[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 189 (Friday, November 17, 2017)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1591]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]





CONFERENCE REPORT ON H.R. 2810, NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR 
                            FISCAL YEAR 2018

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                               speech of

                            HON. BARBARA LEE

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, November 14, 2017

  Ms. LEE. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong opposition to H.R. 2810, the 
Fiscal Year 2018 National Defense Authorization Act. This bill 
authorizes $700 billion in defense spending for our already out-of-
control Pentagon budget. It would also increase funding by $66 billion 
for wars that Congress has never debated or voted on. And once again, 
my Republican colleagues have used an off-the-books spending gimmicks 
to further expand the already-bloated Pentagon budget.
  Mr. Speaker, enough is enough.
  Instead of writing blank checks to the Pentagon, Congress needs to 
live up to its constitutional obligation to debate matters of war and 
peace. We need to rip up the 2001 blank check for endless war. We need 
to stop funding wars without end.
  Simply put, Mr. Speaker, we need to do our job.
  And this Defense Authorization Act does just the opposite. It allows 
Congress to kick the can down the road again, while funding wars with 
no debate on the costs and consequences to our troops or to the 
American people.
  Mr. Speaker, I do have to say that I am pleased by the passage of my 
amendment, which I co-authored with my good friend Congressman Burgess, 
to report on the audit-readiness of the Pentagon. This is a good first 
step, but much work remains to bring some accountability to Pentagon 
spending.
  So I call on Speaker Ryan to act to actually audit bloated Pentagon 
spending and to bring forth an authorization so Congress can vote up or 
down on these wars.
  I urge my colleagues to vote `NO' on this bill and reject this 
wasteful spending.

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