[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 102 (Tuesday, June 18, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Page S3632]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           JOHN S. McCAIN NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT

  Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, on a related subject, all of these 
events I have discussed, from Iran's misbehavior to China's 
aggressiveness, underscore one thing very clearly: The United States 
needs to remain engaged, prepared, and powerful.
  We need to leave zero doubt among our friends and allies, our most 
violent foes, and everybody in between that while the United States 
does not seek conflict, we must be prepared to decisively defeat our 
adversaries if conflict is forced upon us. That is called deterrence.
  The growing global unrest should be a lesson to us as the Senate gets 
ready to turn to the National Defense Authorization Act later this 
week. I know my colleagues on both sides share my hope that this year's 
NDAA can build on the successes of the past 2 years.
  Our first obligation to the American people is to ensure for their 
defense. It is essential that we continue rebuilding our military by 
authorizing sufficient support to modernize and sustain the advantages 
that America's all-voluntary Armed Forces have over our adversaries.
  Working with the Trump administration in recent years, we have been 
able to end a chapter of harmful spending cuts that have left military 
leaders less able to address emerging challenges. As a result, last 
year's legislation--named for our dear colleague, the late John 
McCain--authorized the largest year-on-year increase in defense 
spending in 15 years.
  The bill introduced last week is a step further toward implementing 
our important new national defense strategy, toward renewing the 
readiness and lethality of our forces, and toward making sure that we 
never ask brave American men and women to step into harm's way without 
all possible tools and training to help them succeed. This crucial 
legislation has a chance to be a major bipartisan success story of this 
Congress. It is already off to an encouraging start, having been voted 
out of the Armed Services Committee by an overwhelming bipartisan 
margin.
  And it is easy to see why. As great-power competitors like Russia and 
China continue to challenge U.S. interests, this NDAA will help to 
maintain and expand our alliances and partnerships, along with our 
ability to stand firm.
  The bill puts readiness front and center. In recent decades, our most 
formidable competitors have taken every opportunity to deploy new 
technological threats. Keeping American and allied servicemembers out 
of harm's way means keeping up with these developments and outpacing 
them.
  The bill takes steps to expand oversight and increase efficiency at 
the Pentagon. It honors the tremendous sacrifices made by 
servicemembers and their families by securing the largest pay raise in 
a decade, along with several other important reforms.

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