[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 126 (Thursday, July 26, 2018)]
[House]
[Pages H7699-H7709]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




CONFERENCE REPORT ON H.R. 5515, NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR 
                            FISCAL YEAR 2019

  Mr. THORNBERRY. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 1027, I 
call up the conference report on the bill (H.R. 5515) to authorize 
appropriations for fiscal year 2019 for military activities of the 
Department of Defense, for military construction, and for defense 
activities of the Department of Energy, to prescribe military personnel 
strengths for such fiscal year, and for other purposes, and ask for its 
immediate consideration.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to House Resolution 1027, the 
conference report is considered read.
  (For conference report and statement, see proceedings of the House of 
July 25, 2018, at page H7202.)
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Texas (Mr. Thornberry) 
and the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Smith) each will control 30 
minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Texas.

                              {time}  1030


                             General Leave

  Mr. THORNBERRY. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and 
insert extraneous material on the conference report to accompany H.R. 
5515.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Texas?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. THORNBERRY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 5 minutes.
  Mr. Speaker, first, I want to express my appreciation to the ranking 
member of the Armed Services Committee, Mr. Smith, not only for his 
work on this conference, but also for his work throughout the process 
of bringing this bill to fruition. However strongly he and I may 
disagree on some particular issues, it is always clear that he seeks, 
first and foremost, to do the right thing for our military personnel 
and our country's national security, and I very much appreciate the 
opportunity to work with him.
  Second, I want to thank all the members of the conference committee 
and of the House Armed Services Committee. Each of them has contributed 
to this final product, although I suspect none of them is pleased with 
everything that is or is not in it.
  It is the result of a negotiation between House and Senate Members 
with a variety of interests. Taken as a whole, however, I think all 
Members who participated, whether in committee, in conference, or here 
on the floor, can be proud of the result.

[[Page H7700]]

  Third, I want to thank our staff, both committee staff and personal 
staff. They worked long and hard to get this done and get it done 
earlier than we have in many years. I especially want to thank the 
committee staff director Jen Stewart, as well Paul Arcangeli and my 
personal chief of staff, Josh Martin, for all of their work.
  Mr. Speaker, next, I want to express particular appreciation to a 
group of folks who often do not get publicly recognized in order to do 
this conference report and do it on the timeframe we have had 
available. Those working in legislative counsel have had to work 
extraordinarily hard, and I am grateful to each of them. Some of those 
in legislative counsel who have worked on this product include Hadley 
Ross, Sherry Chriss, Tony Sciascia, Noah Wofsy, Ken Cox, Brendan 
Gallagher, and Mat Eckstein. There are others who will be named 
shortly.
  Finally, Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the Rules Committee and that 
staff for helping us work through a procedural issue in the last couple 
of days.
  Mr. Speaker, this bill takes a major step forward in rebuilding our 
military, reforming the Pentagon, and better preparing this country to 
deal with the national security challenges that lay before us.


                Announcement by the Speaker Pro Tempore

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman will suspend.
  The Chair will remind visitors and guests to keep their voices down.
  The gentleman from Texas is recognized.
  Mr. THORNBERRY. Mr. Speaker, this bill continues to make readiness a 
key focus, for if we send our men and women out on missions, then they 
deserve to have the best equipment, the best training, and the best 
support that this country can provide.
  It advances implementation of the new National Defense Strategy, so 
we can be better prepared against threats from peer or near-peer 
adversaries, such as Russia and China. In fact, there are many, many 
provisions in this bill, Mr. Speaker, directly related to countering 
the aggressive actions we have seen from each of those countries.
  One section of this conference report is the first update to our 
foreign investment laws in many years. I commend Chairman Hensarling, 
Chairman Royce, and, of course, Speaker Ryan for negotiating a strong 
CFIUS bill, which helps protect our Nation's security.
  This conference report also prohibits the Federal Government from 
buying products or services from Chinese telecommunications companies, 
such as ZTE and Huawei. And, importantly, it prohibits the Federal 
Government from doing business with any company that buys their 
products or services.
  A more complete summary of the provisions has been provided to all 
Members, but the top priority of this bill and of our committee remains 
the men and women who volunteer to serve our Nation in the military. 
This bill authorizes the largest pay increase in 9 years. It provides 
additional assistance for spouses seeking employment; it makes 
transition assistance more tailored to the individual; and it prohibits 
the closure of military healthcare facilities; all of that and more 
focused on our people, who are our most valuable asset.
  Mr. Speaker, speaking of patriotic Americans serving our country, one 
provision on which the House receded to the Senate was the title of the 
bill. We happily agreed to name this legislation after Senator John 
McCain, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee. We do so not 
just because of his current position but in recognition and in tribute 
to a lifetime of patriotic service to our Nation.
  Navy pilot, prisoner of war, Member of the House, Member of the 
Senate, Presidential nominee, whatever his job, whatever his role, John 
McCain has carried it out with passion and intensity and with a love 
for our country that knows no bounds. History will find Senator John 
McCain to be one of the giants of our time.
  While battling cancer at home in Arizona, he has helped guide this 
year's NDAA throughout the process. Now, that does not mean that he 
agrees with every one of the outcomes in this conference report. I know 
from firsthand experience that he can be a fierce advocate and a tough 
negotiator.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has expired.
  Mr. THORNBERRY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself an additional 1 minute.
  Mr. Speaker, Senator Inhofe has done a great job on Senator McCain's 
behalf, and this conference report bears Senator McCain's unmistakable 
stamp. He has, once again, made a strong, positive difference for the 
men and women in uniform and for the national security of the United 
States of America.
  We certainly wish him and his family the best in his current fight. 
We thank him, and we attempt to honor him and his outstanding record of 
service to our Nation with this legislation.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. SMITH of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 5 minutes.
  Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the chairman for his leadership of the 
committee. Our committee is committed to completing this process every 
year, and I think it is a great example of how the legislative process 
should work. It is bipartisan; it follows regular order; and the 
chairman deserves a great deal of credit for making sure that both of 
those things happened.
  He has been very inclusive of all the members of the committee, 
Democrats and Republicans, and also all the Members of this House who 
have had interest in what goes into this bill to make sure that we have 
the strongest possible national security policy.
  I really appreciate his leadership, but I also share with him the 
gratitude that we have for our staff and the incredible hard work that 
they do to pull this process together. As the chairman mentioned, this 
is the soonest we have completed the NDAA--knock on wood, assuming we 
complete it--in my entire time in Congress. That took a lot of people 
doing a lot of work, Members and staff alike.
  The chairman mentioned some of the legislative counsel staff. These 
are the people who when at the absolute last minute we decide, oh, we 
prefer it done this way, they are the ones who have to go back in and 
rewrite the entire thing and redo the entire thing at all hours of the 
night. They do a spectacular job and are frequently unrecognized.
  The chairman mentioned some of them. I want to mention the rest: Mark 
Synnes, Hank Savage, I am going to do my best on this name--Kalyani 
Parthasarathy, Tom Cassidy, Casey Ebner, and Paul Kubicki. These folks 
do an amazing job for our country and for the men and women in the 
military. I really appreciate their tireless work and the outstanding 
product they produce for us each year.
  I agree with the chairman that we have a very strong bill this year. 
I also agree with the chairman that if any one of us were to write it, 
we would write it differently. There are things we would like to see in 
that were left out and things that are in that we prefer were not. But 
that is the nature of the legislative process. It is a compromise, an 
effort to work together to hopefully come up with a good product, and I 
think that is what we did this time.
  The chairman mentioned a number of the highlights.
  I am particularly focused on the fact that we do have language in 
this bill to take a look at the issue of civilian casualties as a 
result of some of our military action throughout the world, to get a 
better read on exactly what is happening and how we can minimize those.
  There is also language for a review of exactly what our military is 
doing in Yemen, to make sure that it complies with the law and complies 
with the interests of the United States.
  I am also pleased that, once again, we were able to avoid putting any 
environmental riders into this bill.
  Also, I agree with the chairman that this bill really shores up our 
ability to contend with the adversaries that most threaten us.
  On Russia, we have the largest increase in the European defense 
initiative that we have had in a defense bill. We also shore up our 
support for Ukraine and the rest of our NATO allies by reaffirming our 
commitment to NATO and our commitment to defending them from any 
Russian aggression.
  Where China is concerned, as the chairman mentioned, we have very 
strict restrictions on ZTE and also on Huawei and other Chinese 
companies to make sure they can't do business

[[Page H7701]]

with the U.S. Government or with companies that do business with the 
U.S. Government.
  I do want to address one issue that I heard brought up during the 
rule. I think there is a popular misunderstanding that somehow our bill 
is responsible for the deal that led ZTE back into the U.S. market. 
That is not true. The President of the United States decided to undo 
what he had done previously, blocking ZTE from doing any business in 
the U.S., and basically fined them $1 billion. ZTE is paying $1 billion 
to get out from under the effective death penalty and be allowed back 
into the U.S. market.
  For our bill to have undone that, as the Senate bill did, it would 
have required us to cut $1 billion in mandatory spending. Now, I don't 
agree necessarily with the Parliamentarian's ruling there, that the $1 
billion that ZTE paid is something that we should have had to offset if 
we undid the deal. But we have to live by the law. This is also 
mandatory spending, so if we were going to get rid of the ZTE deal and 
get rid of that $1 billion, we would have literally had to cut 
retirement healthcare for the men and women who served in the military. 
I don't think that is something that anyone on this floor would have 
been willing to do.

