[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 93 (Thursday, June 11, 2015)]
[Senate]
[Page S4064]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, that brings me then to the larger 
debate the Senate is having this week. The bill the cyber measure has 
been offered to is the annual Defense authorization Act. It is a 
related issue. It is about protecting our country. It makes sense to 
consider these issues together.
  Now, the Defense bill is another measure that should be sailing to 
passage with strong bipartisan support. It does so almost every year. 
But Democratic leaders now seem to have a different idea.
  Here is a headline that just appeared in the Washington Post: 
``Democrats prepare for filibuster summer.''
  ``Democrats prepare for filibuster summer.'' We can already feel 
Americans just tense up. They don't even like the sound of it. Who 
would?
  Let me read just a few lines from that story: ``After almost six 
months in the minority . . . Senate Democrats aren't afraid to be 
obstructionists, detailing a strategy of blocking appropriations bills 
and other Republican agenda items until they get what they want''--
``until they get what they want.''
  ``Get ready for filibuster summer,'' the Post warned, because despite 
opening themselves ``to charges of hypocrisy,'' Democrats have 
``decided to block all spending bills starting with the defense 
appropriations measure.''
  Putting the obvious hypocrisy aside, one thing is clear: The party 
leaders opposite seem to think this is all just a game.
  Democratic leaders seem to think the pay raise for a soldier who 
gives everything to protect our country and who would give anything to 
provide for her kids isn't something she has earned, but something she 
can gamble with in a high-stakes game of ``Shutdown Roulette.''
  Democratic leaders don't seem the least bit bothered by the dire 
national security implications of what they are doing. They have packed 
the car for their filibuster vacation, and they are ready to hit the 
road, whatever the consequences for our country. They are heading down 
this road at a time when ``the United States has not faced a more 
diverse and complex array of crises since the end of World War II.''
  Those are the words of Henry Kissinger. And he is right. From 
Beijing, Moscow, and the tribal areas of Pakistan, to Ramadi and 
Tehran, we see unrest and global threats that threaten American values 
and American interests.
  And what do we see from Democratic leaders? A serious plan?
  We hear the President telling us he still doesn't even have one when 
it comes to confronting one of our most serious challenges--ISIL.
  This is 8 months after he announced his intention to confront this 
threat. This is 8 months after I and others called on the President to 
provide us with a comprehensive plan to defeat this menace. And it is 8 
months since I pledged that Congress would work with the administration 
to ensure our forces have the resources they need to carry out their 
missions.
  Republicans have kept up our end of the bargain, even if the 
President still doesn't have a serious plan.
  The President asked us for $612 billion in his budget request to 
Congress. That is what he asked for. So we worked across the aisle to 
craft a bipartisan Defense authorization bill at precisely that level. 
He asked. We delivered.
  The House version of this bill already passed by a big bipartisan 
margin. The Senate version sailed out of the Armed Services Committee 
on a vote of 22 to 4. We were all set to pass the very type of bill 
President Obama indicated he wanted, but then Democratic leaders 
started listening to that little partisan pat on their shoulder: Why 
not take this opportunity to pump up that unrelated government spending 
we like so much? Just threaten to filibuster pay raises for the troops 
until they shower more cash on the bureaucrats in Washington.
  At a moment of grave and gathering threats, Democrats listened to 
that partisan voice--that partisan voice.
  At a time when our military families need all the support they can 
get, Democratic leaders reverted to partisan form and are now 
threatening to blow up a bipartisan bill.
  I would think this would be of some concern to commonsense Democrats. 
They have to be wondering if their leaders have totally lost it--
completely lost it--with this filibuster summer and holding our 
military hostage.
  We don't have to look too far to see the important role the military 
plays in each of our communities. I mentioned yesterday how important 
Fort Campbell is to Kentucky. Let me now tell my colleagues a little 
bit about Fort Knox.
  Fort Knox hosts the Army's Human Resources Command. It is a hub for 
multiple major commands under the Training and Doctrine Command. 
Because of its vast array of excellent training grounds and exceptional 
training facilities, Fort Knox also recently began hosting thousands of 
cadets for extensive annual training under the Army Leader's Training 
Course. Not only has Fort Knox been leading the Army in energy 
independence by developing the capability to go off the grid entirely, 
but it also continues to make an exceptionally important contribution 
locally, as well.
  Fort Knox's economic impact on Hardin County and the surrounding 
communities stands at over $2 billion a year. My constituents in 
Elizabethtown and across the Commonwealth know how important Fort Knox 
is to our community and to our country. They also know that passing the 
bipartisan Defense bill before us would allow for a critical new 
medical facility to be built at Fort Knox. They don't want to see 
Democratic leaders hold that medical facility hostage for unrelated 
partisan reasons.

  Kentuckians and Americans know that supporting our troops is never 
ever a waste of time. They know that ensuring the military has the 
tools it needs isn't a game. Here is something else so many of our 
constituents know: What America needs right now is not a summer of 
filibusters but a season of serious bipartisan solutions. That is what 
the Defense bill before us represents, and that is what this new 
Congress has been doing all year. We have gotten a lot done. There is a 
lot more we can do. And if rank-and-file Democrats reject their 
leader's partisan games in favor of keeping up the bipartisan work that 
got us to this point instead--on a bill they joined Republicans to pass 
in committee 22 to 4--then that is just the kind of productive summer 
we can keep working toward.

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