[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 209 (Thursday, December 10, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Page S7418]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT

  Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, the Senate will soon vote on the conference 
report for the annual defense policy bill, known as the National 
Defense Authorization Act or NDAA. Like all conference reports, this is 
a product of negotiations between the Senate and the House of 
Representatives.
  Producing a conference report takes dedicated negotiators who are 
willing to make tough compromises. I commend them for their work, and I 
particularly want to thank my friend, Senator Jack Reed, who has shown 
strong leadership as the ranking Democrat on the Senate Armed Services 
Committee.
  I hope these negotiations will be a good omen for how Congress will 
work under the incoming Biden administration.
  But supporting the process that produced this conference report is 
very different from supporting the report on its merits.
  I have voted against the Senate version of this defense bill twice 
now, once during the rollcall vote in July and then during a voice vote 
last month. House negotiators have managed to improve the bill since 
then, but not so significantly that I am able to support it now.
  I want to be clear that I support plenty of provisions in this NDAA. 
I even wrote or negotiated some of the language to improve the bill.
  The bill includes anti-money laundering provisions, which I strongly 
support. I have twice introduced bipartisan legislation to end the 
abuse of anonymous shell companies, and I am happy to see the NDAA 
expand upon my efforts.
  The conference report will also set in motion a 3-year process to 
remove Confederate names from military assets. I would have preferred a 
shorter timeline, but I am glad that Congress will be taking this 
overdue step to ensure that military bases do not honor traitors who 
fought to defend the horrific institution of slavery.
  And the conference report also includes my amendments to push the 
Pentagon toward encrypting its computers and to require the Army to 
provide a plan to finish cleaning up the former Umatilla Army Depot 
within 3 years.
  But I cannot in good conscience authorize $740 billion in military 
spending--including roughly $70 billion to continue the forever wars--
while Senate Republicans are offering mere crumbs to help folks stay 
safe from a raging pandemic and help small businesses stay afloat 
during this unprecedented time.
  I said previously that I could not vote for a defense bill with 
Federal agents actively occupying Portland and treating peaceful 
protestors like foreign enemies. Donald Trump may have removed much of 
his occupying force but this bill does nothing to prevent him or any 
future president from ordering similar abuses.
  And I have serious concerns about a provision that will permit the 
Secretary of the Treasury or the Attorney General to issue subpoenas, 
with indefinite gag orders, to foreign banks that maintain a 
correspondent account in the United States.
  There may be some limited instances where it may be appropriate to 
restrict bank employees from notifying account holders about a Federal 
subpoena to obtain their records, but as a general rule, I oppose 
indefinite gag orders. I worry this section grants dangerous powers to 
the executive branch to regulate speech, raising very serious First 
Amendment and due process concerns. That is why gag orders should not 
be included automatically with every subpoena and should have an 
expiration date, so that any restrictions on speech apply no longer 
than necessary.
  I regret that these and other flaws mean that I must continue to 
oppose this NDAA at this time. I yield the floor with the hope that 
Republicans will be as willing to provide real help for everyday 
Americans suffering--particularly during this tough holiday season--as 
they are to greenlight ever-higher levels of military spending.

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