[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 178 (Monday, October 19, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6320-S6322]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
National Defense Authorization Act
Mr. INHOFE. Madam President, in July, the Senate passed the fiscal
year 2021 National Defense Authorization Act, with 86 Senators from
both sides of the aisle voting in support of it.
I am glad that we had such a strong vote because I believe--and I
have always believed--it is the most important vote, most important
bill that we do all year. The NDAA, as we call it--that stands for
National Defense Authorization Act--is how Congress provides the policy
and resources for our national defense for the ensuing year, and it
always passes by a bipartisan bill. And it has now for 60 years in a
row. Well, not quite 60. It is 59 years. It will be 60 when this bill
is concluded.
There is not much we do around here anymore on a bipartisan basis for
this long, but the NDAA is special. Here is why: Because each and every
American benefits from the bill--each family, each community in each
State. Oklahoma is no exception to this rule. What makes Oklahoma
special is this. Just as much as this bill takes care of Oklahoma,
Oklahoma takes care of the country by the very nature of those things,
those functions that we perform each year, militarily.
As chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, I have already
been down here a lot talking about the NDAA and how this bill protects
all Americans, how it cares for our military families, and how it gives
our military the resources needed to defend this Nation.
Confession is good for the soul. I have to admit, as chairman, I made
certain that the NDAA did the maximum benefit possible for Oklahoma. I
want to talk a little bit about what the NDAA does for Oklahoma and how
what we do in Oklahoma makes the rest of the country more secure--
because it does.
Oklahoma is home to some of the Department of Defense's most valuable
installations and assets, and it has been this way for the better part
of a century. It is also the epicenter of public-private collaboration,
where industry partners and universities and others work in close
coordination with our military.
The defense programs based in Oklahoma protect our military
advantage, making sure that we stay ahead--or, I should say, even
better and more accurately now, get ahead of our competitors,
especially China and Russia. I think we all understand now China and
Russia are the greatest threat facing this Nation. We allowed them to--
I don't say this critically of the previous administration, but during
the previous administration, a lot of our military actually suffered
some 25 percent, in terms of appropriations, during the last 5 years.
That would have been from fiscal year 2000 to fiscal year 2015, and so
we, in some areas, are not ahead of China and Russia.
I have been around for a long time. I am a lot older than some of the
other people in here, and I remember the administrations since World
War II. I always prided ourselves in that we had the very best of
everything. We learned the hard way in World War II that that would be
necessary.
Oklahomans know the importance of these programs that we have in
Oklahoma, not just to our economy but to our national security. Not all
Americans may know, so here are a few examples. When our planes fly
long distances, sometimes they need to refuel, of course, and this can
be in midair. Right now, the KC-135 has been the refueler of choice now
for 60 years. It has done a great job. It is one that has lasted and
has worked hard since 1956.
I remember back during the last administration--the Obama
administration--I am a conservative Republican, and I wasn't real fond
of the previous administration, but there is one person I really liked,
and that was Deborah Lee James. She was the Secretary of the Air Force
in the previous administration. She and I worked hard with the idea
that we were going to have to do something about the KC-135; it had
been around 60 years.
I remember, I said, when we were at Altus Air Force Base--that was
where we were going to be delivering--that is the first KC-46 to
replace the 135. And I remember saying that 60 years ago two wonderful
things happened: No. 1, my wife Kay and I got married. And No. 2, the
first KC-135 was delivered to Altus Air Force Base. Where is the KC-135
training and the maintenance base? It is in Oklahoma.
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It is time to update that aircraft. The KC-46 is the next-generation
tanker, and Oklahoma is going to play a key role in this aircraft as
well, thanks to the NDAA. All training for this new aircraft is
conducted at Altus Air Force Base, in Altus, OK; and all depot
maintenance will be performed at Tinker Air Force Base, in Oklahoma
City; the same as the KC-135 maintenance has taken place for the last
60 years.
We will also conduct depot maintenance on the B-21 bomber at Tinker.
The B-21, which is still in the development phase, is going to be vital
to our Air Force. It will be a critical part of our deterrence posture:
a strong military that lets our enemies know that they can't escape us.
This is cutting-edge technology, designed to replace a few types of
bomber aircraft that have lived in Oklahoma for the last half century.
What this year's NDAA means is the Air Force will be guaranteeing
Tinker's workload for the next 50 years and beyond. You know, I have
talked a lot on the floor about the NDAA and about a lot of issues, not
always just military but primarily. But I have never really talked much
about what we in Oklahoma do and the great contribution we make. That
is kind of what I am doing right now. The third kind of aircraft we
have in Oklahoma are the planes that help our Air Force pilots become
the best in the world. We are talking about our training aircraft.
