virginia class submarines. I want to say that the mark reverses one of the most confounding elements, the elimination of a virginia class submarine that would subtract the twoyear build rate. We have heard from navy first confirm there is industrialbased capacity to support a second suband the platform is the number one unfunded priority. It represents the most Cost Effective way to mitigate our declining submarine fleet. We heard from the commanders in the pacific and atlantic about the need to stop that decline and we need a deterrent. We fixed that flaw in our work. Mr. Speaker, all of this was accomplished with team work and i want to thank my friend and colleague rob whitman and all of the subcommittee members and amazing, rob, kelly and sean and i want to thank lieutenant commander, our navy fellow in our office who was instrumental in getting this fine product. I urge passage of the thornberry ndaa. I yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from texas. Mr. Thornberry i yield three. Inutes to the Ranking Member the speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized. Mr. Whitfield i thank the Ranking Member for yielding. In committee we went over 600 amendments and 12 hours of debate and we had share of differences to arrive at a very good bipartisan bill. The majority has legitimated to add several nongermane bills that have nothing to do with defense. Prabs more problematic, these bills are partisan and recommended to be vetoed by the president. So the majority has decided to task it on to a mustpass piece of legislation. We should not use our Service Members as a tool to achieve a partisan agenda. I hope i can vote for final passage. I do want to highlight three areas of note that accelerate our National Security in the sea powers subcommittee. We made the biggest move in the bill by authorizing a second virginia class submarine and imperative we move to accelerate the entirety of the exathes and today is not your day. Dissuading agressor nations is the cornerstone which our economy rests. Another area that i take great pride in supporting is support of sea lift. For additional vehicles are essential elements to geting 9 army and marine corps to distant shores. We continue strong oversight in limiting funds for a deficient tanker and promising but unproven unmanned surface vessel fleet. I want to thank chairman courtney and his team who led a strong bipartisan mark. Chairman courtney has been tremendous and is a fantastic sea power chairman and i look forward working with him to deliver the sea power Projection Forces that our nation needs. He is the example of a servant leader and one that works in a bipartisan manner. This is a good bill that in its current form is worthy of support. I look forward to saying that i was part of passing the william m. Mac thornberry National Defense authorization act for fiscal year 2021. With that, i yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. The gentleman from texas reserves. The gentleman from washington. Mr. Smith im pleased to yield two minutes to the the gentlewoman from of california, ms. Speier. The speaker pro tempore the gentlewoman from california is recognized. Ms. Speier i thank the chair for his outstanding leadership and to Ranking Member thornberry for an outstanding job over his 25 years. I support this bipartisan bill that was passed unanimously out of committee. The subcommittee accepted 111 total amendments, 37 from the republicans. I would like to thank Ranking Member kelly and the other members of the committee and the work from our staff, craig, dave, hanna, glen, danielle and personal staff, josh, shawna, brian and luke. This bill continues the committees tradition of improving lives for our Service Members and their families. And requiring improvements to the Exceptional Family Member Program and 24hour killed care availability. Improving Sexual Assault violence prevention and the departments plans to cut the military health system. Americans are timely confronting the injustice of systemic racism and this bill establishes changes by creating a diverse officer and establishing a council, requiring the services to establish goals to increasing representation of women and persons of color, stripping information at promotion boards to create fairness, to review discrepancies in the military and justice personnel and investigate white supremacist activities. T also better protects our Service Members by creating a Sexual AssaultPilot Program at the academies, and military civilian task force on domestic violence. As i have visited bases throughout the country, i have told our Service Members and families what our creed is. When a Service Member serves, so does his or her family. We owe it to our brave Service Members to pass the ndaa. I yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized. The gentlewoman yields back. The gentleman from washington reserves. The gentleman from texas is recognized. Mr. Thornberry i yield three minutes to the distinguished Ranking Member on the subcommittee of tactical land and air forces, mrs. Hartzler. Mrs. Hartzler i rise in support of the National Defense authorization act for 2021. It passed unanimously out of committee. And im grateful it bears the name of a Public Servant who fought for our men and women in uniform and steady wise leadership has made such a difference. This legislation is a fitting tribute to his enduring legacy. As the Ranking Member of the tactical land and air forces subcommittee, i thank Donald Norcross for his strong bipartisan and thank the , and my ee staff personal military legislative director for their hard work on this legislation. Within the subcommittees jurisdiction, this bill recommends authorization of over 118 billion in needed modernization funding required for our competitive advantage against strategic adversaries such as china and russia. It has fourth and fifth jepration Strike Fighters and 75 Strike Fighters. And 24 f18 superhornets and additional funding for advanced procurement to mitigate