  So this bill does step up to confront our adversaries in Russia and 
China. I also think it reflects the values, as I mentioned, of dealing 
with the civilian casualty issue and trying to get a bead on what is 
going on with Yemen. And it reflects a reasonable compromise between 
the House and the Senate.
  Mr. Speaker, I would just like to close by echoing the words of our 
chairman in being grateful that this bill is named after Senator 
McCain. I knew Senator McCain before I even got into politics, just as 
a prominent national figure, a war hero, and someone to be greatly 
admired. It is one of the great honors of my career that I have had the 
privilege to work with him on the Armed Services Committee process over 
the course of the last 5 years as ranking member.
  John McCain is as tough, smart, and committed to this country as 
anyone you will ever find. It is truly fitting that this bill is named 
after him. He will be remembered as one of the great heroes of our 
country.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. THORNBERRY. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished 
gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Wilson), who is the chairman of the 
Subcommittee on Readiness.
  Mr. WILSON of South Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I am grateful to support 
the John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act.
  Appropriately named after an American hero, the conference report 
contains policy and funding initiatives that provide our military with 
the resources necessary to restore readiness and rebuild combat 
capability. Chairman Mac Thornberry has been very successful, with 
leadership, to expedite this critical legislation in record time.
  As Readiness Subcommittee chairman, I appreciate that the conference 
report authorizes additional funding for training, spare parts, 
equipment, and weapons systems maintenance.
  The conference report also focuses on aviation readiness by 
increasing flying hours, funding for spare parts, and establishing a 
commission to examine the tragic rise in military aviation accidents.
  Both the House and Senate bills address Navy surface forces 
improvements in response to last year's collisions and tragic loss of 
17 lives on the Fitzgerald and McCain. I appreciate the conference 
report because it contains a range of provisions that improves the 
operation of surface fleets.
  The conference report provides critical funding for Fort Jackson and 
continues construction of the mixed oxide fuel fabrication facility at 
the Savannah River site to protect the environment in South Carolina 
and Georgia.
  It also supports our strongest ally in the Middle East, Israel, by 
establishing defense partnerships to counter Iran's terrorist 
activities.
  In conclusion, I want to thank Chairman Thornberry again for his 
success with his dedicated, professional staff. I also appreciate the 
Readiness Subcommittee's distinguished ranking member, Madeleine 
Bordallo of Guam, for her contributions to this bill.
  Mr. Speaker, I strongly urge all of my colleagues to support the 
bill.

                              {time}  1045

  Mr. SMITH of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the 
gentleman from Rhode Island (Mr. Langevin), the ranking member on the 
Emerging Threats and Capabilities Subcommittee. I want to particularly 
thank him for his leadership on climate change and alternative energy. 
He has done a great job of inserting those issues in this bill. I 
appreciate that leadership.
  Mr. LANGEVIN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding.
  Mr. Speaker, I would like to begin by thanking Chairman Thornberry, 
Ranking Member Smith, Chairman McCain, Ranking Member Reed, Senator 
Inhofe, and their staff for their tireless work in producing this 
conference report.
  I am especially pleased that this conference report is named after 
Senator John McCain, a true American hero. Thank you for your service, 
Senator, and Godspeed.
  It was an honor to serve as a conferee throughout this process and to 
be a part of this undertaking in support of our Armed Forces.
  While no bill is perfect, there is much to be proud of in this 
conference report. We are giving our troops a much-deserved pay raise, 
taking critical steps to counter Russian aggression and resist Chinese 
coercive influence, and continuing to ensure the Department of Defense 
is prepared to mitigate the risks posed by climate change.
  We are also increasing funding for the Virginia- and Columbia-class 
submarine programs, which are made in my home State of Rhode Island, 
and protect our Nation and our allies and create thousands of jobs back 
home.
  As ranking member of the Emerging Threats and Capabilities 
Subcommittee, it has been a pleasure to work with Chairwoman Elise 
Stefanik.
  I am particularly glad we are making strong investments in our cyber 
personnel and capabilities, providing increased support for our Special 
Operations Forces and their families, and increasing funding for key 
programs to maintain our technological superiority, such as railgun 
development, directed energy prototyping, and unmanned vehicles.
  The threats we face as a nation are diverse and challenging. There 
are no easy answers for how the United States will continue to promote 
stability and the rules-based international order.
  But I believe that this bipartisan work of the House and Senate Armed 
Services Committee, and this bill in particular, will improve our 
national security and help keep our country and our servicemembers 
safe.
  Lastly, I want to thank Kathryn Mitchell on my personal staff, who 
serves as my MLA. She is leaving for South Korea to be with her 
husband, who is serving in the United States Army.
  Job well done, Kathryn, and thank you.
  For those reasons and more, Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to 
support this conference report.
  Mr. THORNBERRY. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from 
Ohio (Mr. Turner), the distinguished chair of the Subcommittee on 
Tactical Air and Land Forces.
  Mr. TURNER. Mr. Speaker, I want to begin by thanking Chairman 
Thornberry for his leadership in bringing this bill to the floor.
  I strongly support H.R. 5515, the National Defense Authorization Act 
for Fiscal Year 2019, the 58th consecutive NDAA passed by Congress.
  I also want to thank our leadership--Speaker Ryan, Kevin McCarthy, 
Steve Scalise, and Patrick McHenry--for their contribution to this bill 
being a contribution to readiness. This is about increasing the top 
line, increasing national defense spending, and increasing support for 
our men and women in uniform. I want to thank them for their leadership 
in accomplishing that.
  I have the privilege of serving as the chairman of the Tactical Air 
and Land Forces Subcommittee, and I would like to recognize our 
subcommittee ranking member, Ms. Niki Tsongas. I want to thank Niki for 
her support on the subcommittee and as co-chair of the Military Sexual 
Assault Prevention Caucus.

[[Page H7702]]

  Throughout her tenure in Congress, Niki has worked in a solidly 
bipartisan fashion to support our warfighters, improve the readiness of 
our military, and help our servicemembers eliminate sexual assault in 
uniform. She is leaving behind a strong legacy of accomplishments.
  Within our subcommittee's jurisdiction, this bill recommends 
authorization for over $97 billion in modernization funding that is 
necessary to regain our advantage against peer competitors.
  This bill recognizes the importance of the fifth-generation strike 
fighter and supports the President's budget request for 77 Joint Strike 
Fighters. It also authorizes the Department to procure an additional F-
35 aircraft if funds become available through cost savings and program 
efficiencies.
  The bill includes several oversight provisions to combat the 
physiological episodes occurring in military aircraft. We now require 
the Department to certify that all new aircraft will have the latest 
technology to keep our pilots healthy and safe.
  In the bill, Congress reiterates the importance of the Air Force's 
JSTARS program. For more than 25 years, the aircraft has provided our 
warfighters command, control, and surveillance of ground battle. JSTARS 
have flown over 130,000 combat hours and will be an integral piece of 
the Air Force's arsenal for years to come.
  For the seventh consecutive year, this bill addresses sexual assault.
  I encourage my colleagues to support this bill.
  Mr. SMITH of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the 
gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Cooper).
  Mr. COOPER. Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank all members of the 
conference committee for their record-breaking work on this National 
Defense Authorization Act. This bill supports the national security, so 
I am pleased to support it.
  I would particularly like to thank my good friend, Chairman Rogers, 
for his bipartisan leadership of the Strategic Forces Subcommittee.
  In addition to authorizing core missions of our nuclear forces to 
provide a strong deterrent, this defense authorization bill mandates an 
independent study on increasing the decision time before the President 
can use nuclear weapons; allows negotiations for extending the New 
START treaty to maintain binding limits on the number of strategic 
weapons that Russia can deploy; drops a provision that would have all 
but separated the Nuclear Security Administration from the Department 
of Energy, in direct contradiction of expert recommendations; and 
allows the Department of Energy to continue terminating the failed and 
unaffordable MOX boondoggle.