Many of the pilots in our Air Force conduct their pilot training at
Vance Air Force Base, using aircraft like the T-38. T-38--that plane
has been around since 1962, and it is still being used right now as a
trainer, but it has outlived its usefulness in terms of training for
modern aircraft. We can have all the modern aircraft in the world, but
if we are training with vehicles that are 50, 60 years old, it doesn't
train them as well as they should be trained. We have had the T-38
around for that long period of time.
The T-7 is going to be that newest aircraft. In this year's NDAA--the
National Defense Authorization Act--we ensure that we continue to
progress on developing this new aircraft. That is the T-7. It will be
flying in the skies over Oklahoma for at least probably the next six
decades.
Right here, Oklahoma is home to aircraft that support three critical
prongs of our national defense, making sure that we have the skills and
the equipment and the reach needed to deter and defeat our adversaries
for the foreseeable future. But the Air Force is not the only service
with a large footprint in Oklahoma. The Army is also a rich part of our
military heritage, and Oklahoma's military installations help support
the Army's No. 1 modernization priority, which is long-range precision
fires. That is the No. 1 priority of the U.S. Army right now.
These are munitions that will be able to reach across hundreds, if
not thousands, of miles and strike targets. They can be used on land;
they can be used in the skies; and they can be used at sea and beyond.
Unfortunately, this is an area where we have already fallen behind our
competitors like China and Russia, but Oklahoma is going to help us
catch up.
The Paladin Integrated Management System--it is called PIM--is a
critical piece of this Army modernization effort, and it is based at
Fort Sill, at our very own Fires Center of Excellence. It is assembled
in Elgin, OK.
This is really important, especially when you know the history. We
have been working to build a modern artillery system for decades.
First, starting back in 1994, we were then working to build the
Crusader. The Crusader was going to be our artillery system. That was
going to be the best one around. We worked, and we invested money in
it. The Crusader was going to be our new, modern system that would set
us up above Russia and China. This was in 1994.
We spent $2 billion on the Crusader. What happened to it? It was
nixed, prematurely, in 2002 because it was over budget, and we thought
the needs of warfare were changing. I never did believe that. I think
that Crusader was a good vehicle and was what we needed for the next
decades to come. But it was gone. And then some of the same mistakes
were repeated in the Army's Future Combat Systems.
The Future Combat Systems--called the FCS--was cut in 2009, but it
wasn't $2 billion that we had spent on that before we cut it, it was
$20 billion. We actually used $22 billion for an artillery system, and
we still didn't have one. Billions and billions were wasted. That is
how China and Russia got ahead of us--but not for long because we are
catching up.
There are more than just DOD programs based in Oklahoma. Our
countless industry partners work there as well and help us make sure
our forces are on the cutting edge of innovation. The XQ-58A Valkyrie
is an unmanned aerial system that does not need a runway to take off.
It will accompany the next-generation aircraft, like the world-class F-
35 on its missions. It will perform an escort function. It is one that
takes off vertically, and it is one without a pilot.
This is one of the Air Force's top priorities. It is what they call a
Vanguard Program. It is what the future of air superiority looks like,
and it is assembled in--you guessed it--Oklahoma.
That is just one example of the amazing technologies we are building
across the State, but it is not just our military installations and
industries supporting America's national defense. In Oklahoma, we work
well together across the State--military, industry, and even
educational universities.
In Lawton, just outside of Fort Sill, we have something called FISTA,
where we try to get all of these stakeholders together in one building.
It is a private sector. I have to say this about the private sector in
Oklahoma. We have gone through five different efforts to change our
military. And in each one of the five--these are called BRAC rounds. A
BRAC round is the Base Realignment and Closure Commission--they meet
and evaluate all of the military installations in the country, in
America, and evaluate which ones should be expanded and which ones
should be done away with and which ones should be reduced. I would say,
in the State of Oklahoma, we have five major military installations,
and we are the only State that has increased with each one of the five
BRAC rounds since 1987.
You might say that is political influence. It is not. It is community
support. That is what we have always done. For example, even in our
universities, the University of Oklahoma is working on research that
will accelerate the work of the Long-Range Precision Fires Air Missile
Defense Cross-Functional Team at Fort Sill--top modernization
priorities for the Army. The FISTA is just one piece of this research
and innovation done in Oklahoma. It is really happening all around the
State. Oklahoma State University is also conducting critical research
on drones, unmanned systems, where our military has growing needs. We
are leaders in Oklahoma. This will support operations where traditional
methods are not sufficient for takeoffs and landings and ensure our
military can penetrate any environment. We have made sure that we have
committed funding especially for this kind of research, and Oklahoma
State University is the perfect candidate because of the successful
work it has already done on these systems. We are ahead of others.
Also, Tulsa University has been designated by the National Security
Agency as a cyber center of academic excellence. This year, in the NDAA
that we will be passing, which is probably going to be in the later
part of November, it directs the Army Corps of Engineers to form a
partnership with an academic institution like Tulsa University to
conduct critical cyber research that will support our national
security. TU has a track record of success. It is certainly a go-to for
just this type of research, and I anticipate that this is exactly what
is going to happen.