current navy strike falls. The bill authorizes the necessary funding to have the big six modernization priorities to include long range precision fighters which are critical in the National Defense strategy. Im pleased the bill requires more detailed certificate physicals and justification for decisions relating to retiring critical i. S. R. Platforms without a suitable placement to better manage operational risk. Outside the subcommittees jurisdiction, this bill includes language to develop a strategy for the us of chaplains and nonprofit posttraumatic growth organizations as a Behavioral Health care option andles report and analyzing the risk to Service Members due to dependence on china for our pharmaceutical needs. The ndaa should be a byproduct of consensus. Putting our troops first should always be our top priority as members of congress. Thats why i have concerns and would oppose any amendment that would cut the Defense Budget by 10 . A cut this size equates to 73 billion, twice that in fiscal year 2019 sequester. We have worked hard to repair the damage. Now is not the time to go backwards. I thank you and i urge support. And i yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentlewoman yields back. The gentleman from texas reserves. The gentleman from washington. Mr. Smith i yield two minutes to the gentleman from new jersey, the chair of the tactical air and land subcommittee, mr. Norcross. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized. Mr. Norcross i thank the chairman for yielding and his leadership bringing this bill to the floor and to the Ranking MemberMac Thornberry for his years of service. This bill continues tactical air and land forces tradition to make the land and air force the best in the world. Despite challengeses imposed upon us during this covid price crisis this is a result of under demanding circumstances. I thank the members of the committees and staffs. We also would like to thank the Ranking Member, mrs. Hartzler, for her leadership and certainly working as a bipartisan committee. We were focused on what truly is important. We delivered a bill that meets the needs of our nation. This bill carefully manageses our military resources while increasing oversight on d. O. D. Programs. The bill includes oversight of the Strike Fighter programs including the f35, the most expensive program ever attempted by the department. Departments development, sustainment of manned and unmanned intelligence, surveillance and recon naysance aircraft and the armys new modernization strategy, the chinook helicopter, combat and tactical vehicles, air and Missile Defense and network and soldier leeth atlanta. The bill includes what i think is one of the most providings, buy american provisions and we are serious about building things here in the u. S. I worked to ensure that the executive branch cannot strip the collective bargaining rights of our vital citizens defense work force. Im proud of the hard work to serve america in the National Security interests in this great bill. It deserves our support and i urge my colleagues to vote yes and i yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentlemans time has expired. The gentleman from washington reserves. The gentleman from texas is recognized. Mr. Thornberry i yield three minutes to the distinguished Ranking Member of the subcommittee on intelligence, emerging threats and capabilities, ms. Stefanik. The speaker pro tempore the gentlewoman from new york is recognized. Ms stefanik i want to thank my subcommittee chair mr. Langevin who is a wonderful colleague to work with. And as the Ranking Member of the subcommittee, i would like to highlight the key themes that will ensure the u. S. Maintains its Competitive Edge. First, this bill places special emphasis on basic research and the important chiropractics that our science and Technology Ecosystem including our universities, the d. O. D. Labs and darpa provide to our collective National Defense including our pandemic preparedness and response. This bill restores a critical social science Resource Program that has provided insights into violent extremism and foreign operations campaign. In sum, this bill provides 600 million for science and Technology Investments in critical emerging fields including e. I. Two years ago i introduced legislation that created the National Security commission on a. I. With the purpose of accelerating the advance nt of a. I. I applaud the commission on their important work and this bill includes 18 of those recommendations. The adoption of these recommendations demonstrates how important a. I. Is and how it must be integrated not only in our Weapons Systems and health care and humanitarian missions and our cybersecurity. Our ability to apply a. I. Faster than our adversaries will allow us to maintain our Competitive Edge over russia and china prepare our citizens for an a. I. Enabled future. Furthermore, this bill also increases our investment in the programs that provide care and support for the families of our special operators that have been so critical to our Counterterrorism Operations over the last 19 years. Most importantly, as the proud representative of the soldiers and families of fort drum and 10th mountain division, this bill will invest in the technology and training necessary to ensure the safety and security of the men and women sent into harms way. This bill supports our force protection and military intelligence capabilities to ensure our Service Members have the tools they need to mitigate hostile actions while they continue their Important Missions abroad. As a representative of the most deployed division in the United States army currently serving in afghanistan, my number one priority is force protection and the safety of the brave men and women called into action to protect our national interest. That said im very concerned with any amendments that would slash the Defense Budget, impact our force protection, or degrade our investment in new technologies. A 73 billion cut to the Defense Budget would cause irreparable harm to our military and readiness and decimate the very programs that keep our Service Members safe. I want to close by thanking Ranking Member thornberry for his leadership and guidance not only this year but many years of his truly exemplary leadership. With that i yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentlewomans time has expired. The gentleman from texas reserves. The gentleman from washington. Mr. Smith thank you, mr. Speaker. I am pleased to yield two minutes to the gentleman from maine, a member of the committee, mr. Golden. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from maine is recognized. Mr. Golden thank you, mr. Chair. Thank you, chairman smith. I want to take a moment to talk about an amendment coming forward today having to do with the Service Member civil relief act. I think its particularly important having deployed to afghanistan and iraq, i want to paint a picture for you. Imagine running a nighttime patrol in the mountains of afghanistan or on the streets of an iraqi town. Im sure you can appreciate the intense pressure, stress, focus required to do the job right, and avoid any mistake that could get you or your bowedies killed. Now imagine the patrol is finished, you have three hours to sleep before you need to get up and stand guard for an hour. After that youll go on a convoy back to headquarters to get supplies to bring back to the company. Instead of getting rest you hop on a Satellite Phone and make a business call to the United States where its 4 00 p. M. To explain to a company why they cant repossess the family car or foreclose on your house even though congress has passed protections for Service Members, the company insists you signed a waiver of your protections. Congress shouldnt allow this to. Mr. Chair, this amendment would end the use of arbitration clauses that trick Service Members into signing away their rights. How ridiculous this amendment is even necessary, but sadly it is, i have seen it myself on deployments, it does happen. Its happened to men and women i served with. Congress should do something about this. These people are being put into stressful financial situations and their families are, too, while they are serving our country and fighting for us. I urge my colleagues to support the amendment and fight for it in conference in the senate. In closing i want to congratulate the Ranking Member on his many years of service to our Service Members on the committee. Thank both the chair and Ranking Member for their leadership of the committee these past two ndaas. Thank you. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. The gentleman from washington reserves. The gentleman from texas. Mr. Thornberry mr. Speaker, im pleased to yield three minutes to the distinguished Ranking Member of the subcommittee on personnel, mr. Kelly. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized. Mr. Kelly thank you, mr. Speaker. I first want to thank chairwoman speier for the hard work that we did together on the military subcommittee. Ranking member thornberry whos provided leadership my entire time. And chairman smith for the great job they have done in passing a bipartisan bill out of committee. I stand before you today in proud support of the bipartisan defense bill we unanimously voted out of committee during extraordinary circumstances of covid19. This bill does more for families and Service Members than any that come to my mind. It is a huge step forward, but there is still work to do. However, im concerned with the many amendments that would impose a acrosstheboard budget cuts that may affect programs that support our military families. Im also concerned with the potential size of this cut which, by my understanding, would be about 73 billion, more than twice the impact of the f. Y. 2013 see quester. Sequester. The bill voted out of committee continues to support the lives for those who sacrifice for our country on a daily basis by authorizing a military basic pay raise of 3 . This bill reinforces the committees longstanding commitment to the family by requiring the department of defense to redefine military readiness and family resillen sane provide for significant reforms to the Exceptional Family Members Program this. Bill addresses the covid19 pandemic by requiring the military to assess the diagnostic equipment, testing capabilities, personal protective equipment, and treatment capabilities of the armed forces. It also requires the National Security strategy to include the drugs, vaccines, and other critical medical equipment that will ensure combat readiness and lethality by safeguarding the health of our Armed Services. I want to thank chairwoman speier because this bill will continue to support our Service Members and retain their families. Mr. Chairman, this is an outstanding bipartisan bill dedicated to our Service Members, military families, and retirees, and gives them the care and support they need and deserve. With that i yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields back. The gentleman from washington. Mr. Smith i reserve at this time. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman reserves. The gentleman from texas. Mr. Thornberry mr. Speaker, im pleased to yield one minute to the distinguished Ranking Member of the committee on homeland security, mr. Rogers. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from alabama is recognized. Mr. Rogers thank you, mr. Speaker. I want to thank Ranking Member thornberry and chairman smith for their leadership in bringing this bill to the floor in such a bipartisan manner. Im pleased the bill includes several provisions to support the space force and prioritizes the hyper sonic and Ballistic Missile spacking space sensor. This bill takes important steps forward to confront china with the indo pacific deterrence nishtifment it includes almost 600 million above the president s budget for science and technology and investments in critical emerging technologies areas. These critical investment are what will enable us to confront the sophisticated threats we face from china and russia. Importantly, this bill adheres to the budget agreement and fully funds the president s budget request. Now more than ever we must reject calls for blunt defense cuts from partisans who are using the Current Crisis as an opportunity to push through agenda. I want to thank my friend and colleague, Mac Thornberry, for his years of service to the Armed Services committee. No one cares more about our men and women in uniform and has dedicated more time and effort to making sure they have what they need. Our committee was lucky to have you as chairman for four years and Ranking Member for two years. And we wish you nothing but the best in the future. With that, mr. Speaker, i yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentlemans time has expired. The gentleman reserves. Gentleman from washington. Mr. Smith continue to reserve, mr. Speaker. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from washington reserves. The gentleman from texas. Mr. Thornberry im pleased to yield two minutes to the distinguished member of our committee from wisconsin, mr. Gallagher. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from wisconsin is recognized. Mr. Gallagher thank you. I thank the Ranking Member not only for yielding but for his leadership and setting an example of being one of the most thoughtful legislators that i have ever witnessed. So thank you for your mentorship and leadership. Im very proud to support this bill which includes many of the critical religiouses of the cyber space Solarium Commission which hi the privilege of cochairing over the past year with my good friend, senator angus king, and serving alongside my distinguished colleague and ietc subCommittee Chairman jim langevin who has for gotten more about Cyber Security than most of us, certainly mecy of, i will ever know. We recognize one of our greatest challenges would be inform gating through the many committees of jurisdiction, and it is precisely because of that challenge that im especially proud we were able to work across party and jurisdictional lines to get many of our key recommendations either in the underlying text or on a bipartisan amendment. So i know over the course of the day congress advancing even more of the commissions recommendations such as strengthening the Cyber Security and infrastructure security agency, establishing a National Cyber director, establishing a joint Planning Office to coordinate cyber planning, but i just want to thank the Committee Chairman as well for working with us and the rest of the cyber space commission, a great deal of effort went into our work. We have more than 50 legislative proposals and im thankful for his help and everyones help, especially representative langevin in getting the work across the finish line. There is no better work to secure us in cyber space. Thank you, i yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields back. The gentleman from washington. Mr. Smith continues to reserve. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from texas. Mr. Thornberry mr. Speaker, im pleased to yield two minutes to the distinguished gentleman from indiana, member of our committee, mr. Banks. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from indiana is recognized. Mr. Banks i thank the Ranking Member for yielding. I want to congratulate him on a tremendous record of service to our nation and to our men and women in uniform. It seems fitting this piece of legislation would be named after him. It should be no secret to anyone in this congress about the threat that the Chinese Communist party poses to the United StatesNational Security interests. And the freedoms and values americans enjoy. President trump demonstrated tremendous leadership by preparing the nation for a new era of Great Power Competition with the 2017 National Security strategy. This years ndaa upholds the ideals of the National Security strategy more than ever and asserts u. S. Leadership in the face of c. C. P. Aggression, domestically and parnt the world. It is well documented that the Chinese Governments mismanagement of the government Coronavirus Spread the virus worldwide. And that the Chinese Government is engaging in human rights abuses authorize ethnic populations in china and politically suppressing voices in hong dong kong and the Chinese Government has a strategy to consolidate manufacturing supply chains that hit all aspects of the u. S. Economy. And that the Chinese Government is seeking to dominate next generation communication hardware, steal United States technology and research, and sensor the real truth about the Chinese Communist parties intentions and action that is run counter to American Values of freedom and democratcy. This defense bill takes several positive steps on china that both republicans and democrats support. The base bill includes funding for an nationalive for the indo pacific to deter china similar to the European Initiative to deter russia. It increases funding in emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence to maintain a technical edge against china and starts taking financial actions to reduce chinas role at the world bank. However there is a lot more that needs to be done. There were a number of amendments that were offered that were ultimately not ruled in order for consideration that would have helped american competitiveness and save guard u. S. Interests against the threat of china. I wont name all those amendments, but there were. I yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields back. The gentleman from washington. Mr. Smith continue to reserve. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman reserves. The gentleman from texas. Mr. Thornberry mr. Speaker, i am pleased to yield two minutes to the distinguished chair of the republican conference, also a member our committee, ms. Cheney. The speaker pro tempore the gentlewoman from wyoming, is recognized. Ms. Cheney thank you m particular Ranking Member thornberry and chairman smith. I rise in strong support, mr. Speaker, of this bipartisan william m. Mac thornberry National Defense authorization act. A strong bipartisan act such as this one is more important today than perhaps ever before. As we are facing competition with our adversaries and meerging contested domains, we have to develop cuttingedge capabilities in space, cyber space, air, land, and sea. And we must do this at a time, mr. Speaker, when a Global Pandemic continues to take lives and devastate economies around the world. This ndaa, mr. Speaker, recognizes the role that america has played in ensuring peace, prosperity, and freedom around the world for 75 years. It recognizes that our Forward Deployed forces are fundamental to deterring aggression and forestalling conflict. It recognizes that retrenchment and withdrawal are destabilizing and aid americas adversaries. Through its provisions, mr. Speaker, this ndaa underscores that america faces a fundamental choice. We either continue to lead, including through Forward Deployed forces in places like germany, eastern europe, and south korea, or we retreat. Thus ensuring the global rules of the road will be set not by us and other free nations but by our adversaries, including china and russia. This bill enhances cooperation with critical allies in the indo pacific, authorizes funding to counter china, and fully punds the European Deterrence Initiative to enhance deterrence against russia. It fully funds Nuclear Modernization to ensure the safety and reliability of our Nuclear Stockpile and the credibility of our nuclear deter rent. I urge my deterrent. I urge my colleagues today to ensure this legislation passes the floor in the same bipartisan fashion in which it passed committee. Staying true to the spirit of the member after which it is named. Thank you very much, mr. Speaker. I yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentlewoman yields back. The gentleman from washington. Mr. Smith thank you, mr. Speaker. Im pleased to yield one minute to the distinguished majority leader of the house, mr. Hoyer. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from maryland, the majority leader, mr. Hoyer, is recognized. Mr. Hoyer i thank the chairman for yielding. Mr. Smith. I thank mr. Thornberry, the Ranking Member, for his efforts and partnership in bringing this bill to the floor in a bipartisan fashion. I join the previous speaker that this is a forwardleaning, ready of the free leaders world to our globe. I want to thank chairman smith and Armed Services committee and the Armed Services committee for ensuring a fair and bipartisan process as the house worked to craft a Defense Authorization bill that strengthens our National Security and reflects our nations highest principles. I want to thank, as i said, mac thorn beer question and chairman smith, who have worked together through this process. Democrats and republicans on the committee and indeed in this house share a strong determination to do right by our troops and those they serve. Let me thank chairman mcgovern and the rules committee for working to ensure that this bill comes to the floor under a process that allows for members to offer amendments they feel will make our National Defense stronger while making certain that our defense policies reflect the best of america. And helps address our longterm challenges. We consider this bill in a challenging environment. Covid 19 has attacked our people, our economy and our country in a way unknown to any member who serves in this body today. None of us are old enough to remember of course the spanish flu, but we know that it did not consequences on in america that covid19 has had. It is a reminder by those who would cause us harm by armed might but illness, Climate Change and other natural disasters. I regret we were not able to include all the amendments that the democrats submitted, but that is what a compromise is. It is unfortunate we couldnt take up an amendment taking up the trump ban on transgender serving in our military. Ohn mccain said i dont care whether they can shoot but shoot straight. And characterduct to respond and to serve. That will be a priority. While not all amendments that were proposed will end up becoming part of the final bill we vote on, in their offering, mr. Speaker, they played an Important Role in shaping their houses lemmings and will continue to add to important policy discussions that we need to have in our country. One observation i would make, mr. Speaker, is that one of the aspects of covid19s assault on our country has been to have a somewhat attenuate the debate and discussion. I discussed with mr. Smith and mr. Thornberry on numerous occasions to have the deep dive into the fiscal viability of our Defense Budget as well as our domestic budget so that we can ensure in the future that operations and training and acquisitions do not suffer because of the lack of resources. Im hopeful that the final bill we vote on tomorrow and send to the senate will reflect a positive vision for our nations National Defense and can pass with bipartisan support. Our National Security challenges are many. And they are serious. Thats why the democraticled house will do its job responsibly and to work bipartisanly to ensure our nation is kept safe and those who serve on the front lines of its defense have all the resources they need to carry out their missions safely and effectively. I thank chairman smith and the Ranking Member and all those who worked hardin clueding the Committee Staff who worked long hours under very stressful and unprecedented circumstances. I urge in closing, mr. Speaker, all members to support this legislation. I yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. The gentleman from washington reserves. The gentleman from texas. Mr. Thornberry i presume the chair has no further speakers and i yield myself the balance of the time on our side. