[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 220 (Monday, December 28, 2020)]
[House]
[Pages H9160-H9163]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  WILLIAM M. (MAC) THORNBERRY NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR 
 FISCAL YEAR 2021--VETO MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to section 4 of House Resolution 
1271, the unfinished business is the further consideration of the veto 
message of the President on the bill (H.R. 6395) to authorize 
appropriations for fiscal year 2021 for military activities of the 
Department of Defense, for military construction, and for defense 
activities of the Department of Energy, to prescribe military personnel 
strengths for such fiscal year, and for other purposes.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is, Will the House, on 
reconsideration, pass the bill, the objections of the President to the 
contrary notwithstanding?
  (For veto message, see proceedings of the House of December 24, 
2020.)
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Washington (Mr. Smith) is 
recognized for 1 hour.
  Mr. SMITH of Washington. Madam Speaker, for the purpose of debate 
only, I yield the customary 30 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. 
Thornberry), the ranking member of the committee, pending which I yield 
myself such time as I may consume.


                             General Leave

  Mr. SMITH of Washington. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that 
all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and 
extend their remarks and insert extraneous material on the veto message 
of the President of the United States to the bill H.R. 6395.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Washington?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. SMITH of Washington. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my 
time.
  Mr. THORNBERRY. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Madam Speaker, I thank the chairman for yielding and once again want 
to commend him for his stewardship of the committee through very 
challenging times.
  Madam Speaker, I continue to support this bill, as more than 80 
percent of the House did just 20 days ago. It is the exact same bill, 
not a comma has changed.
  It still prevents the military from having their pay cut. It still 
creates new tools to deal with a newly aggressive China. It still 
includes the important U.S.-Israel Assistance Act and provides help for 
Vietnam veterans.
  One thing, I guess, is new in the past few days, because a 
devastating cyberattack by Russia has been exposed; but, fortunately, 
this bill has dozens of provisions to help strengthen the country's 
defenses in cyber.
  So the President has exercised his constitutional prerogative. Now, 
Madam Speaker, it is up to us. Our troops, the country, indeed, the 
world is watching to see what we will do, whether we can tune out other 
differences and still come together to support the men and women of the 
military and American national security.
  I would only ask that, as Members vote, they put the best interests 
of the country first. There is no other consideration that should 
matter. This vote is about supporting our troops and defending America. 
While not perfect, this bill does a good job of advancing both and 
should be supported once again.
  Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. SMITH of Washington. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I 
may consume.
  I rise to strongly urge Members to uphold what we did in this Chamber 
just a couple weeks ago and what the Senate did, as well; and that is 
we passed an overwhelmingly bipartisan bill, with roughly 80 percent of 
the vote in both the Senate and the House.
  The legislative branch made it absolutely clear that we support this 
piece of legislation, and as the gentleman from Texas just noted, we 
support it with very good reason.
  It is enormously important to give our troops the support that they 
need to carry out the job that we all are asking them to do. That is, I 
think, one of our minimum obligations as Members of Congress. And this 
bill reflects that.
  This bill is the process of a lengthy effort involving Members of 
both Chambers, both parties, that have come together and put together 
an incredibly strong piece of legislation. That is why it passed so 
overwhelmingly just a couple weeks ago. And nothing has changed. 
Nothing has changed. The bill is exactly the same and every little bit 
as important.
  Now, the President has the right to veto it, but I think we, as 
Members of

[[Page H9161]]

the legislative body, have to look at the reason behind that. Was it 
because of something in the bill?
  Pieces of legislation come through here all the time, and we 
occasionally miss something. The President finds out, and we say: Gosh, 
I didn't know that. That is not what happened here.

  I really want Members to understand the President vetoed this because 
of something that isn't in the bill and was never going to be in the 
bill, something totally unrelated to national security and something 
that we were not going to do in any event.
  There is literally no reason to veto this bill for the reasons that 
the President did and certainly no reason for us not to uphold what we 
did in passing this bill. This is really important that we exercise our 
legislative prerogative.
  There are all kinds of crucial provisions in this bill, but I will 
just point to one, and that is the one that Mr. Thornberry mentioned 
earlier, to give you an idea of why it is important that the 
legislative branch do its job in exercising oversight of the Department 
of Defense in providing national security policy, and that is the cyber 
issue.
  Thanks to the leadership of Chairman Langevin, chairman of the 
subcommittee that deals with this issue, and Ranking Member Stefanik, 
they have worked together to really put together an incredible package 
to try to better address these very cyber issues that we are now 
facing. That is what we do in this legislation, and it is not always 
exciting, but it is incredibly important to meet our obligation to our 
troops and to the national security of this country.
  It is enormously important that we pass this bill. We did it once. 
Let's just do it one more time, and then we can all go home for the 
year. We can be done, and we can be proud of what we have accomplished.
  I urge Members to vote in favor of this bill to do what we did just a 
couple weeks ago. Show the country that the legislative branch can 
still do its job.
  I will close on one note, which we make a lot of times.

