[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 91 (Monday, June 4, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2954-S2955]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                   National Defense Authorization Act

  Mr. CORNYN. Madam President, this week, we will be taking up the 
National Defense Authorization Act, which Congress has passed for 57 
consecutive years to support and guide our country's military. Earlier 
this month, the Armed Services Committee voted overwhelmingly--25 to 
2--to advance this important legislation to the Senate floor, so when I 
hear people say that there is no bipartisan consensus for anything in 
Washington these days, I think that is belied by the facts and 
certainly in this case by our bipartisan commitment to provide that 
support and guidance for our Nation's military.
  According to the Department of Defense, there are 1.8 million 
Americans around the world on Active Duty in the U.S. military. The 
United States has 737 installations overseas, and the DOD--the 
Department of Defense--is the world's largest employer. Supporting all 
these people and the facilities they occupy is a Herculean task, and 
the Defense authorization bill is one very significant way that we do 
just that. It is how we make sure that all of our American 
servicemembers are trained, equipped, and paid and that our alliances 
are strengthened and our military facilities are properly modernized 
and maintained. We have an All-Volunteer military, and it is important 
for us to do all of these things in terms of quality of life, in 
addition to the basics, to prepare our warriors for hopefully an 
avoidable fight, but when it is unavoidable, to prepare them for that 
conflict.
  In Texas, there are roughly 200,000 military men and women stationed 
in places like Fort Hood, Joint Base San Antonio, the Red River Army 
Depot, and Ellington Field. These are the people I think about as we 
take up this Defense authorization bill. They rely on us to deliver 
what we have asked them to do, to give them the tools, the equipment, 
and the training to do what we have asked them to do. That goal is 
increasingly difficult because the world is a very complex and 
dangerous place. The array of national security threats facing the 
United States is more complex and diverse than at any time since World 
War II. Our leadership at the Pentagon says that the strategic 
environment has not been this competitive since the Cold War. Simply 
put, America no longer enjoys the competitive edge it once had over our 
competitors and adversaries.
  Secretary Mattis and the Department of Defense have admirably crafted 
the national defense strategy that was delivered to Congress earlier 
this year laying out its strategic goal. This was a critical first 
step, but now the strategy must be implemented. The Defense 
authorization bill will align that strategy with the resources 
necessary to implement it--the investments, the policies, the 
authorizations--with the new orientation articulated in that strategy.
  The Secretary of Defense will reevaluate the highest priority 
missions for the Department of Defense, the roles of the joint force, 
as well as the capabilities required to complete these missions.
  All told, in its current form, the Defense authorization will support 
$716 billion for our national defense. To those who would think that 
the price is too high, I would say there is no option. There is no 
nation in the world that is as capable of keeping the peace and 
deterring aggressors around the world. In fact, the No. 1 
responsibility of the Federal Government is to provide for our common 
defense.
  All of the rights that we enjoy in this great country of ours flow 
from the freedoms that are protected by our men and women in uniform. 
We have seen what has happened in the last few years when America has 
receded and retreated from its leadership role.
  We don't have to fight all of these fights on our own. As General 
Mattis says, it is appropriate for Americans to fight by, with, and 
through our allies, which is the strategy we are using now rather than 
placing boots on the ground in many of these locations.
  One important piece of the bill is bolstering recruitment, retention, 
and effectiveness of our Armed Forces.
  A second important piece that was included in the committee markup of 
the NDAA is legislation I introduced called the Children of the 
Military Protection Act. This will close a jurisdictional loophole 
affecting military installations when minors commit criminal offenses 
on base. Because it is a military base, the Federal Government has the 
jurisdiction, but frequently Federal prosecutors don't have the time or 
the resources to prosecute the cases, so they fall through the cracks. 
This legislation will allow Federal prosecutors to relinquish 
jurisdiction to the State in these instances, allowing State-level 
authorities to take up the case when the Federal Government's other 
responsibilities and finite resources prevent it from being able to do 
so.
  I am proud to join with Senator King, the junior Senator from Maine, 
in this effort. This is a bipartisan priority that Members on both 
sides of the aisle should rally behind. Our children on our military 
bases must be protected at all costs. When they are assaulted, their 
assailant should not escape justice because of loopholes in the law.
  Although the Federal Government maintains jurisdiction over military

[[Page S2955]]

bases, as I have said, unfortunately, it does not always assert its 
prosecutorial authority. Historically, Federal prosecutors have pursued 
roughly 15 percent of juvenile sex offense cases, and that is clearly 
not enough. We have to address this black hole for juvenile justice. We 
have to give local prosecutors the authority they need to go after 
these cases on our bases with the agreement of the Federal authorities.
  I look forward to my legislation being a part of the NDAA when we 
vote on it perhaps as soon as next week.
  There is one final aspect of the Defense authorization bill I would 
like to touch on, and it involves how we address future threats to our 
national security.
  I have spoken quite a bit on the floor about the threat China poses 
to the United States, and they are not even coy about it. They have 
told us what their plan is. Their plan is to grow their economy and to 
grow their military in a way that dwarfs the power and economy of the 
United States.
  Let me talk a little bit about the threat. I have spoken about that 
threat, but let me quote the chairman of the House Armed Services 
Committee, who recently said that it is ``in the Indo-Pacific region 
[where] the United States faces a near-term belligerent threat armed 
with nuclear weapons and also a longer-term strategic competitor.'' Of 
course, my friend Congressman Mac Thornberry is talking about China, 
``the competitor,'' and the ``belligerent threat'' he identified was 
North Korea.

  That is why this year's Defense authorization bill, among other 
goals, prioritizes military readiness in the region and strengthens our 
key partnerships there. It promotes security and stability in the Indo-
Pacific through exercises with our allies and supports improving 
Taiwan's defense capabilities.
  Even more important, the Defense authorization bill will include 
legislation I coauthored, along with the senior Senator from California 
Mrs. Feinstein, known as the Foreign Investment Risk Review 
Modernization Act, or FIRRMA.
  This legislation will allow us to better intercept threats to our 
national security posed by China when its companies masquerade as 
normal corporate actors, but, in fact, they are an arm of the Communist 
Party and the leadership in that country.
  As has been well documented, China is intent upon, No. 1, stealing 
our intellectual property, and when they can't do that, strategically 
investing to get access to both the intellectual property and the know-
how to be able to take advantage of all the research and development 
expenditures we have made in our country and to short circuit that in 
developing their equivalent. Our legislation will modernize the review 
process of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States and 
ensure that we are better protected from these sophisticated threats 
and help us maintain our technological edge in the national defense 
realm, but, as I said earlier, the Defense authorization bill is 
important for reasons that hit much closer to home.
  In years past, this bill has authorized needed improvements at our 
military facilities. It has given our troops a much needed and much 
deserved pay raise and updated advanced aircraft, ships, and ground 
vehicles. These, too, have implications in all of our States, and Texas 
is no exception.
  So when I vote on the Defense authorization bill, I will be thinking 
about servicemembers back in my State in addition to all those who 
serve in remote locations overseas. We need to get the Defense 
authorization bill across the finish line for them and for our country.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
  The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.