  The bill supports effective missile defense efforts, including 
pressing for near-term solutions such as boost-phase missile defense 
using kinetic interceptors, increases accountability of the acquisition 
of expensive interceptors, and, of course, supports U.S.-Israeli 
missile defense.
  Finally, I strongly commend Chairman Rogers' leadership in 
strengthening our ability to defend our assets in space against 
increasing threats.
  The bill creates a sub-unified command for space and continues 
oversight of warfighting readiness, presses for a more rapid and agile 
acquisition process, and mandates a plan for improving our space 
capabilities.
  I look forward to continuing to work with Chairman Rogers and others 
toward establishment of a true space corps or space force. I urge 
support for this bill.
  Mr. THORNBERRY. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from 
Alabama (Mr. Rogers), the chair of the Subcommittee on Strategic 
Forces.
  Mr. ROGERS of Alabama. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 
5515, the John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal 
Year 2019.
  This report authorizes additional funding for nuclear modernization 
efforts. We make good on promises to improve defense-related 
infrastructure. It authorizes full funding for a low-yield nuclear 
warhead. It also postures the United States to credibly address the 
threat posed by Chinese and Russian strategic nuclear weapons in the 
future.
  On missile defense, the conference report includes policy support and 
funding for space-based sensing, boost-phase intercept, hypersonics, 
and directed energy efforts.
  Regarding national security space reform, this conference report 
establishes a sub-unified command for space. It tasks the Department 
with developing an alternative acquisition for national security space, 
and it directs the Department to deliver a space warfighting policy and 
readiness plan. These steps begin taking us down a path toward 
implementing President Trump's directive to establish a space force.
  Finally, it also includes significant reforms as to how the DOD 
calculates work at our Nation's depots in an effort to modernize and 
streamline that process to better support both the depots and the 
warfighters who depend on them.
  In conclusion, I want to thank the subcommittee's distinguished 
ranking member,  Jim Cooper. He has been a great partner in this 
endeavor. I also thank Chairman Thornberry and Ranking Member Smith for 
their leadership in fashioning this outstanding bill.
  I strongly urge my colleagues to support it.
  Mr. SMITH of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the 
gentlewoman from Guam (Ms. Bordallo).
  Ms. BORDALLO. Mr. Speaker, I wish to thank Chairman Thornberry and 
commend Ranking Member Smith for their hard work in bringing this bill 
to the floor. It has been an honor to be a member of this bipartisan 
committee. I also want to recognize my chairman of the Readiness 
Subcommittee, Joe Wilson of South Carolina, for his invaluable 
assistance.
  The conference agreement authorizes $247.2 billion in operations and 
maintenance funding between the base and overseas contingency accounts. 
This includes increases in readiness-enabling accounts to support 
depot-level maintenance, parts and spares, training, and facilities 
sustainment, restoration, and modernization.
  The agreement also addresses readiness challenges of the surface Navy 
following the four incidents that occurred in the Pacific last year.
  With respect to military aviation, the agreement establishes a 
National Commission on Military Aviation Safety that will assess the 
causes of recent aviation mishaps and make changes for training, 
maintenance personnel, and policies related to safety.
  The FY19 NDAA also begins to address challenges with DOD's facilities 
and infrastructure by authorizing appropriations of $11.3 billion for 
military construction and family housing. This includes authorization 
for 38 additional military construction projects from the services' 
unfunded priorities list.
  I am also grateful to the conference for including provisions 
important to Guam.
  First, the H-2B workforce provision allows us to fully implement the 
marine relocation from Okinawa, which is vital to the security of the 
Indo-Pacific region. This is an important step toward stabilizing 
Guam's workforce crisis, and I hope to continue working on further 
legislation needed for civilian relief.
  Also, on the Navy's net negative commitment to Guam, the bill 
improves transparency by establishing a publicly accessible list of 
Navy property expected to be transferred to the Government of Guam.
  The bill supports the ship repair industry on Guam and in the U.S. 
The bill authorizes $32 million for the Navy to restore a dry dock 
capability and prohibits the Navy from redeveloping the former ship 
repair facility on Guam for any purpose other than to support depot-
level ship maintenance.
  I continue to stress that it is imperative for the Navy to maintain a 
depot-level ship repair capability on sovereign U.S. soil in the 
western Pacific.
  I close by extending my gratitude again to the chairman and the 
ranking member and to my colleagues and the professional staff and all 
who participated in producing the conference agreement. I encourage my 
colleagues to support it.
  Mr. THORNBERRY. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from 
Virginia (Mr. Wittman), the chair of the Subcommittee on Seapower and 
Projection Forces.

  Mr. WITTMAN. Mr. Speaker, I am proud of this conference report and 
the

[[Page H7703]]

items included in it. I want to thank Chairman Thornberry and Ranking 
Member Smith for their leadership in pushing this across the finish 
line.
  In my subcommittee, we authorized an additional three battle force 
ships, including the next Ford-class aircraft carrier.
  We have also kept an eye on the future and prioritized funding for 
the B-21 Raider bomber program and the Columbia-class ballistic missile 
submarine, programs that are essential for our national security and 
comprise two parts of our Nation's nuclear triad.
  While we still have work to do, I think that this conference report 
does a good job of continuing to build off of last year's progress.
  Some have questioned whether a Member of Congress can be both a 
fiscal hawk and a defense hawk. I am convinced that a Member can be 
both. For example, we have also authorized long-term contracts for 
ships, aircraft, and weapons. With these contracts, in addition to the 
accelerated procurement of the next Ford-class aircraft carrier, we 
understand the Navy can save almost $3 billion. These savings are 
significant.
  While I am proud that this may be the first time in more than two 
decades that an NDAA will be enacted before the start of the fiscal 
year, we still have work to do to secure funding for this bill.
  Specifically, I believe there is no more debilitating action that 
Congress can perform than delaying an accompanying Defense 
Appropriations bill. The House has passed ours, but we need our 
colleagues in the Senate to do the same during their time in D.C. in 
August. If we lose this rare opportunity to pass a Defense 
Appropriations bill before the end of the fiscal year, we will once 
again be holding our military hostage for other domestic priorities.
  I was thrilled to see Speaker Ryan continue to lead on this issue 
when he indicated yesterday: ``We really just want to get the military 
funded on time, on budget, on schedule this year, and that's the 
primary concern.''
  We need to get back to basics, perform our constitutional duty, and 
let our servicemembers know that we have their backs while they are 
serving on the front lines, that we are dedicated to their service, and 
that we will take care of their families until they return.
  Let's pass this defense authorization bill and turn to getting the 
Defense Appropriations bill done on time.

