[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 181 (Thursday, December 19, 2013)]
[Senate]
[Page S8986]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, for more than 50 years consecutively; that 
is, 50 years in a row every year, the United States has passed the 
National Defense Authorization Act. This year is not going to be an 
exception. This tradition indicates the respect and gratitude with 
which Members of this institution regard the members of our military.
  The work to get to this point has been extremely difficult. We have 
had the usual good work by one of the finest Senators ever, the senior 
Senator from Michigan, and also the cooperation and hard work of the 
ranking member of the committee, the senior Senator from the State of 
Oklahoma. It has been with some difficulty.
  The Senator from Oklahoma has had physical problems and the tragic 
loss of his son in an unfortunate airplane accident. These two men have 
continued to move forward with this legislation. It is important to 
mention their counterparts in the House. This is an important piece of 
legislation that we are going to vote on.
  Today, the Senate will continue debate on this critical measure which 
safeguards our Nation and ensures our troops have the resources and 
training they need. This bill includes a pay raise for members of the 
Armed Forces and reauthorizes dozens of special pay raises and bonuses, 
such as the bonus payment for servicemembers who are stationed 
overseas.
  This legislation also supports military families who support the 
mission of our fighting men and women. Also, yesterday, we passed the 
Ryan-Murray budget--very important--because, among other things, it did 
away with the sequester, which would have been--if that second year 
would have kicked in, it would have been a $23 billion hit to the 
United States military. That is gone.
  This year the National Defense Authorization Act also includes robust 
new provisions to combat sexual assault in the military and guarantee 
that the perpetrators are punished.
  With cooperation, the Senate could easily pass this bill today. We 
could have done it last evening. With cooperation, the Senate could 
also consider a number of pending nominations today and Friday. Without 
cooperation from our Republican colleagues, Senators should expect late 
night and weekend votes.

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