[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 214 (Monday, December 13, 2021)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1358]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]





                        NATIONAL PULSE MEMORIAL

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                            HON. BARBARA LEE

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, December 7, 2021

  Ms. LEE of California. Madam Speaker, I rise to oppose the out-of-
control defense spending contained in this year's National Defense 
Authorization Act. At a topline level of $768.2, billion, this bill is 
larger than any previous pentagon spending bill. It's even bigger than 
what the President asked for by $25 billion.
  This excess is particularly egregious when compared to the military 
spending of our potential adversaries. We spend more on the US military 
than the next eleven countries combined.
  And all this funding is being poured into an agency that is 
perennially unaccountable to the American public. It has been 30 years 
since all federal agencies were required to pass audits. And after 
three decades the Department of Defense (DOD) remains the only agency 
in the federal government that has so far failed to pass an audit. The 
most recent prediction from the department for a clean audit is 2028.
  Yet we see numerous examples of fraud, waste, and abuse from this 
department, from legacy weapons systems built for the cold war, to the 
billions in documented waste in Afghanistan.
  The military has rightly identified the climate crisis as one of the 
biggest and most immediate threats to American lives and interests. And 
yet the Pentagon still hasn't fully reported on its own greenhouse gas 
emissions. And every excessive dollar spent on the Pentagon isn't 
available for the investments we need to make in mitigation and 
adaptation to protect us and the world from the impacts of climate 
change.
  Especially frustrating to me about this bill is the fact that needed 
reforms to advance racial justice and combat extremism and white 
supremacy were excluded in the negotiations that produced this 
compromise legislation. Our military leaders have been clear about the 
need to address extremism within the ranks and provide equal justice 
for Black and Brown servicemen and women. By failing to address these 
issues adequately in this bill, we don't just let down our men and 
women in uniform, we let down the country and betray our ideals.
  Enough is enough. Americans are demanding that Congress rebalance our 
priorities and invest in the biggest challenges America faces. We face 
imminent threats from the COVID pandemic, Climate Change, domestic 
terrorism, growing economic inequality, and systemic racial and ethnic 
inequities. It is time to shift our spending priorities to meet these 
urgent human security priorities. I urge my colleagues to oppose this 
bill.

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