Our universities really are second to none in terms of this research,
and their hard work and ingenuity are going to help us catch up to
China and Russia and ensure our military superiority will be there for
years to come.
With the massive amount of work lined up for the State of Oklahoma, I
knew our bill had to help communities across the State provide the
number of workers that will be needed. One provision we included to
address this allows for the appointment of recently retired members of
the armed services--armed services members who have retired--to assume
DOD positions at certain pay grades without their having to wait the
requisite lengths of time. This ensures
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more people will stay in Oklahoma. Skilled workers won't need to leave
the State to find work. These are the people who know the programs
best. It is what they have spent their careers doing, and they are
going to be able to continue working on them even after they have
transitioned out of Active Duty.
This is all in this Defense authorization bill that we have under
consideration today that we are going to pass. Our work ethic is just
one of the trademarks of the Oklahomans I am lucky to represent.
Another is what we call the Oklahoma standard. Oklahomans know how
important it is to care for and support each other, especially our
military families. Our military families don't have it easy. The nature
of the job means frequent moves around the country and around the
world. This means they make a lot of sacrifices. We can't ask military
spouses to sacrifice as well. So what we have done is, actually, what
we started in last year's Defense authorization bill. At that time, we
put in a program to help spouses and families circumvent some of the
time they waste but that they have to have when they move into new
occupations. We have now done the same thing, but this was in last
year's bill.
One way we did it was by extending the DOD program to reimburse
spouses for the costs of new professional licenses and credentials.
This year, we have improved on that. We have made it easier to transfer
those licenses across State lines, but you can't do that until after
this bill has passed. We know that, when we improve family readiness,
we improve overall military readiness.
I have to say that there are a lot of people around here who don't
think we need as strong a military as we need. They talk about it, and
I have heard the statement. I have heard it a hundred times. They say
we spend more on our military than China and Russia do put together.
Well, there is a reason for that. In our military, we look after the
troops, after the individuals. You know about the housing problems that
we have had, and we have spent a lot of money to correct that problem.
We are doing this at the current time. We also have schools for the
kids of our troops and educational facilities. Now, in Russia and
China--Communist countries--they give them guns and say: Go out and
shoot people. That is it.
The last thing I want to point out about this year's NDAA is also the
readiness issue. This year, we made sure that we would not have a BRAC
round. I mentioned a minute ago that a BRAC round is a Base Realignment
and Closure Commission, and we are not going to have one. Now is not
the time to reduce our military footprint any further, not when we face
so many threats around the world and not when we have worked so hard
with President Trump to rebuild and repair our readiness. It is easy to
see how these provisions we fought so hard to include in this bill will
help Oklahomans and, really, all Americans.
That is why I think the NDAA is the most important bill of the year,
not only for Oklahoma but for the rest of the Nation as well. Serving
as chairman of the Committee on Armed Services and representing
Oklahomans are the two things I am most proud of. I am proud that we
can do right by our Armed Forces and Oklahomans with this year's NDAA.
The next step is to make this bill law, and the next step is going to
take place when our colleagues from the House have a conference report.
I think most people know that, with a bill like this, the Senate passes
a bill, and the House passes a bill. Then there is a conference report,
and they have to get together and have a conference. It is not going to
be easy because there are a lot of differences to iron out.
For those who want to know when it is going to happen, as for the
conference report, the House is not going to appoint its conferees
until November 16, so it is going to be a while. It doesn't matter. The
deadline is actually December 31, and that will happen. It has happened
for 60 years in a row, and it is going to happen this time. No matter
what, we are going to get it done. We have for the last 59 years, and
we are going to do it again.
I was talking to people at Tinker Air Force Base today, and they were
talking about the things that they are needing to do. Tinker Air Force
Base has turned into probably--I believe it is--the largest military
complex in the country. People are doing incredible work there. I was
talking to the whole team, and those on the team were talking about
what they are preparing for in the next year. I can assure you it is
all going to be good and that Oklahoma is going to fare well. We are
going to fare well in our equipment and in our training. I am proud of
Oklahoma's contribution to the safety of America, and we are doing a
good job in Oklahoma.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Barrasso). The Senator from Rhode Island.
Mr. WHITEHOUSE. Mr. President, I had the chance to hear Chairman
Inhofe's remarks. I speak for many of us when I offer my appreciation
for his chairmanship of the Armed Services Committee, for his
commitment to our troops, and, in my case, particularly, for the great
way he works with my senior Senator, Jack Reed, who is the ranking
member on that committee, in order to get all of this work done. While
he may have bragging rights over airbases in Oklahoma, Rhode Island has
bragging rights on submarine construction, and it is very important to
us. So I offer my appreciation to the chairman for all of his support
for the submarine program that has meant so much to our Nation's
security and to Rhode Island.
I yield the floor.
I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. CASEY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for
the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
The Senator from Pennsylvania.