[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 122 (Thursday, July 2, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4204-S4205]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                                S. 4049

  Mr. PORTMAN. Mr. President, I am on the floor today to talk about the 
annual National Defense Authorization Act to support our servicemembers 
and their families. This is one of the few things that the Senate 
actually passes and does so on a bipartisan basis, and I am hopeful we 
will do that again. It is because Republicans and Democrats alike 
recognize it is imperative to give the men and women serving in our 
Armed Forces the resources and support they need to carry out their 
critical missions for all of us.
  This year, I am pleased to recognize the importance of ensuring that 
our troops get compensated properly for the hard work and sacrifices 
they make. It has an across-the-board 3-percent pay increase in it. 
They deserve it. On July 4, as we celebrate 244 years of freedom, I 
think it is appropriate that we demonstrate our support for the brave 
men and women in uniform whose sacrifices have ensured the liberty we 
are celebrating.
  I am also pleased that there is a lot in here that is really 
important to the people I represent in Ohio. At Wright-Patterson Air 
Force Base in Ohio, which is our State's largest single-site employer, 
the bill authorizes $23.5 million for important work on a new hydrant 
fuel system for the Defense Logistics Agency. It will make a big 
difference to our airmen and Air Force civilians and to the troops 
around the

[[Page S4205]]

world who rely on DLA for their equipment and resources.
  There is also $35 million for enhanced energy efficiency at Wright-
Patterson's National Air and Space Intelligence Center, NASIC. We are 
so proud to have NASIC in Ohio, and we are happy to see this additional 
investment in infrastructure for NASIC. Hopefully, the Space Command 
will end up in Ohio as well.
  There is also $15 million in the bill for construction of a new Guard 
readiness center in Columbus, OH, which will serve as a staging area 
for the Ohio National Guard, which is increasingly being called upon to 
respond to crises. I will have a chance to visit with some of our Guard 
members next week in Ohio, and I look forward to it.
  One of the bill's other important initiatives that has a big impact 
on my State is authorizing $1.4 billion to upgrade and modify Abrams 
tanks. It authorizes about $847 million to build and upgrade the 
Stryker armored fighting vehicles. There is also an additional $378 
million to produce 72 Stryker chassis to support the Army's Maneuver 
Short Range Air Defense Program. This is all really great news for our 
men and women in uniform. Why? Because they are going to get from Lima, 
OH, the best equipment in the world to be able to protect themselves 
and keep the peace. These Abrams and Stryker vehicles are the most 
advanced and lethal tanks and armored vehicles on the battlefield 
today.
  Of course, this isn't just a big win for our military; it is also 
great for the Joint Systems Manufacturing Center, which I call the tank 
plant--always have. It is in Lima, OH, and it is the only facility in 
the world that can do what they do. It is certainly the only facility 
in the United States that has the capacity and the highly trained 
personnel capable of producing Abrams tanks and Stryker armored 
vehicles. It is a strategic asset for our country and a source of 
employment for some truly outstanding engineers, welders, and other 
technicians. I love going to the plant and talking to them about what 
they do. A lot of them are veterans, and all of them believe that they 
are part of the effort.
  The Obama administration, by the way, 9 years ago, wanted to shutter 
this plant. They said that we wouldn't need tanks in the future and we 
should shut down the plant and shut down the line, which would have 
cost billions of dollars to mothball and then try to start it again. 
Thank goodness we didn't do that. We fought hard against it. I 
recognized it was the wrong decision and fought against it every step 
of the way. I remember, at the time, some of the taxpayer groups were 
saying: Oh, my gosh, this is somehow inappropriate to keep funding 
going when the Obama administration says it is not necessary. But it 
was necessary. It was necessary then, and, boy, it is certainly 
necessary now. We saved the taxpayers a lot of money by not shutting it 
down.
  We provided enough funding to keep it open partly by bringing in 
foreign sales, and I helped in that, to try to get other countries to 
try to use our tank plant, which they have and still do. We also 
reversed years of backlogged maintenance recently, and we ensured our 
workers have a safe environment in which to work. So it is doing well 
now. The lines are humming. Thank goodness we kept it open.
  In 2018, I had the opportunity to be the first Member of Congress to 
see the latest model of the Stryker Dragoon vehicles. They have a 30-
millimeter turret--a cannon on top of an armored vehicle. This is a 
wheeled armored vehicle with a turret on top of it. That 30-millimeter 
cannon replaced the normal 50-caliber machine gun. The 50-caliber 
machine gun is effective in certain instances, but the 30-millimeter 
cannon is much more effective in many places on the battlefield, 
particularly in Europe, given the threat we face there.
  So whether it is in Eastern Europe in the Baltic States or being 
prepositioned in Germany for the possibility of having to respond, this 
is what our military wants, what our Army wants, and we have to 
continue to provide our soldiers this Dragoon variant of the Stryker so 
that they can deter aggression from Russia and others and help keep our 
allies safe. This includes, by the way, Ukraine.
  Talking about Ukraine, it has been in the headlines a lot over the 
last several months. I have been to Ukraine several times. I had the 
opportunity to be on the frontline in Ukraine at what is called the 
line of contact. Let me tell you, it is not a cold war; it is very much 
a hot war.
  I know that here, on this side of the Atlantic, what is happening in 
Ukraine can sometimes seem like it is half a world away and maybe 
doesn't affect us, but it is not far away, and it does affect us. It is 
very relevant. In a sense, it is where the modern battle is taking 
place between two very different ideologies, one of freedom and 
democracy and wanting to connect to the West, and that is modern 
Ukraine. That is exactly what President Zelensky and the Parliament 
there and others want to do. The other would be the oligarchy and the 
corruption of Russia, which want to pull Ukraine back into their orbit.

