[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 130 (Thursday, July 23, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4465-S4466]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


               FY2021 NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT

  Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, I rise today to express my support for 
the National Defense Authorization Act, which passed the Senate today 
with strong bipartisan support, and to highlight a number of its 
important provisions, as well as amendments that I have authored to 
support robust shipbuilding and to ensure the Navy is prepared for 
future pandemics.
  The NDAA represents one of Congress's most important 
responsibilities. For the past 59 consecutive years, Congress has come 
together in a bipartisan manner to craft this annual legislation. The 
NDAA authorizes funding to support our brave military members serving 
overseas, including a 3 percent pay raise for our troops in this year's 
bill, and sets policy for our Nation's military and critical national 
defense priorities. I commend Chairman Inhofe and Ranking Member Reed 
for their leadership and bipartisan work on this important legislation, 
which contains many provisions important to Maine and the Nation. Let 
me emphasize how proud I am of Maine's many contributions to our 
national defense.
  I am pleased that the NDAA includes authorization for two Arleigh-
Burke destroyers, one of which will be built by the highly skilled men 
and women at Bath Iron Works. In Maine, we are very proud of the vital 
role that Bath Iron Works plays in contributing to our national 
security. BIW is known throughout the fleet for the high-quality of its 
ships, proving time and again that ``Bath Built is Best Built.''
  To ensure we have the ships we need to provide for a strong national 
defense, the bill also contains an amendment I authored with Senator 
King as my cosponsor, which would prohibit the Navy from reducing the 
current 104-ship destroyer requirement unless the Secretary submits a 
formal certification and report to Congress justifying such a change. 
This process would require the Secretary of the Navy to certify that 
any proposed reductions in the number of ships would not jeopardize our 
national security and that the Navy would be able to

[[Page S4466]]

mitigate any reduction in anti-air and ballistic missile defense 
capabilities if the number of DDG-51 destroyers were in fact reduced 
from current plans. My intention is to ensure that we continue to 
maintain a strong Navy capable of projecting power and maintaining 
presence anywhere across the globe.
  In January, when news began to leak that the Department's budget 
request would dramatically reduce procurement of DDG-51's in the 5-year 
budget plan, I sent a letter to Defense Secretary Esper expressing my 
strong objections. To date, the Navy has still not adequately justified 
such deep cuts in ship procurement, which would have devastating 
effects on our defense industrial base, including our private 
shipyards. This amendment and this bill will help to protect our 
shipbuilding industrial base, which will be essential to reach the goal 
of a 355-ship Navy.
  This bill also includes important provisions for the Portsmouth Naval 
Shipyard in Kittery. The NDAA authorizes $160 million for the first 
phase of funding for PNSY's Multi-Mission Dry Dock No. 1 extension 
military construction project, which will be authorized and funded over 
3 years due to its large size. This project will ensure our Nation's 
submarines stay well maintained and at sea for years to come.
  In addition, the NDAA contains provisions I championed along with 
Senator Shaheen, which will help our PNSY firefighters develop 
alternative work schedules and exempt public shipyard workers from 
DOD's government lodging program when it would adversely affect their 
mission.
  In further support of both our public and private shipyards, the bill 
also includes an amendment I authored that directs the Navy to report 
on its plans to prevent and mitigate the impacts of future pandemics, 
including at private and public shipyards, by focusing on the health 
and safety of the shipyard workers. Amidst the current COVID-19 
pandemic, I led a number of bipartisan letters from the Maine 
delegation and spoke with the Secretary of the Navy to encourage the 
Department to do more to protect our shipyard workers' health and 
safety. My amendment continues that effort, and I again thank Chairman 
Inhofe and Ranking Member Reed for adopting it as part of their 
substitute amendment.
  This NDAA also makes continued investments in America's air power, 
authorizing 95 fifth-generation Joint Strike Fighter aircraft and seven 
CH-53K King Stallion helicopters. The workers at Pratt & Whitney's 
North Berwick factory are proud of their contributions in making the F-
35's top-of-line engine the best in the sky, and Hunting Dearborn in 
Fryberg has been making important contributions to both the F-35 and 
CH-53K programs for years.
  The NDAA also provides important authorizations for the Maine 
National Guard, including a provision ensuring that Maine Guard members 
who were activated to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic can receive 
transitional health benefits. The Maine National Guard has done a 
phenomenal job supporting our State during the health crisis, taking on 
tasks such as fit-testing healthcare workers for N95 masks, helping the 
Maine CDC inventory its supplies and deliver PPE and ventilators across 
the State, and setting up an external triage tent outside of the Togus 
VA Medical Center.
  This bill also provides authorization for an important perimeter 
security construction project at the Navy's detachment in Cutler, 
Maine, which will ensure the security of an important installation that 
allows Navy commanders to communicate with U.S. and NATO ships, planes, 
and submarines operating in the Atlantic. This project was the Navy's 
No. 1 unfunded military construction priority.
  There are so many other provisions of this bill that I am proud to 
support. Just to identify a few, the United States-Israel Security 
Assistance Authorization Act of 2020, which I cosponsored, was 
incorporated into the bill and would authorize important security 
assistance, energy and agricultural cooperation, and provide other 
authorities to support our steadfast ally Israel.
  Another amendment I offered which was incorporated into the bill 
would require DOD to study its military requirements for negative air 
pressure room containment systems which are used to isolate patients 
with contagious illnesses, necessary equipment I believe is essential 
for DOD to successfully combat and contain future pandemics.
  The bill also authorizes the creation of a new Pacific Deterrence 
Initiative to provide increased security assistance and engagement 
throughout the Indo-Pacific region in response to an increasingly 
aggressive Chinese Communist Party.
  Enactment of this NDAA is vitally important for the security of our 
Nation, our servicemembers and their families. I look forward to the 
Senate's conference with the House and quickly sending the final fiscal 
year 2021 NDAA to the President's desk.

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