                              {time}  1700

  This is the most bipartisan committee in Congress. That is not an 
easy thing to achieve. We have a lot of things that we passionately 
disagree about in this body, and we should, but on the Armed Services 
bill, we manage to come together. It is not always easy, but we get it 
done.
  I think it is enormously important that we let the country know that 
that process hasn't died. We put together a product, a bipartisan, 
bicameral product that has gotten an overwhelming number of votes.
  Let's show the American public that the legislative process works at 
least a little bit better than sometimes they think it does, that we 
can get our job done and, in this case, get our job done for the men 
and women who put their lives on the line to protect this country. We 
owe them nothing less than that.
  Madam Speaker, I urge a ``yes'' vote, and I yield back the balance of 
my time.
  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Madam Speaker, as a senior member of the Committees 
on the Judiciary, on Homeland Security, and on the Budget, I rise in 
strong opposition to the Administration's seemingly callous veto of the 
William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for 
Fiscal Year 2021 and proudly announce my intention to vote to override 
this reckless veto.
  I take this action because I disagree with the President that 
preserving monuments and memorials and naming military installations 
for the defenders of slavery who took up arms against the United States 
to achieve their aims is more important and a higher priority than 
providing the funding, resources, and support to the nation's military 
and civilian defense person, one of the nation's most respected 
institutions and its most diverse and representative.
  Other than his pique at being on the short end of what is by his own 
account an Electoral College landslide and being routed by seven 
million votes in his failed bid for reelection, there is absolutely no 
basis for the erstwhile Commander-in-Chief to veto the bipartisan NDAA 
and deny our servicemembers a long-overdue pay raise and hazard duty 
pay many of whom live in or are from my congressional district.
  It is cruel, shameful, and heartless for a Commander-in-Chief to deny 
to more than 100,000 federal employees the paid family leave child 
care, housing and health protections authorized by the FY2021 NDAA or 
to withhold from our veterans the benefits that they need and deserve.
  The FY2021 NDAA Conference Report, negotiated under the careful 
stewardship of Chairman Adam Smith of Washington and Ranking Member Mac 
Thornberry in the House and Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman 
James Inhofe of Oklahoma and Ranking Member Jack Reed of Rhode Island 
is carefully crafted, exemplary legislation reflecting the nation's 
sacred commitment to those who willingly risk their lives, fortunes, 
and sacred honor to keep our nation safe and preserve, protect, and 
defend the Constitution.
  The FY21 NDAA provides a long-sought after benefit for tens of 
thousands of Vietnam-era veterans who are struggling with certain 
health complications after being exposed to Agent Orange while serving 
their country.
  In addition, the legislation authorizes $8.4 billion in military 
construction projects to fortify critical infrastructure and base 
realignment and closure clean up, it contains important new tools to 
deter adversaries China and Russia from attacking or threatening our 
national interests; and mandates reforms to make the Pentagon more 
efficient, innovative, and cost-effective.
  In the legislation there are significant bipartisan provisions to 
strengthen our posture on artificial intelligence and cybersecurity and 
to fortify our alliance with NATO and our security relationship with 
Israel.
  With the passage of the FY2021 NDAA, expectant mothers in the 
military could receive free loaner maternity uniforms because the 
legislation directs the Department of Defense to conduct a pilot 
program to issue maternity uniforms and related items to pregnant 
military members on a temporary and as-needed basis.
  Madam Speaker, this is important because women make up about 21 
percent of the Air Force; 20.2 percent of the Navy; 15.4 percent of the 
Army; and 9 percent of the Marine Corps.
  Also, the FY2021 NDAA makes needed reforms to prevent sexual assault, 
a matter of great importance to the public and my colleagues, 
particularly those of us from Texas, where Fort Hood is located and 
where Army Specialist Vanessa Guillen was murdered to prevent her from 
reporting the sexual harassment and abuse she suffered from her direct 
superior in the chain of command.
  I am very grateful to Congressman Brown of Maryland, himself a 
veteran of the Armed Services, for his leadership in ensuring the NDAA 
authorize and approve the renaming of military bases currently named 
for persons who took up arms for the Confederacy and against the United 
States.
  I am very pleased that included in the legislation is my language 
directing the consideration be given to distinguished and heroic 
African-American and Native American servicemembers in the renaming of 
military bases.
  Removing the stain of bases and military installations being name for 
confederate traitors is an act of profound reconciliation and healing.
  For too long African Americans servicemembers have been forced to 
tolerate the hidden racism that existed under the guise of the rebel 
flag, knowing through oral history the brutality of those who 
voluntarily fought for the Confederacy.
  The FY2021 NDAA ushers in a new enlightened era where the names of 
traitors who took up arms against the United States will have their 
names removed from places of honor such as military bases or 
installations.
  These individuals will not be forgotten; instead they will have a 
permanent place in history and their records will be studied and 
examined in full by historians and scholars.
  Madam Speaker, it is also fitting that FY2021 NDAA directs the 
Department of Defense to take concrete actions to recognize and 
memorialize the contributions made by African Americans and Native 
Americans servicemembers in defense of our nation.
  The history of African Americans and Native Americans serving in the 
military date back to the colonial period of our nation to the present 
day.
  In every war waged from the Battle of Lexington to the Battle for 
Fallujah, African Americans and Native Americans have honorably 
answered the call to duty, and served with great valor and distinction 
in America's armed forces.
  At decisive moments in our nation's history, the United States 
military and its citizens warriors answered the call and were decisive 
in the nation's epic battles for freedom and liberty, including:
  Revolutionary War (1776-1783); War of 1812 (1812-1814); Mexican-
American War (1836); Civil War (1861-1865); Spanish-American War 
(1898); World War I (1914-1918); World War II (1941-1945); Korean War 
(1950-1953); Vietnam War (1965-1975); Gulf War (1991); and Operations 
Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom, as well as conflicts in other 
theaters of war.

