[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 130 (Wednesday, August 1, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5554-S5555]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION BILL

  Mr. BROWN. Mr. President, today we came together to pass important 
bipartisan legislation to strengthen our national security and invest 
in American jobs.
  Many of my colleagues of both parties have helped get the National 
Defense Authorization Act over the finish line. I particularly want to 
thank my colleague Senator Portman from my State, who worked with our 
office to secure important Ohio priorities, and Senator Inhofe and my 
friend Jack Reed, who served so well on the Banking Committee in 
addition to the work he has done on unemployment insurance and on 
military issues, and Senator Crapo, my colleague from Idaho, as we 
worked on securing and fortifying our national interests when it comes 
to foreign investments. All of these colleagues of mine worked with the 
conference committee to get our agencies new tools to screen Chinese 
and other foreign investments for national security threats.
  This bill would not have been possible without the leadership of one 
Senator in particular; that is, the senior Senator from Arizona. 
Senator McCain's leadership on this legislation and throughout his 
career is why this Congress honored him through the naming of this 
bill--the John McCain National Defense Authorization Act. That is a 
rare honor. Congress rarely honors its own. We all know we all have 
feet of clay and don't put our friends here up on a pedestal, but for a 
few lions in the Senate, including Sam Nunn, John Warner, Ike Skelton, 
Carl Levin, and now John McCain, we have done that.
  It honors his commitment to our national security through the John S. 
McCain Strategic Defense Fellows Program--fitting tributes to the 
service and sacrifice of a man like John McCain. We know his story--how 
a young Navy pilot was captured behind enemy lines, yet he never 
wavered in his commitment to his fellow POWs in Vietnam.

[[Page S5555]]

  I have had my disagreements with him. We all have. But we have always 
respected each other. He has been a leader whom almost all of us from 
both parties have relied on for guidance, including national security 
issues and on issues when, in my first year in the Senate, I worked 
with Senator McCain on keeping down the costs of prescription drugs.
  He has been a critical fighter for sanctions to hold our adversaries 
accountable. Last year, we worked together, along with Senators Crapo, 
Schumer, Graham, Rubio, Corker, and Cardin, to pass tough, new 
sanctions on Russia, Iran, and North Korea.
  He has always been clear that we don't only honor the rule of law or 
refrain from torture when it is easy or convenient. He authored a 2015 
amendment to prohibit the use of torture as an interrogation method.
  He has been forceful in defending our allies against Russian 
aggression in Crimea and Georgia and Montenegro. After the Helsinki 
summit, Senator McCain--one of the few Republicans in this body who is 
willing to call the President out when he does something, especially on 
foreign soil, to attack the United States of America--spoke out 
forcefully against the President cozying up to Putin and his attacks on 
journalists.
  He said: ``The President [of the United States, Donald Trump,] made a 
conscious choice to defend a tyrant against the fair questions of a 
free press, and to grant Putin an uncontested platform to spew 
propaganda and lies to the world.''
  He said: ``All that makes us who we are--a republic of free people 
dedicated to the cause of liberty at home and abroad.''
  Those words stood out because so few Republicans were willing to 
utter them.
  Throughout his life and career, he has lived the motto of ``country 
first.'' I thank my colleague from Arizona for his work on the National 
Defense Authorization Act this year. I look forward to continuing our 
work together to protect our national security and together to serve 
the people of this great country.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Massachusetts.

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