  In Ohio we have a large Ukrainian community, particularly in 
Northeast Ohio, and they certainly have a vested interest in seeing 
that their ancestral homeland can defend itself from Russian aggression 
as it works to align itself more with NATO and the West while promoting 
the platform of democracy, freedom, transparency, and free markets.
  I have met with President Zelensky several times, and I am encouraged 
by his commitment and his passion to keeping Ukraine on the right 
track, including fighting corruption. We have to continue as a country 
to ensure that elimination of corruption continues in Ukraine. I was 
pleased to see that Ukraine was very recently designated as a NATO 
Enhanced Opportunities Partner, and one day I hope to welcome them as a 
full member of NATO. We are passing, I hope, a unanimous consent 
resolution in this body with regard to this issue. We need to be sure 
and let Ukraine know we support them.
  For the past 4 years, I have worked to include provisions in the 
NDAA, the Defense bill we are working on now, that help expand military 
assistance to Ukraine and build on the Ukraine military security 
assistance initiative. This year I was pleased that the bill again 
authorizes $250 million in lethal and nonlethal aid to Ukraine. That 
includes $125 million in lethal assistance that they need. That is an 
increase of $75 million from last year's budget. So we are doing even 
more to help allow the Ukrainians to defend themselves.
  New this year, this bill includes my proposal to require the 
Departments of State and Defense to develop a new multiyear strategy to 
support the development of Ukraine's military forces, increasing its 
capability and capacity and providing a resource plan for U.S. security 
assistance.
  I had the opportunity to speak today to General Dayton, who will be 
nominated by the President to be the next Ambassador to Ukraine. This 
is a guy who has done a terrific job of working with the Ukrainian 
military to modernize the military, to ensure there is more 
transparency, civilian control, and to be sure they are following the 
model that will allow them to be successful in recruiting and in 
fighting against the Russian threat.
  There is a lot to like in the NDAA, and I have introduced some 
amendments that I hope will be included as well. I will continue to 
advocate for Ohio and for the men and women who keep us safe every day.
  I look forward to voting on the bill's passage in the Senate soon so 
that our troops, who give so much of themselves just to be able to keep 
us safe, have the resources they need, the best equipment, and the 
highest level of readiness to be able to fulfill that mission to keep 
the peace and to continue to secure our liberties