[[Page H9162]]

  The military was there doing a job no other branch of our nation's 
government could do--in the face of overwhelming danger--when the fate 
of the American Experiment was on the line.
  Our thanks to the military for always answering the call of duty--
whether that call comes in the dead of night or the light of day--we 
know that we can count on you.
  The names and faces of millions of African Americans who have served 
our nation in uniform may fade from memory, but today we have the 
opportunity to remember and see them in the faces of the young men and 
women who preserved freedom in the world, even at a time when the 
blessings of liberty were denied to them at home.
  The Jackson Lee provision in the FY2021 NDAA recognizes that there is 
no shortage of distinguished veterans, and especially African American 
and Native American veterans, who are worthy of the honor of naming a 
military facility in their honor.
  Let me provide for the record some representative candidates.


                           UNITED STATES ARMY

  General Roscoe Robinson Jr., the first black four-star general in the 
Army and 1951 West Point graduate who attended the service academy 
before the Army was desegregated and served in Korea and Vietnam, with 
valor decorations in both conflicts, and as a training officer as part 
of the U.S. military support mission in Liberia. He went on to become 
the first black commander of the 82nd Airborne Division, deputy chief 
of staff for operations in U.S. Army Europe, commander of U.S. Forces 
Japan, the U.S. representative on the NATO Military Committee.
  William Harvey Carney was the first African American recipient of the 
Congressional Medal of Honor, which he received for his actions on July 
18, 1863 at Fort Wagner, South Carolina, while a member of the 54th 
Massachusetts Regiment in the Civil War--the state's first all-black 
regiment.
  The 54th Massachusetts was the subject of the film, ``Glory,'' 
starring Denzel Washington and Morgan Freeman.
  Lieutenant Colonel Charity Edna Adams was appointed to lead the 
African American Women's Army Corps unit designated as the 6888th 
Central Postal Directory Battalion, which became known as the ``Six 
Triple Eight.''
  The ``Six Triple Eight'' unit was instrumental in establishing and 
maintaining morale because it assured that mail from the battlefront 
and the home-front flowed efficiently and timely.
  Lt. Col. Margaret E. Bailey of the Army Nurse Corps was the first 
nurse to be promoted to lieutenant colonel.


                           UNITED STATES NAVY

  Messman First Class Dorie Miller was serving in a noncombat role in 
the Navy, when he acted heroically to defend lives after his ship, the 
USS West Virginia was attacked at Pearl Harbor.
  He was the first African American to be awarded the Navy Cross, the 
third highest honor awarded by the United States Navy at the time.
  Admiral Michelle Howard is a four-star Admiral and one of the 
highest-ranking African American women ever to serve in any branch of 
the military. Admiral Howard is also the first African American woman 
to command a U.S. naval vessel, the USS Rushmore.
  She is the Navy's second highest ranking officer and is currently 
serving as the commander of U.S. Naval Forces Africa, commander of U.S. 
Naval Forces Europe, and commander of Allied Joint Force Command 
Naples.


