[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 186 (Thursday, December 1, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Page S6920]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



             Omnibus and National Defense Authorization Act

  Madam President, now on the omni and the NDAA, as we approach the end 
of the year, two of the most important priorities the Senate must focus 
on are passing a yearlong omnibus and approving a bipartisan Defense 
appropriations bill.
  We have a lot of work left to do on both fronts, but so far, I am 
encouraged by the goodwill coming from both sides. While Democrats and 
Republicans disagree on the details of the omnibus, there is little 
debate that a CR would be terrible news for our troops and for American 
security.
  Yesterday, I attended a classified briefing on the latest 
developments in the war in Ukraine. Without getting into any of the 
details disclosed there, it was obvious, sitting in the room, that much 
of Ukraine's success is thanks to the emergency military and economic 
aid provided by the United States. Ten months into this war, there is 
no question, in my judgment, that helping our Ukrainian friends has 
been the right thing to do.
  But the fighting in Eastern Europe is sadly far from over. Putin's 
human rights atrocities continue. He is a vicious and brutal dictator. 
News reports come in daily of mass graves, civilian casualties. Entire 
cities--men, women, children--civilians, being killed and maimed and 
entire cities being reduced to rubble. Yet even now, the brave and 
strong people of Ukraine have endured and fought back. They know what 
Russian aggression is. They remember it from the days of the 1930s when 
Stalin sought to starve a huge number of Ukrainians to death.
  The United States must stay the course helping our friends in need. 
And by the way, this is not just a matter of standing with Ukraine; it 
is a matter of American security because, deep down, Putin is nothing 
more than a violent bully who will endanger our own democracy if his 
influence is allowed to expand, and he will not stop at Ukraine if he 
succeeds there.
  The single worst thing we can do right now is give Putin any signal 
that we are wavering in our commitment to help Ukraine. That is 
precisely what a CR would signal, and we cannot afford to go down that 
treacherous road. So I hope both sides will work together. We are 
making good progress. Paper is now being exchanged back and forth. We 
are not there yet. We have got a ways to go, but we have got to keep 
working until we get an omnibus done, for the sake of our national 
security.
  Meanwhile, at the same time, both parties must cooperate on passing a 
bipartisan national defense act, as we have done now for more than six 
decades. Just as we need to hold the line against Putin and his 
belligerence, we also have to stand firm against encroachments and 
aggression from the Chinese Communist Party.
  A few months ago, the Senate took a major step in that direction by 
passing the CHIPS and Science Act, which will boost domestic chip 
manufacturing and help sever our dependence on foreign-made 
semiconductors. But just because we passed CHIPS and Science doesn't 
mean the job is done. We need to build on our accomplishments by adding 
even more protections in the NDAA so we can continue reducing U.S. 
reliance on risky, Chinese-made microchips.
  So, last month, I joined with Senator Cornyn, my colleague from 
Texas, to introduce an amendment to the NDAA that would prohibit the 
U.S. Government from doing business with companies that rely on certain 
Chinese chipmakers that the Pentagon has labeled ``Chinese military 
contractors.'' This amendment would address a very big problem: Too 
many American companies with Federal contracts are purchasing chips 
made by Chinese makers with well-known ties to the Chinese Communist 
Party and the Chinese Government. You don't need to be a national 
security expert to see how this dependence on Chinese chips presents a 
serious risk to Americans' cyber security, to our privacy, to our 
defense.
  The previous administration--one of the few areas they went forward 
on that I agreed with--got rid of Huawei because it gave the Chinese 
Government and the Chinese Communist Party too much influence. Well, 
the same thing will happen with these chipmakers, these Chinese 
military contractor chipmakers, if they are allowed to continue to 
infuse their chips in our own equipment.
  Now, our amendment would remedy this with a simple proposition: If 
American businesses want to do business with the Federal Government, 
they shouldn't be allowed to turn around and then do business with 
risky Chinese chipmakers. We certainly need and give ample time for 
American companies to adjust and get American-made chips or non-
Chinese-made chips, non-Chinese-military-contractor-made chips, but it 
must be done. This is national security, once again, as well as 
economic security and the idea of keeping America No. 1, which we took 
a big step forward on with the CHIPS Act, but there is more that has to 
be done.
  So this proposal is one of many sound proposals that I hope to see 
included in the NDAA. I am, of course, fighting for a whole bunch of 
other things. On this issue, I thank Senator Cornyn for working with me 
on the amendment, and very soon the Senate hopefully will take quick 
action to send a defense authorization bill to the President's desk.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the 
order for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.