                              {time}  1100

  Mr. SMITH of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the 
gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. Courtney).
  Mr. COURTNEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of the 2019 John 
McCain Defense Authorization bill.
  First, I would like to extend my congratulations to Chairman 
Thornberry and Ranking Member Smith for their steady, bipartisan 
leadership as this bill was crafted--the 58th consecutive year in a row 
that Congress has produced an NDAA, a testament to their superb 
legislating and the constructive dialogue that results from following 
regular order.
  I also want to salute the hard work of my colleague Rob Wittman, at 
the helm of the Seapower and Projection Forces Subcommittee, and our 
professional staff--Phil MacNaughton, Dave Sienicki, and Bruce 
Johnson--for their talent, expertise, and follow-through for all our 
members.
  Our subcommittee mark accelerates the timeline toward achieving a 
Navy fleet of 355 ships, the size needed to meet global requirements 
according to the Navy's 2016 force structure assessment.
  Our work authorizes funding for 13 battle force ships, three more 
than President Trump's request. In particular, at a time when rising 
adversaries are recapitalizing or expanding their undersea fleets, this 
year's NDAA provides $7.6 billion for the Virginia-class program and 
nearly $4 billion for the Columbia-class development and advance 
procurement.
  The bill authorizes two Virginia-class attack submarines in 2019 and 
requires the next Block V Virginia contract currently under negotiation 
to include priced options for additional third submarines in years 2022 
and `23. This provision will maintain the option for the next Congress 
to take advantage of industrial-base capacity that the Navy last 
February told us is available to increase submarine construction in the 
future.
  Tragically, 2017 was a very difficult year for the U.S. Navy. Our 
country lost 17 sailors in the fatal collisions involving the USS 
Fitzgerald and the USS John McCain.
  This bill directs the Navy to assess the checks and balances in its 
chain of command so operational demands are appropriately balanced with 
ship training, certification, and maintenance. It limits to 10 years 
the period in which ships may be forward deployed and requires that 
ship readiness inspections be conducted on a no-notice basis, with 
results made available for the public to see.
  These changes are critical. We owe it to our sailors, and we can't 
afford to have our naval assets out of commission with so much at stake 
as competitors seek to counter time-honored norms, such as the right to 
transit international waters freely.
  Mr. Speaker, the important provisions of this bill showcase what we 
in Congress can accomplish when we collectively choose to work with our 
colleagues across the aisle and trust the committee process to produce 
a fair and balanced result.
  Even more impressive is the fact that passage of this NDAA is the 
earliest it has come in 20 years. This defies the constant narrative of 
a dysfunctional Congress. Again, I commend the skillful leadership of 
Mr. Thornberry and Mr. Smith, as well as Senators McCain and Reed 
across the Capitol, in helping shepherd this legislation to the point 
where it is today.
  Mr. Speaker, I strongly urge all Members to vote for passage of this 
measure.
  Mr. THORNBERRY. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman 
from Missouri (Mrs. Hartzler), distinguished chair of the Subcommittee 
on Oversight.
  Mrs. HARTZLER. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of the 
conference report for the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal 
Year 2019, and I thank Chairman Thornberry, Ranking Member Smith, all 
the conferees, and the committee staff for their dedicated, hard work 
on this important piece of legislation.
  This bipartisan bill provides our troops the equipment, resources, 
and training they so desperately need. It authorizes a 2.6 percent pay 
increase for our troops, authorizes 24 additional F-18 Super Hornets, 
invests in A-10 modifications, fully funds the B-21 bomber program, and 
funds various bomber modernization programs to ensure our current 
bomber fleet remains operational until the B-21 comes online.
  I am delighted that this bill includes a provision that raises the 
Air National Guard control grade cap to ensure that the ANG is properly 
resourced. The lack of control grades severely restricts the ANG's 
ability to recruit full-time officers separating from Active Duty in 
the Air Force, many of whom are much-needed pilots. Raising this cap 
will help fill these needed slots.
  The bill also includes a vital provision that prohibits Federal 
agencies from purchasing certain Chinese-made telecommunications and 
video surveillance equipment.
  The Chinese Government is using every avenue at its disposal to 
target the United States, including expanding the role of Chinese 
companies in the U.S. domestic communications and public safety 
sectors. This provision takes a necessary step to protect the U.S. 
government from significant vulnerabilities.
  These are just a few of the examples of hundreds of provisions 
included in this bill that invest in our troops and combat attempts by 
our adversaries to undermine and threaten the United States.
  Once again, I would like to thank Chairman Thornberry for his 
leadership. This is the earliest that we have voted on the NDAA 
conference report in decades, and I strongly believe it is because of 
Chairman Thornberry's dedication to our military.
  Mr. Speaker, I am proud of this bipartisan bill, and I urge my 
colleagues to support its passage.
  Mr. SMITH of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the 
gentlewoman from Massachusetts (Ms. Tsongas). I note she is retiring 
from

[[Page H7704]]

Congress this year, and I really appreciate her tremendous service on 
the Armed Services Committee and to this body.
  Ms. TSONGAS. Mr. Speaker, I thank Ranking Member Smith for his always 
knowledgeable and articulate leadership. I have appreciated it very 
much as I have served on this committee.

  Mr. Speaker, it has been my privilege to serve as the ranking member 
of the Tactical Air and Land Forces Subcommittee, alongside my 
colleague and friend, Chairman Mike Turner of Ohio. I, once again, 
thank Mr. Turner for the spirit of bipartisanship and collegiality he 
has shown over the years on this subcommittee and on the many other 
issues on which we have worked closely, including addressing the 
scourge of sexual assault in the military.
  Among many important provisions, this year's bill includes measures 
aimed at providing increased oversight over key naval aircraft and 
makes crucial investments in research and development aimed at better 
protecting the men and women we send into harm's way.
  This is the last NDAA that I will have the privilege of helping 
craft. I am grateful to have had the opportunity to serve on the House 
Armed Services Committee for the last 11 years, a committee that has 
such a proud tradition of bipartisan cooperation and, as such, is a 
model for the country during these challenging times.
  I commend the committee, under the leadership of Chairman Thornberry 
and Ranking Member Smith, and the many members of the professional 
staff for their work in managing such an important and complex piece of 
legislation in such a timely manner.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge support for the conference report, so aptly named 
for the heroic Senator John McCain.
  Mr. THORNBERRY. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman 
from New York (Ms. Stefanik), distinguished chair of the Subcommittee 
on Emerging Threats and Capabilities.
  Ms. STEFANIK. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this 
bipartisan bill and the accompanying conference report for the FY19 
National Defense Authorization Act.
  As the chairwoman of the Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and 
Capabilities, I am proud of our oversight and legislative initiatives 
this year, which have included:
  Strengthening our cyber warfare capabilities and policies.
  Energizing our science and technology enterprise.
  Enabling our special operations forces around the globe.
  Providing resources and authorities to counterterrorism and 
unconventional warfare threats.
  And advancing programs and activities that counter the spread of 
weapons of mass destruction.
  The bill before the House incorporates three broad subcommittee 
themes:
  First, this bill takes seriously the cyber threats from our 
adversaries towards this Nation, which is why the bill strengthens our 
whole-of-government cybersecurity posture by improving coordination and 
partnering between the DOD and DHS to prevent and respond to 
cyberattacks against our critical infrastructure.
  It also affirms and clarifies cyberspace, cyber warfare, and cyber 
deterrence policy to combat malicious cyber activities from adversaries 
like China, Russia, and North Korea, who are targeting the United 
States. We also require the DOD to provide congressional notification 
of cybersecurity breaches and the loss of controlled information from 
cleared defense contractors.
  Second, we build upon previous NDAAs by advancing prototyping and 
testing of directed-energy weapons and hypersonic vehicles and by 
accelerating these technologies by authorizing an additional $285 
million.
  Third, the bill places emphasis on policy and programs to advance AI, 
machine learning, quantum sciences, and other critical national 
security technologies. We also establish a National Security Commission 
on Artificial Intelligence to conduct a thorough review of the wide-
ranging military applications of this decisive technology.
  Additionally, this bill authorizes the largest pay raise for our 
troops in 9 years. It helps improve employment opportunities for 
military spouses and increases transparency in the military healthcare 
system.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the bill and vote 
``yes.''
  Mr. SMITH of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the 
gentlewoman from California (Mrs. Davis).
  Mrs. DAVIS of California. Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairman Thornberry 
and Ranking Member Smith and the professional and personal staff for 
all of their hard work.
  Mr. Speaker, this year's NDAA is multifaceted, and it is complex. It 
contains many good things for our servicemembers, but it also contains 
areas of concern.
  I support this year's NDAA's new reforms designed to restore the 
readiness, capability, and capacity of a force that has been asked to 
do too much with too little. The conference report contains a number of 
policy items focused on servicemembers' quality of life in a wide range 
of areas, including healthcare for disabled veterans, care for 
servicemembers' children, mental health services, sexual assault 
prevention, maternity leave, and retention of women in the military.
  This bill also contains language acknowledging the critical role 
women play in the security of their country. It contains provisions 
ensuring that Afghan and Syrian women are not overlooked as a critical 
component in conflict resolution.
  I would also like to reiterate an area of concern. Developing new 
low-yield nuclear weapons when we currently have more nuclear weapons 
than we can ever possibly use is not just a waste of money; it also 
lowers the threshold required before a nuclear conflict begins. A 
nuclear weapon is a nuclear weapon, no matter what its size. Any 
nuclear use would fundamentally change the rules of the game.
  We do not follow the dangerous and reckless Russian doctrine of 
escalate to deescalate. We shouldn't mirror their reckless strategy. 
What do we hope to gain strategically by proliferating low-yield 
weapons?
  Mr. Speaker, this is a strong bipartisan bill which will help our 
Nation protect itself in a changing world. I recommend a ``yes'' vote.
  Mr. THORNBERRY. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 2 minutes to the 
gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. Barr), a distinguished subcommittee chair 
from the Committee on Financial Services.