                        UNITED STATES AIR FORCE

  In 2012, Lieutenant Colonel Shawna Rochelle-Kimbrell became the first 
female African American fighter pilot in the Air Force history and her 
flights in Northern Watch marked her as the first female pilot to fly 
combat missions for Misawa's 35th Fighter Wing and the first African 
American woman to employ ordinance in combat. She has logged more than 
1,110 hours in the F-16, including 176 hours of combat time.
  Colonel Ruth A. Lucas was the first African American woman in the Air 
Force to be promoted to the rank of colonel. At the time of her 
retirement in 1970, she was the highest-ranking African American woman 
in the Air Force.
  In 1959 General Benjamin O. Davis, Jr. became the first African 
American Major General in the United States Air Force. As the organizer 
and commander of famed 332nd Fighter Group known as the Tuskegee 
Airmen, his place in history will be forever remembered and revered.
  General Davis received many decorations during his career, including 
two Distinguished Service Medals and a Silver Star and on December 9, 
1998, General Davis was awarded his fourth general's star by President 
Bill Clinton.


                       UNITED STATES COAST GUARD

  Chief Petty Officer Alex Haley is best known for writing letters for 
his shipmates and his short stories and articles, which got him 
promoted to Chief Journalist of the Coast Guard in 1959.
  Haley ultimately received a number of military honors, including the 
American Defense Service Medal, World War II Victory Medal and an 
honorary degree from the Coast Guard Academy but most of you know him 
also as the author of ``Roots,'' the path-breaking and epic retracing 
of a family's history from the Gambian coast in Africa to the New World 
in America.
  In 1957, Captain Bobby Wilks became the first African American Coast 
Guard aviator. He later became the first African American to reach the 
rank of Captain and the first to command a Coast Guard air station. He 
accumulated over 6,000 flight hours in 18 different types of aircrafts.
  Madam Speaker, 25 percent of the today's active duty military is 
comprised of persons of color, of which 17.8 percent are African 
American.
  This percentage outpaces the percentage of African Americans in the 
general population (13 percent) but lagging significantly is the 9% of 
African Americans in the commissioned officer ranks.


                            NATIVE AMERICANS

  The Jackson Lee Amendment offered during House consideration of the 
NDAA was expanded to include Native Americans.
  It is without doubt that the military has a storied history of Native 
American contributions to the securing our nation since colonial times 
to the present.
  One famous example of their contributions occurred during World War 
II when the U.S. military developed a specific policy to recruit and 
train Navajo speakers to become ``code talkers.''
  Code Talker is the name given to 29 Navajo Natives who used their 
tribal language to send secret communications on the battlefield.
  The Marines formed the Navajo Code Talkers, who created a code based 
on the complex, unwritten Navajo language.
  The code primarily used word association by assigning a Navajo word 
to key phrases and military tactics.
  This system enabled the Code Talkers to translate three lines of 
English in 20 seconds, not 30 minutes as was common with existing 
codebreaking machines.
  The Code Talkers participated in every major Marine operation in the 
Pacific theater, giving the Marines a critical advantage throughout the 
war.
  During the nearly month-long battle for Iwo Jima, for example, six 
Navajo Code Talker Marines successfully transmitted more than 800 
messages without error.
  Marine leadership noted after the battle that the Code Talkers were 
critical to the victory at Iwo Jima.
  The Navajo Code was never broken.
  Our Native American brothers and sisters are more than worthy to be 
so honored by having their names considered for military bases and 
installations.


                        BOOGALOO AND PROUD BOYS

  Another Jackson Lee Amendment included in the House version of the 
NDAA directed the Secretary of Defense to report to Congress the 
extent, if any, of the threat to national security posed by domestic 
terrorist groups and organizations motivated by a belief system of 
white supremacy, such as extremist groups like the Boogaloo Boys and 
the Proud Boys, is reflected in the Conference bill.
  The concern is that in the aftermath of a historic national election, 
the activity of violence influencers like Boogaloo Boys or Proud Boys 
will increase and lead to attacks becoming more frequent.
  We have witnessed too many instances of violent extremists searching 
for opportunities to sow violence and disrupt democratic processes and 
Boogaloo and Proud Boys are targeting constitutionally protected 
activity to coopt or to provide cover for attacks.
  Jackson Lee Amendment 179 implements a recommendation made by the 
Cyberspace Solarium Commission to require the Secretary of Homeland 
Security to develop a strategy to implement Domain-based Message 
Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance (DMARC) standard across 
U.S.-based email providers to increase the security of email,
  The security of email has grown in importance as it has become in 
many ways the primary way that businesses, consumers, government 
communicate.
  The Senate bill also addressed this important issue and the language 
of the final Conference concurs.
  For all these reasons, I urge all Members to join me in voting to 
override the President's unwise and ill-considered veto of the William 
M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 
2021.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Without objection, the previous question is 
ordered.
  There was no objection.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is, Will the House, on 
reconsideration, pass the bill, the objections

[[Page H9163]]

of the President to the contrary notwithstanding?
  Under the Constitution, the vote must be by the yeas and nays.
  Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further proceedings on this question 
will be postponed.

                          ____________________