[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 204 (Thursday, December 3, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Page S7192]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                   National Defense Authorization Act

  Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I was pleased that the Senate unanimously 
agreed yesterday to proceed to conference on the 2021 National Defense 
Authorization Act.
  The NDAA is one of the most important pieces of legislation that we 
pass here every year. It is the bill that authorizes funding for our 
troops and lays out our defense priorities.
  Like the last two NDAAs, this year's bill focuses on restoring 
military readiness and ensuring that our Nation is prepared to meet 
threats posed by major powers like Russia and China.
  In November of 2018, the bipartisan National Defense Strategy 
Commission released a report warning that our readiness had eroded to 
the point that we might struggle to win a war against a major power 
like Russia or China, and the Commission noted that we would be 
especially vulnerable if we were ever called on to fight a war on two 
fronts.
  Over the past 2 years, we have made real progress on restoring 
military readiness, but we still have more work to do.
  This year's National Defense Authorization Act continues our 
investment in ensuring that our military is prepared to meet current 
and future threats in any domain.
  Of course, no matter what weapons or tanks or planes we have, our 
greatest military resource will always be our men and women in uniform, 
and this year's NDAA invests in improving the quality of life for our 
military members and their families. The bill supports a 3-percent pay 
raise for our troops, and it builds on previous measures to improve 
military healthcare and housing. It will also provide support for our 
military families in areas like childcare and professional development 
for military spouses.
  As I said, this bill is one of the most important measures that we 
pass every year, and we need to make sure that we pass the final 
version of this legislation before Christmas. Failing to pass this 
legislation would send the wrong message to our troops and our allies 
and to our adversaries.
  While this may not be a perfect bill, it contains a lot of important 
provisions to rebuild our military and to give our men and women in 
uniform the tools they need to defend our Nation. We need to pass it as 
soon as possible.