  Mr. BARR. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of major reforms 
included in the National Defense Authorization Act conference report 
regarding the Committee on Foreign Investments in the United States and 
export controls.
  I thank the chairman of the Armed Services Committee for his 
excellent leadership in addressing the readiness crisis and giving our 
men and women in uniform the tools they need to defend our freedoms.
  The House Financial Services Committee held four hearings on CFIUS 
reform, inviting a diverse set of witnesses that ranged from government 
officials who currently serve on CFIUS to members of the defense, 
intelligence, and business communities.
  We also held numerous briefings and meetings with experts, equally 
diverse as those who testified before the committee, on the threat that 
China and other adversaries pose to the national security of the United 
States.
  In the end, I am pleased to see we have a bipartisan, bicameral 
product that reflects the work and views of these experts.
  Specifically, these critical reforms counteract the surge in malign 
foreign investment from China that threatens our national security by 
enhancing the review process of transactions where our enemies could 
steal technologies and infrastructure critical to the defense of our 
country.
  The gaps that we have closed in security that China and other 
adversaries have circumvented from CFIUS review include noncontrolling 
investments, joint ventures, and acquisition of real estate near 
sensitive military sites.
  At the same time, these reforms ensure that America's doors remain 
open to benign foreign direct investment that in 2016 added $894 
billion to the value of the U.S. economy and that support 6.8 million 
workers today in this country.
  Mr. Speaker, I want to thank Congressman Pittenger, Senator Cornyn, 
Congressman Heck, Chairman Hensarling, Chairman Thornberry,

[[Page H7705]]

Chairman Crapo, Ranking Member Waters, and House and Senate leadership 
for their dedication to getting these much-needed reforms done in a 
bipartisan way. And I encourage my colleagues to support the underlying 
bill, the NDAA conference report.
  Mr. SMITH of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the 
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Veasey).
  Mr. VEASEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise to express my support for the 
conference report for the National Defense Authorization Act of 2019.
  This bipartisan piece of legislation is crucial for our Nation's 
armed services, and it is an honor and privilege to be selected again 
to serve as a conferee.

                              {time}  1115

  We have over 15 major military installations in Texas, and NDAA funds 
key defense and scientific research industries throughout the State, 
and especially for the constituents that I serve in the Dallas-Fort 
Worth metroplex. This bill ensures our military is supported with the 
research they need to complete their missions and face the national 
security challenges at home and abroad.
  This is a crucial time for Democrats and Republicans to find ways to 
work together for solutions that will ensure the safety of the United 
States and our allies--now, really, more so today than ever before.
  This bill will make great strides in achieving that mission. This 
bill provides the highest pay increase for our troops in a decade, 
funds innovation in emerging technologies that will increase aviation 
readiness, and requires the DOD establish a pilot program to maximize 
opioid safety in the military health system by monitoring controlled 
substances for servicemembers.
  It is also a great point of pride in Texas that we supply some of the 
best military and defense readiness equipment for our armed services. 
Many of the Nation's F-35 Joint Strike Fighters are built in Fort 
Worth, and Lockheed Martin is one of the metroplex's largest employers. 
I will continue to fight tirelessly for additional funding for F-35s to 
ensure that our Armed Forces have the most advanced jet fighters in the 
world.
  Democrats have also succeeded in taking out funding for the wall, 
which I think was very important in this bill. I was disappointed about 
taxpayer dollars being spent to fund a very extravagant military parade 
that I don't think that we need. I think it shows authoritarianism. 
However, this bill funding makes great progress in improving our 
military readiness and continues to demonstrate America's resilience 
and strength.
  Mr. THORNBERRY. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from 
North Carolina (Mr. Pittenger), a leader on CFIUS reform.
  Mr. PITTENGER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman for his exemplary 
leadership on behalf of our military and in defense of our country. We 
are deeply grateful for him.
  Mr. Speaker, I say today how pleased and grateful I am that our 
Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act is being included in 
the NDAA bill. To that end, I thank Chairman Hensarling, Ranking Member 
Waters, Heath Tarbert with the Treasury Department, Clark Fonda, my 
chief, so many people,  Andy Barr, who contributed to this process to 
make sure that we are in a position of strength.
  For over 2 years, I have led these efforts to prevent Chinese and 
other adversarial nation-states from acquiring our sophisticated 
technology in our military. This bill, this Foreign Investment Risk 
Review Modernization Act, was the result of countless meetings 
throughout our assembly, as well as throughout this district, of 
talking to multiple people in the industry, as well as our intelligence 
community and defense, to make sure that we had done the job to allow 
adequate oversight for these investments.
  FIRRMA will broaden the jurisdiction of CFIUS in several key areas, 
including minority noncontrolling investments and certain real estate 
transactions close to national security sites. FIRRMA strengthens our 
export control laws and creates an interagency review to cover overseas 
joint ventures. Overall, this bill closes several key loopholes in the 
CFIUS process.
  Today, I do believe that the passage of the NDAA and FIRRMA 
legislation will help improve national security and combat aggressive 
Chinese efforts to secure our technology.
  I thank all who participated in this process, and I commend this bill 
to our Congress to pass.
  Mr. SMITH of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the 
gentlewoman from Florida (Mrs. Murphy), who is a member of the Armed 
Services Committee and also served on the conference committee this 
term.
  Mrs. MURPHY of Florida. Mr. Speaker, as a former DOD employee, I know 
our men and women in uniform must have the authorities and resources to 
get the job done. They must be well equipped in order to deter and 
defeat adversaries. That is why I strongly urge my colleagues to pass 
the National Defense Authorization Act.
  I thank Chairman Thornberry and Ranking Member Smith for their 
leadership on this bipartisan bill. As a member of the Armed Services 
Committee and of the conference committee that reconciled the House and 
Senate versions of the bill, I am honored to have played a role in 
crafting this final product.
  We must fight for our servicemembers as hard as they have fought for 
us. We must give them the tools they need to succeed not only on the 
battlefield, but also once they leave the service.
  Our military produces remarkably talented and well-trained 
individuals, but too many of these warriors struggle to transition to 
the civilian world. That is why I am so pleased that the core of my 
bill, the BATTLE for Servicemembers Act, was included in the NDAA. This 
provision improves DOD's Transition Assistance Program, which helps 
departing servicemembers prepare for life after the military.
  Specifically, my provision ensures departing servicemembers take a 
specialized 2-day course to prepare them to attend college, learn a 
trade, or start a small business. These targeted courses are optional 
under current law, and, as a result, few servicemembers can take 
advantage of them. I am hopeful my provision will lead to increased 
participation in these courses so that more men and women in our 
military will be prepared to make a successful transition to civilian 
life.
  I am also proud the NDAA includes the full text of my bill to 
modernize SBA's microloan program, which provides small-dollar loans to 
aspiring and existing entrepreneurs, including veteran entrepreneurs.
  I urge my colleagues on both sides to support this bill.
  Mr. THORNBERRY. Mr. Speaker, I inform the Chair that at this point I 
have no additional speakers other than myself to close, and I reserve 
the balance of my time.
  Mr. SMITH of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the 
gentleman from Oregon (Mr. Blumenauer).
  Mr. BLUMENAUER. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the gentleman's courtesy in 
permitting me to speak on this bill.
  I am pleased that this bill is being named after Senator McCain. It 
has been my privilege to work with him in one particular area: dealing 
with the people who worked with us in Afghanistan and Iraq on special 
immigrant visas.
  Along with the late Senator Kennedy, over the last 10 years, we 
worked to try and help these people who put their lives on the line to 
help our forces as guides, as interpreters, who are now being left to 
the tender mercies of people with long memories, like the Taliban and 
al-Qaida. Their lives are at risk, as are their family members'. We 
still have 17,000 applicants who want to have these visas to come to 
the United States to safety.
  I am disappointed that we have been unable to have the funding for 
additional visa allocations. I appreciate that due to an accounting 
convention, this would be at the expense of other important things that 
are being fought for.
  But I would hope that we are able to focus on what the costs would 
have been to us if we didn't have those people helping us in 
Afghanistan and Iraq. It would have been far more expensive. And like 
you, I have met with people whose lives were saved because they put 
themselves at risk, and we are leaving them behind.
  My friend, Kirk Johnson, wrote a book: ``To Be a Friend Is Fatal: The

[[Page H7706]]

