[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 168 (Monday, September 27, 2021)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1031-E1032]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   H.R. 4350, NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2022

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. PETER A. DeFAZIO

                               of oregon

                    in the house of representatives

                       Monday, September 27, 2021

  Mr. DeFAZIO. Madam Speaker, on September 23, I voted in opposition to 
H.R. 4350, the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal 
Year (FY) 2022. While I support several Democratic policy priorities 
included in this legislation, I also have significant concerns with 
numerous provisions, including the irresponsibly bloated topline 
defense spending of $768 billion that this legislation authorizes.
  I strongly support the well-deserved 2.7 percent pay raise that this 
legislation grants our men and women in uniform. This is the very least 
we can do for those who continue to make extraordinary sacrifices for 
our country.
  This legislation includes additional vital benefits for military 
servicemembers and their families, such as expanded parental leave, 
improved mental health care services, a new basic needs allowance for 
lower income servicemembers, and more.
  I also strongly support the provisions included to combat the scourge 
of sexual assault in the military, including by creating an Office of 
Special Victim Prosecutor to prosecute these crimes, removing the 
commanding officer from decisions related to sexual assault, and 
finally criminalizing sexual harassment under the Uniform Code of 
Military Justice.
  As a long-time advocate for strengthening Congress's constitutional 
war powers authorities and limiting executive authority to engage in 
armed conflict without Congress's consent, I cosponsored an amendment 
to prohibit unauthorized U.S. participation in the Saudi-led 
coalition's war in Yemen. I am pleased that this amendment passed the 
House and will push my colleagues to keep this amendment in the final 
NOAA conference legislation.
  While I strongly support provisions in this year's NDAA, I ultimately 
voted against it because I believe this legislation should have 
included additional provisions to rein in our bloated and wasteful 
defense spending, take back Congress's constitutional war powers 
authority, and more.
  Instead of increasing the defense budget by several billion dollars 
for yet another year in a row, I strongly believe this legislation 
could have made responsible cuts to our defense budget without 
jeopardizing the safety of our troops or undermining our national 
security. It's beyond time for us to invest in domestic priorities for 
Oregonians and the American people here at home.
  That's why I supported an amendment to responsibly reduce the 
Pentagon budget while retaining exceptions to protect service members, 
civilian employees, and the vital Defense Health Program from this 
reduction. Unfortunately, this amendment failed to pass the House.
  For years, Congress has continued to increase the Pentagon's budget 
despite overwhelming evidence of its waste, fraud, and abuse of 
taxpayer money. It's absolutely ridiculous and irresponsible to 
continue throwing increasing amounts of taxpayer money at the Pentagon 
and lining the pockets of greedy defense contractors and special 
interests every year, when the Pentagon cannot even account for where 
this money goes.
  I have long supported a financial audit of the Pentagon. Unlike every 
other federal agency, the DOD has yet to ever pass a financial audit. 
For three years in a row, the Pentagon has spectacularly failed full 
audits, each of which highlighted numerous examples of waste and abuse. 
It is ridiculous to provide the Pentagon a massive spending increase--
as this bill does--when the Pentagon cannot even account for how it 
spends taxpayer money. That's why I'm a cosponsor of legislation to 
require and incentivize every component of the DOD to finally pass an 
audit.
  This legislation should have included more provisions to take back 
Congress's constitutional war powers authority, including repealing the 
long-outdated 2001 and 2002 authorizations for the use of military 
force (AUMFs). I also cosponsored and voted in favor of an amendment to 
end unauthorized U.S. military involvement in Syria. TI1e U.S. military 
has maintained a years-long presence in Syria without congressional 
approval, in contravention of the Constitution and the War Powers 
Resolution of 1973. While this amendment unfortunately failed, I will 
continue fighting to stop this unauthorized, endless war.
  I am also disappointed that amendments I supported either failed to 
pass the House or were not made in order. This includes amendments to 
curb the irresponsible expansion of U.S. nuclear weapons, to strengthen 
Buy America provisions to ensure the military supports U.S. 
manufacturers, to ensure veterans who were wrongfully dishonorably 
discharged for their sexual orientation are able to receive the 
veterans benefits they earned, and more.
  I also strongly oppose provisions in this legislation that would 
expand military draft registration to all Americans aged 18-25, 
including women. I have long opposed military draft registration and 
have introduced legislation to repeal the Selective Service System 
(SSS) altogether. The SSS is an archaic, unnecessary, unwanted, and 
wasteful bureaucracy that violates Americans' civil liberties and 
subjects Americans who fail to register--largely through no fault of 
their own--with unnecessarily severe, lifelong penalties, all without 
due process. These penalties can include denial of employment, job 
training, educational benefits, student loans, grants, citizenship, 
driver's licenses, and more--at both the federal and state levels--and 
they disproportionately affect low income individuals and people of 
color.
  The military itself and presidents of both parties have consistently 
agreed there is no military or national security imperative to ever 
reinstate a draft.
  That's why I co-led amendments to repeal military draft registration 
and eliminate these

[[Page E1032]]

extrajudicial penalties. While these amendments were not made in order, 
I will continue fighting to repeal the SSS and end military draft 
registration. No American, regardless of gender, should ever be subject 
to or forced to register for an obsolete military draft.
  The bottom line is that fiscal responsibility and accountability at 
the DOD would allow for taxpayer funds to be better spent supporting 
the needs of our troops, meeting our obligations to veterans, and 
ensuring our legitimate defense needs are prioritized while also 
bolstering long-underfunded domestic priorities. I will continue 
fighting to responsibly lower our bloated defense spending and finally 
put an end to our endless wars.

                          ____________________