[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 194 (Monday, November 16, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Page S6720]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT

  Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, the Senate recently voted to move forward 
on the National Defense Authorization Act, NDAA, the annual defense 
policy bill. The Senate took this procedural step by what is known as a 
voice vote, a process that does not record the final vote tally or how 
each Senator specifically voted, but a voice vote is not a sign of 
unanimous support for a measure, and I am submitting this statement to 
mark my opposition to this year's NDAA and to this process.
  When the Senate debated and passed this bill for the first time, 
earlier this year, I voted no. I said at the time that I could not go 
along with a Republican plan to greenlight $740 billion in military 
spending while providing almost nothing to help Americans impacted by 
this unprecedented global pandemic.
  I said that I could not vote for a defense bill with Federal agents 
actively occupying Portland and treating peaceful protestors like 
foreign enemies. Donald Trump ordered these occupiers into my hometown, 
uninvited, to crack down on Oregonians peacefully demanding an end to 
systemic racism.
  Senator Merkley and I introduced an amendment to the NDAA that would 
have required Donald Trump to remove these unwanted forces from our 
State. The Senate majority blocked our amendment and told us that we 
were making things up while Trump's goons were shooting protestors with 
tear gas, rubber bullets, and other crowd control munitions.
  I want to be clear that I support plenty of provisions in this NDAA 
and wrote or negotiated some of the language to improve the bill, but I 
must oppose the NDAA due to its flaws and its timing, in light of the 
lack of help for everyday Americans suffering from the economic 
downfall brought about by Donald Trump's inept response to a global 
pandemic. For this reason, I have no choice but to oppose.

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