Fight to Save the Iraqis America Left Behind.'' And for these people, 
being a friend of the United States is fatal. Their lives are at risk 
every day.
  I hope, as this process goes forward, we can either deal with the 
accounting convention or try and find some money to rescue these 
people.
  Mr. THORNBERRY. Mr. Speaker, I continue to reserve the balance of my 
time.
  Mr. SMITH of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of 
my time.
  Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Oregon for his comments 
because this is an issue we wrestle with in conference committee every 
year. We should be getting visas to those people who helped us out.
  For some reason, it is a mandatory score in terms of what it costs; 
and as I mentioned on the other issue, we struggle to find mandatory 
money. But rest assured, this is a priority that we will continue to 
fight for because I know how important this issue is, and I thank the 
gentleman for raising that.
  On the bill itself, let me say I intend to support the defense bill. 
I haven't always supported the defense bill. It is part of a 
collaborative process. We worked together and tried to generate a good 
piece of legislation, and I think, on balance, we did that this year.
  Number one, when you start with the top-line number, the budget 
agreement that we got earlier this year for FY18 and FY19 helped a 
great deal because it put in place clear top-line numbers for defense 
and for the rest of discretionary spending. And that has been the 
battle.
  Let me just say clearly that ever since the Budget Control Act was 
passed in 2011--and I know they have reasons for why that was passed--
the military and the rest of our discretionary budget has had to live 
under, I think it is, three or four government shutdowns, multiple 
threatened government shutdowns, continuing resolutions, and, in 
general, complete uncertainty on how much money they were going to have 
from one month to the next.
  This is a horrible way to run the government. We need to come up with 
a fiscal policy that sets clearly what we are going to spend on 
discretionary spending and gets it done as close to October 1 as 
possible.
  This has a devastating impact on our military's ability to be 
prepared to defend this Nation, to be prepared to fight the fights that 
we ask them to fight.
  It is worth noting, it also has a devastating impact on all other 
aspects of the discretionary budget: on infrastructure, education, just 
to name a couple. So getting back to regular order on fiscal policy is 
enormously important.
  I will also note--and I chose not to belabor the point this year, 
though I have talked about it in the past--that the Budget Control Act 
alone is not the problem. We do need to get rid of the Budget Control 
Act because it is a terrible way to budget and govern, but even once we 
do that, we still have a $22 trillion debt.
  We just passed another massive tax cut, and when you project out 
where our budget is going to be, we are looking at trillion-dollar 
deficits for as far as the eye can see and the largest debt that we 
have ever had as a nation, even as a percentage of GDP.
  The most important thing that we can do to give a guarantee of 
predictability to the men and women who serve in the military is to 
address the fiscal issues that we face as a nation. If we honestly 
address those issues, we are going to have a devil of a time paying for 
everything in the military that I know some on this floor would like.
  So we need to get to a consistent fiscal policy if we are going to 
have the dependability that I know the chairman wants, that I know 
everybody in this committee wants going forward; and if we don't do 
that, that uncertainty is going to continue going forward.
  Let me just say that to get the proper fiscal policy is going to 
require us to honestly assess the problems we face. And I will say just 
one more quick word about that before returning back to the bill.
  Earlier this year, or earlier this session, we passed, as I 
mentioned, a significant tax cut. We passed a significant increase in 
spending. I think the tax cut was roughly $2 trillion. The increase in 
spending was $500 billion. And then the very next week, we put on the 
floor a constitutional amendment to balance the budget.
  There were 134 Members of this body who voted for the tax cut, for 
the spending increase, and for the constitutional amendment to balance 
the budget. That doesn't make any sense. That doesn't add up. That is 
pure politics because, by and large, people want to see their taxes cut 
and they want to see their favorite programs increased and they would 
like to have a balanced budget. So we tried to do all three and wind up 
in a horribly inconsistent position.
  I would urge all of us to continue to work to get to some fiscal 
policy that makes sense because the result of a fiscal policy that 
doesn't add up is budgetary uncertainty for the discretionary budget, 
the largest portion of which is the Department of Defense.
  This bill does the very important job of setting defense policy for 
this country, and most important in all of that is it makes sure that 
the men and women who fight and serve in our military have the training 
and the equipment they need to carry out the missions that we give 
them.
  Now, again, going forward, we have big challenges. We have never 
faced a more complex threat environment. We face Russia and China and 
Iran and North Korea and terrorist organizations spread out all over 
the globe. It is incredibly complicated and difficult, and it is going 
to be very expensive, unless we make some smart choices. So we are 
going to have a tough time meeting the budgetary requirements that we 
have, no matter what.
  But in this bill, I think we addressed all those issues, and I think 
we addressed them very well and in a bipartisan fashion. As I mentioned 
in my opening remarks, we do work with our allies to confront the 
challenges in Russia and China, which are critically important to us 
going forward.
  We also, thanks to the chairman's leadership, continue our effort at 
acquisition reform, because one thing is for sure: Given the budget 
reality that I just described, no matter what, we are going to need to 
make sure that every dollar we spend at the Pentagon is well spent. 
Acquisition reform is one of the keys to getting us to that point, to 
more efficiently spending our money.
  I want to close by thanking the chairman, thanking Senator McCain, 
Senator Inhofe, who was also a big part of the process this year, and 
Senator Reed, and all the members of the Armed Services Committee and 
their staff.
  Once again, I want to reiterate, in this committee, we do legislation 
the way it is supposed to be done: bipartisan and under regular order. 
This place can work. The legislative process can work.
  We had a very long markup in the Armed Services Committee in which we 
considered a lot of issues, debated them, had votes, then we went to 
the floor, then we went to conference committee, and we produced what I 
think is an excellent product for the Nation.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge support for the conference report and again thank 
the chairman for his leadership.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

                              {time}  1130

  Mr. THORNBERRY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the remainder of my time.
  Mr. Speaker, I want to express my appreciation to all of the Members 
who came to speak on the conference report today. Yet, I have the 
feeling we have only begun to scratch the surface of all of the issues 
that are addressed in this bill.
  Mr. Speaker, this is a big bill. It is about 1,800 pages big. About 
200 pages of that is the CFIUS reform, led by the Financial Services 
Committee and the Foreign Affairs Committee, but there is a lot that is 
in this bill. The distinguished ranking member just talked a bit about 
reform.
  This bill eliminates a number of requirements that Congress had put 
on the Department of Defense in previous years. It streamlines some 
decisionmaking. It begins to put in some sort of comprehensible order 
all of the laws related to acquisition. It requires that there be 
savings of overhead expenses of a number of DOD agencies that have

[[Page H7707]]