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized. Mr. Thornberry i just want to again thank each and every one of the members of the house Armed Services committee. Every one of them, republican and democrat, those who have been there a while or new, have contributed to this product. As the chairman and i were talking, the dedicated professionals who work on the Committee Staff have done an outstanding job especially, i think, under these conditions this year. And finally, i want to thank my personal office who have contributed in many ways to this whole effort. This has been an all handson deck sort of work and i appreciate their work as well. Timely, mr. Speaker, i want to mphasize the importance of maintaining the bipartisan approach by which this bill came out of committee. 560 is not easy and the chairmans leadership that enabled it to be so. We have some work to do and we have some amendments to go through. And if some of those amendments pass, it will be very hard to maintain that approach going through. But assuming we can maintain this bipartisan approach where nobody gets everything they want but there is enough there and higher purpose that holds us together so it can come out of this house on final passage tomorrow with a similar, roughly similar vote, i think that will be very important. It will be very important for the men and women who are serving our nation all around the world to see that republicans and democrats can fight about taxes and health care and other things but they can come together when it comes to support them. For all those military families that have been disrupted with their moves during covid and going through all sorts of inconveniences and hardships, its very important to see that republicans and dem cats can come together in congress to support them and to advance their interests. For allies and adversaries around the world, they need to see, we will argue with each other and we will have a variety of differences, but when it comes to americas National Security, we come together. If we can do that, that message is more important than any of the particulars of this bill standing together for americas National Security and the men and women who serve, thats the most important thing we can do. And i hope and trust that will be the result come tomorrow. I yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. The gentleman from washington. Mr. Smith thank you. I yield myself the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized. Midst smith i urge members to support this bill and i want to emphasize the number of points made about the process which sounds blapped and little bit dry, but thats how we produce such an excellent product and good model for how congress should function. We debate issues and take amendments from a wide and Diverse Group of people and in so doing, the product gets better. We benefit from the talent and experience from people in congress. We debate where we cant and move the process forward. It is important that the institution continues to function that way. A number of institutions in our country, many we have taken for granted are under an enormous amount of pressure. It is very important to have cowherpt stability in the institutions of government. And that is something that i know mr. Thornberry prioritized during his service on the committee, to show people as mac pointed out, the system works. And its a good thing when we get together and have these debates. And i urge members to support this product. In closing, i want to emphasize the importance of alliances and partnerships to our National Security and to what the department of defense does. This bill has a number of provisions to strengthen that, support the nato, support for our relationship with south korea, support for the creation of an independentopacific initiative which is what we did on the European Initiative. The goal is to build the partnerships necessary to maintain our National Security interests globally and hopefully without having to rely on the military. A number of my colleagues on this side of the aisle are concerned about how the u. S. Has used its military over the years. I dont disagree. The military should not be the first or primary tool of u. S. Foreign policy in National Security. But if that is to be the case, we need to build the partner capacity of allies throughout europe and asia. Thats what this bill, i believe reflects. That desire to give us peace by detering our adversaries through a series of interlocking alliances. I want to address the issues, concern has been raised about one of the amendments. There are some amendments that arent necessarily within our jurisdiction. As the one bill that passes every year, this is not an unusual occurance. Even when the republicans were in the majority we had amendments outside the jurisdiction including in the lands area. Who could forget the prarie chicken. That, too, is part of this process. However that comes out, it will not in any way undermine the incredible bipartisan work that has been done on the bill and the 1,500 provisions that will be reflected in that bill once we get done here. Whatever disagreements there may be on amendments coming forward, the best thing we can do for this institution and committee and the way the legislative process has to work and most importantly for the men and women serving in our military to show them we support the defense bill. We support them. We support what they do and we have worked together to produce an excellent product that is worthy of every member of this body. I urge everyone to vote yes and i thank everyone involved in the process. I join my colleagues in recognizing the life of john lewis. He brought honor to this country and lived the life ta made us feel better about where we live, john, he lived a tough life and took on tough fights, but he did it with joy. You never saw john lewis getting down. He always had a joy about him even in the face of unbelievable injustice. He did not hate his enemies and didnt attack them but stood up for what is right. We could build upon it and bringing this country together and deal with the challenges we