not been addressed before. I could go on and on.
  There was a Secretary of Defense who wrote a book a few years ago, 
who complained about this bill, who said that it is too much that 
Congress is doing to tell us what to do.
  Yet, I would remind all of us, Mr. Speaker, that the Constitution 
puts that exact responsibility on our shoulders. It says that it is 
Congress' job to raise and support, provide and maintain, and make the 
rules and regulations for military forces of the United States.
  This is the bill by which we carry out that responsibility. It is our 
job to do it. And this bill is the product, as you have heard, of 
Members of both sides of the aisle throughout the process.
  There have been, approximately, 1,005 amendments that have been 
proposed at some point in this process: subcommittee, full committee, 
floor consideration, and then on to conference. About an equal number 
of them were Republicans and Democrats.
  We have come together, as we have for each of the past 57 years, to 
exercise our constitutional responsibilities on behalf of the men and 
women who risk their lives to protect us.
  I would certainly join with the ranking member and other Members, who 
have said: Now, in order to get the full benefit of this, we need to 
have an appropriations bill that matches, on time, before the end of 
the fiscal year.
  Mr. Speaker, over the course of this debate today, you have heard a 
lot of thanks. It is appropriate because, obviously, it takes a lot of 
work, by a lot of people, to put together an 1,800-page bill and try to 
think through the consequences of what it means for us, what it means 
for our servicemembers, and what it means for our allies around the 
world.
  It truly is a team effort, a bipartisan team effort. And I believe 
the reason that is so, the reason it has passed every year, and has 
been signed into law every year for the past 57 years, is because of 
the men and women, of whom we are so proud, who risk their lives to 
protect us and our freedom. They continue to be at the forefront of our 
thoughts. It is on their behalf, and for their benefit, that we bring 
this conference report, urge its adoption, and appreciate their service 
to the United States of America.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time
  Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise to discuss the Conference Report on 
the National Defense Authorization Act for 2019. I support the NDAA 
legislation and will vote for its adoption on the House Floor today, 
but I have serious reservations about how the Speaker's protocol on 
outside conferees was implemented for the conference on this bill. As a 
response to this problem, I chose not to sign the conference report.
  The Speaker's protocol is not new, but it has become increasingly 
problematic for the Foreign Affairs Committee, on which I serve as the 
Ranking Member. Every year, the NDAA includes more than a hundred 
provisions that affect the jurisdiction of our committee. I take our 
responsibilities to review and negotiate these provisions extremely 
seriously. Unfortunately, under the Speaker's protocol, we are not 
appointed as outside conferees on provisions the Speaker or 
parliamentarians consider to be minor.
  I understand the motivation behind this protocol. The conference 
process has to operate efficiently. However, many provisions that are 
deemed minor under the protocol are in fact far from minor. They extend 
major programs or mandate congressional oversight of critical issues. 
The Foreign Affairs Committee brings an important perspective that is 
distinct from the perspective of the Armed Services Committee, and we 
should have a formal role in all provisions under our jurisdiction.
  If the committee of jurisdiction on foreign policy matters is not 
allowed to have conferees on important areas of the bill, then our only 
alternative is to claim sequential jurisdiction over the committee-
reported NDAA and act on it prior to House consideration.
  I want to thank Ranking Member Smith, and his staff, for working 
closely with us during the conference this year. They included us fully 
in the process, and we are deeply grateful for this cooperation. But we 
need to ensure we are not just consulted, but also named as outside 
conferees on the entire range of provisions that fall into our 
jurisdiction. I strongly support the goals of the National Defense 
Authorization Act, and I look forward to working with the Speaker and 
the Office of the Parliamentarian next year to ensure that the Foreign 
Affairs Committee is a full participant.
  Mr. DeFazio. Mr. Speaker, today, I will vote against the Conference 
Report for H.R. 5515, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal 
Year (FY) 2019.
  The legislation includes several provisions that I strongly support, 
including giving servicemen and women a well-deserved raise of 2.6 
percent. Those who serve in uniform have made extraordinary sacrifices 
for our country and have earned and deserve a pay raise. It also 
includes $6.3 billion, the largest amount ever, for the European 
Deterrence Initiative to help protect Eastern Europe from further 
Russian aggression.
  Despite these important initiatives, I have strong concerns with a 
number of provisions included in the Conference Report. This 
legislation authorizes more than $708 billion, including $69 billion to 
the Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) fund, an account which is not 
counted in the budget and is not paid for. It adds to the deficit and 
is used as a slush fund by the Pentagon.
  Unlike every other federal agency, the Department of Defense (DOD) 
has yet to complete a financial audit; taxpayers deserve to know how 
the biggest bureaucracy in the federal government spends their money. 
In fact, a shocking report released in December 2016 exposed $125 
billion in waste that the Pentagon tried to hide from the public.
  I refuse to support increased bureaucratic waste at the expense of 
American taxpayers and our men and women in uniform. A more accountable 
and transparent department would ensure taxpayer dollars are directed 
towards the needs of our troops and the benefits they deserve, rather 
than buying unnecessary weapon systems and giving the president a blank 
check to fund wars Congress hasn't authorized.
  I have always advocated for maintaining Congress's constitutionally-
confirmed prerogative to declare war under the War Powers Act and 
limiting the President's authority to engage in armed conflict without 
the consent of Congress. I strongly oppose the NDAA's continued 
authorization of spending for wars that are not congressionally 
approved. The Pentagon uses the 2001 Authorization of Use of Military 
Force (AUMF) to continue to justify the 17 years our troops have been 
fighting in the Middle East. President Trump has sent troops to Syria, 
Yemen, and elsewhere without seeking a new AUMF, a violation of the War 
Powers Act.
  Additionally, the bill prohibits the closing of Guantanamo Bay, which 
costs more than $100 million each year to house 41 prisoners and has 
been used as a top recruiting tool by terrorists. The prison at 
Guantanamo Bay has been a black eye for the United States, has eroded 
relationships with our allies, undermined U.S. missions abroad, and put 
U.S. citizens and our troops at risk of retaliation.
  Congress can make responsible cuts to our defense budget without 
jeopardizing the safety of our troops or undermining our national 
security. Fiscal responsibility and accountability at the Pentagon 
would allow for funds to be better spent supporting the basic needs of 
our troops, meeting our obligations to veterans of past wars, and 
ensuring our true defense needs are prioritized.
  Mr. COFFMAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 5515, the 
John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019. 
I wish to thank Chairman Thornberry, Ranking Member Smith, Chairman 
McCain, Senator Inhofe, and Ranking Member Reed for their leadership 
throughout the conferencing of this bill. The bill contains a number of 
significant policy and funding initiatives that continue our commitment 
to maintaining military personnel and family readiness.
  To that end, this bill:
  Increases end strength across the Services and reserve components 
allowing the military services to increase mission readiness while 
reducing strain on service members and their families;
  Extends pay and bonuses for service members in high demand fields, 
providing the military services with necessary tools to attract and 
retain critical talent;
  Improves the Transition Assistance Program to ensure that service 
members who are leaving the military receive training and resources 
tailored to their post-military career plans;
  Requires a comprehensive review of wounded warrior care and mental 
health care services, ensuring the highest possible quality of care to 
those who have sacrificed for our nation;
  The bill also continues to provide oversight of critical issues, 
including additional protections for victims of sexual harassment, 
improvements to the Department of Defense's process for reporting 
crimes to the FBI database, and the establishment of a Department of 
Defense prescription drug monitoring program to share information with 
state drug monitoring programs.
  In conclusion, I want to thank my fellow conferees for their 
contributions to this truly bi-partisan conference report, and I 
strongly urge my colleagues to support its passage.
  Mr. BISHOP of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the 
2019 National Defense

[[Page H7708]]

Authorization Act due to its importance to our national security. 
However, I do have significant concern over a last minute change to the 
bill that stripped funding for an important recapitalization program 
for the Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System (JSTARS).
  When the House passed this legislation, in a very bi-partisan manner, 
it included $623 million to continue the JSTARS Recapitalization 
program. This program was aimed to continue a vital combat capability 
for our ground forces as a battle management command and control asset. 
However, during the conference these funds were eliminated from the 
bill.
  Although this legislation provides for significant improvement to our 
national security, including pay raises for servicemembers, 
modernization efforts for equipment, cybersecurity enhancements, and 
many benefits for our military families, amongst other notable 
improvements, the absence of this capability is worrisome.
  The 116th Air Control Wing based at Robins Air Force Base, the ``Eyes 
of the Night,'' executes the JSTARs mission, and has been doing so 
continuously since 9/11. Our combatant commanders rely heavily on 
JSTARS, and for nearly 20 years, this capability has been consistently 
utilized in support of our ground forces.
  Although I am pleased with the recent announcement that the Air Force 
will be making Robins Air Force Base the home for the Advanced Battle-
Management System (ABMS), this capability is years off. Stripping 
funding for recapitalization will put current combat control 
capabilities at risk, potentially for over a decade. JSTARS is of 
significant importance to our ground forces and this decision will have 
significant repercussions.
  To reiterate, this bill does ensure we are completing our 
Constitutional responsibility to ``Raise an Army.'' However, I will 
continue to act with my oversight capabilities to ensure JSTARS remains 
available to our combat soldiers until the Air Force employs a solution 
that can be employed for our servicemembers whom desperately need this 
capability.
  Ms. LEE. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong opposition to the conference 
report to H.R. 5515, which is the 2019 National Defense Authorization 
Act.
  This bill authorizes more than $708 billion in defense spending. Yet 
we know that there is at least $150 billion in waste, fraud, and abuse 
currently over at the Pentagon. Now we are giving them more money. 
Shame on us.
  This is an already out-of-control, bloated Pentagon budget.
  Mr. Speaker, it would also increase funding to $69 billion for wars 
that Congress has never debated or voted on. Once again, my Republican 
colleagues have used off-the-books spending gimmicks to further expand 
the bloated Pentagon budget.
  Enough is enough, Mr. Speaker. Instead of writing blank checks to the 
Pentagon, Congress needs to live up to its constitutional obligation to 
debate matters of war and peace. I offered an amendment to sunset the 
2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force after 8 months of 
enactment during the regular debate of this bill. Congress would have 8 
months to debate and vote on a new AUMF before the repeal. Eight months 
is plenty of time.
  Mr. Speaker, we passed the 2001 AUMF within 3 days, mind you.
  Unfortunately, Republicans refused to allow my bipartisan amendment 
on the Floor.
  When in the world will this body have the backbone to debate the 
costs and consequences of these wars? Our brave troops deserve better.
  We need to do our job.
  I am pleased, though, that some of my amendments--which are very 
important amendments--were included in the conference report. They 
include clarifying that nothing in this bill can be construed as 
authorizing force against North Korea--that is the use of military 
force.
  Also, we included reporting requirements for auditing the Pentagon. 
We need the Pentagon audited so that taxpayers will really begin to 
know where their hard-earned tax dollars are going and what weapons 
systems they are contributing to in terms of the building of weapons 
systems which probably will never be used, a report and update on the 
United States-Kabul compact, and also overseas contingency operations 
reporting requirements.
  Can you believe we are spending all this money on a slush fund 
through OCO, and we don't know what is going on with that account?
  The underlying bill is still a disgrace.
  In conclusion, I just want to reiterate that authorizing wars with no 
end, no debate, and no vote is unconstitutional, and it is wrong.
  I call on Speaker Ryan to bring forth an authorization because every 
step of the way, we are trying in a bipartisan fashion to do this, and 
it is the Speaker's call. He should do that so that we can debate and 
vote up or down on these wars.
  So, this final bill should not be passed just based on the amount of 
money that we are giving to the Pentagon to do more than ensure our 
national security and fight terrorism.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge a no vote and reject this shameful bill.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. All time for debate has expired.
  Pursuant to House Resolution 1027, the previous question is ordered.
  The question is on the conference report.
  The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that 
the ayes appeared to have it.
  Mr. THORNBERRY. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--yeas 359, 
nays 54, not voting 15, as follows:

                             [Roll No. 379]

                               YEAS--359

     Abraham
     Adams
     Aderholt
     Aguilar
     Allen
     Amodei
     Arrington
     Babin
     Bacon
     Banks (IN)
     Barletta
     Barr
     Barragan
     Barton
     Beatty
     Bera
     Bergman
     Beyer
     Biggs
     Bilirakis
     Bishop (GA)
     Bishop (MI)
     Bishop (UT)
     Blunt Rochester
     Boyle, Brendan F.
     Brady (PA)
     Brady (TX)
     Brat
     Brooks (AL)
     Brooks (IN)
     Brown (MD)
     Brownley (CA)
     Buchanan
     Bucshon
     Budd
     Burgess
     Bustos
     Butterfield
     Byrne
     Calvert
     Carbajal
     Cardenas
     Carson (IN)
     Carter (GA)
     Carter (TX)
     Cartwright
     Castor (FL)
     Castro (TX)
     Chabot
     Cheney
     Cicilline
     Clay
     Cleaver
     Cloud
     Clyburn
     Coffman
     Cole
     Collins (GA)
     Collins (NY)
     Comer
     Comstock
     Conaway
     Connolly
     Cook
     Cooper
     Correa
     Costa
     Costello (PA)
     Courtney
     Cramer
     Crawford
     Crist
     Crowley
     Cuellar
     Culberson
     Cummings
     Curbelo (FL)
     Curtis
     Davidson
     Davis (CA)
     Delaney
     DeLauro
     DelBene
     Demings
     Denham
     DeSantis
     DesJarlais
     Deutch
     Diaz-Balart
     Dingell
     Doggett
     Donovan
     Doyle, Michael F.
     Duffy
     Duncan (SC)
     Dunn
     Emmer
     Engel
     Estes (KS)
     Esty (CT)
     Evans
     Faso
     Ferguson
     Fitzpatrick
     Fleischmann
     Flores
     Fortenberry
     Foster
     Foxx
     Frankel (FL)
     Frelinghuysen
     Fudge
     Gaetz
     Gallagher
     Gallego
     Garamendi
     Garrett
     Gianforte
     Gibbs
     Gonzalez (TX)
     Goodlatte
     Gosar
     Gottheimer
     Gowdy
     Granger
     Graves (GA)
     Graves (LA)
     Graves (MO)
     Green, Al
     Green, Gene
     Grothman
     Guthrie
     Handel
     Harper
     Harris
     Hartzler
     Hastings
     Heck
     Hensarling
     Herrera Beutler
     Hice, Jody B.
     Higgins (LA)
     Higgins (NY)
     Hill
     Himes
     Holding
     Hollingsworth
     Hoyer
     Hudson
     Huizenga
     Hultgren
     Hunter
     Hurd
     Issa
     Jackson Lee
     Jenkins (KS)
     Jenkins (WV)
     Johnson (LA)
     Johnson (OH)
     Johnson, E. B.
     Johnson, Sam
     Jordan
     Joyce (OH)
     Kaptur
     Katko
     Keating
     Kelly (IL)
     Kelly (MS)
     Kelly (PA)
     Kihuen
     Kilmer
     Kind
     King (IA)
     King (NY)
     Kinzinger
     Knight
     Krishnamoorthi
     Kuster (NH)
     Kustoff (TN)
     LaHood
     LaMalfa
     Lamb
     Lamborn
     Lance
     Langevin
     Larsen (WA)
     Larson (CT)
     Latta
     Lawrence
     Lawson (FL)
     Lesko
     Levin
     Lewis (MN)
     Lieu, Ted
     Lipinski
     LoBiondo
     Loebsack
     Long
     Loudermilk
     Love
     Lowey
     Lucas
     Luetkemeyer
     Lujan Grisham, M.
     Lujan, Ben Ray
     Lynch
     MacArthur
     Maloney, Sean
     Marchant
     Marshall
     Mast
     McCarthy
     McCaul
     McClintock
     McEachin
     McHenry
     McKinley
     McMorris Rodgers
     McNerney
     McSally
     Meadows
     Meeks
     Meng
     Messer
     Mitchell
     Moolenaar
     Mooney (WV)
     Moore
     Moulton
     Mullin
     Murphy (FL)
     Neal
     Newhouse
     Noem
     Norcross
     Norman
     Nunes
     O'Halleran
     O'Rourke
     Olson
     Palazzo
     Palmer
     Panetta
     Pascrell
     Paulsen
     Payne
     Pearce
     Pelosi
     Perlmutter
     Perry
     Peters
     Peterson
     Pingree
     Pittenger
     Poe (TX)
     Poliquin
     Posey
     Price (NC)
     Quigley
     Ratcliffe
     Reed
     Reichert
     Renacci
     Rice (NY)
     Rice (SC)
     Richmond
     Roby
     Roe (TN)
     Rogers (AL)
     Rogers (KY)
     Rohrabacher
     Rooney, Francis
     Rooney, Thomas J.
     Ros-Lehtinen
     Rosen
     Roskam
     Ross
     Rothfus
     Rouzer
     Roybal-Allard
     Royce (CA)
     Ruiz
     Ruppersberger
     Russell
     Rutherford
     Ryan (OH)
     Sanchez
     Sanford
     Sarbanes
     Scalise
     Schiff
     Schneider
     Schrader
     Schweikert
     Scott (VA)
     Scott, Austin
     Scott, David
     Sensenbrenner
     Sessions
     Sewell (AL)
     Shea-Porter
     Sherman
     Shimkus
     Shuster
     Simpson
     Sinema
     Sires
     Smith (MO)
     Smith (NE)
     Smith (NJ)
     Smith (TX)
     Smith (WA)
     Smucker
     Soto
     Stefanik
     Stewart
     Stivers
     Suozzi
     Taylor
     Tenney
     Thompson (MS)
     Thompson (PA)
     Thornberry
     Tipton
     Titus
     Tonko
     Torres
     Trott
     Tsongas
     Turner
     Upton
     Valadao
     Vargas
     Veasey
     Vela
     Visclosky
     Wagner
     Walberg
     Walden
     Walker
     Walorski
     Walters, Mimi
     Wasserman Schultz
     Waters, Maxine
     Weber (TX)
     Webster (FL)
     Wenstrup
     Westerman
     Williams
     Wilson (FL)
     Wilson (SC)

[[Page H7709]]


     Wittman
     Womack
     Woodall
     Yoder
     Yoho
     Young (AK)
     Young (IA)
     Zeldin

                                NAYS--54

     Amash
     Bass
     Blumenauer
     Bonamici
     Buck
     Capuano
     Chu, Judy
     Clark (MA)
     Clarke (NY)
     Cohen
     DeFazio
     DeGette
     DeSaulnier
     Duncan (TN)
     Eshoo
     Espaillat
     Gabbard
     Gomez
     Griffith
     Grijalva
     Gutierrez
     Huffman
     Jayapal
     Jeffries
     Johnson (GA)
     Kennedy
     Khanna
     Kildee
     Lee
     Lewis (GA)
     Lofgren
     Lowenthal
     Maloney, Carolyn B.
     Massie
     Matsui
     McCollum
     McGovern
     Nadler
     Napolitano
     Nolan
     Pallone
     Pocan
     Polis
     Raskin
     Rush
     Schakowsky
     Serrano
     Swalwell (CA)
     Takano
     Thompson (CA)
     Velazquez
     Watson Coleman
     Welch
     Yarmuth

                             NOT VOTING--15

     Black
     Blackburn
     Blum
     Bost
     Davis, Danny
     Davis, Rodney
     Ellison
     Gohmert
     Hanabusa
     Jones
     Labrador
     Marino
     Rokita
     Speier
     Walz

                              {time}  1210

  Ms. FUDGE changed her vote from ``nay'' to ``yea.''
  So the conference report was agreed to.
  The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

                          ____________________