[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 194 (Wednesday, December 14, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7170-S7171]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                   National Defense Authorization Act

  Mr. CORNYN. Madam President, interspersed among the farewell 
speeches, which are always enjoyable to listen to as people reminisce 
about their time in the Senate and that causes all of us to reflect on 
our role and what we have done to help our country and help our 
constituents--and no one has done it better than the Senator from North 
Carolina--we also have a few things to do before we break for the 
holidays. Perhaps the next important thing that we have to do is to 
pass the National Defense Authorization Act, which, of course, provides 
the authorities necessary to strengthen our Armed Forces, to modernize 
our defense, and to maintain the peace.
  This year's Defense authorization act includes a significant increase 
in defense funding, which, in light of the range of threats confronting 
our country and the world, is appropriate, coming in roughly at $45 
billion above the White House's most recent budget request.
  This is a bipartisan increase in the authorization, which is the 
appropriate role of Congress to tell the White House: We think you have 
low-balled the number, and we think the threats deserve even more 
support in terms of the funding.
  These investments are absolutely critical to our military and our 
national security, but we all know this legislation is more than just 
about funding levels. It includes a range of bipartisan bills to 
support those who wear the uniform and their families, our allies, and 
our national defense as a whole.
  It really includes a lot of different bills in this umbrella of the 
National Defense Authorization Act. One example of one of those 
components is the Protecting Our Servicemembers through Proven Methods 
Act, which I introduced with Senator Sinema of Arizona and a bipartisan 
group of colleagues.
  The goal of this bill is to focus on proven methods that empower 
military leaders to prevent sexual assault and harassment in the 
military from happening in the ranks.
  The RAND Corporation, the think tank, published a 10-step approach to 
strengthen sexual assault prevention in the military, and step one is 
all about data. We need a clear picture of the problem before we can 
craft the most appropriate and effective solutions.
  Our bipartisan bill specifically answers that recommendation by 
requiring the Department of Defense to collect data on the causes 
behind sexual assault, harassment, and domestic violence in the 
military.
  That data will better inform our decision making within the 
Department and beyond. It will help guide our work in the Senate, too, 
where there is a bipartisan commitment to ending sexual assault and 
harassment in the military. And I hope it leads to stronger prevention 
efforts across the board.
  Our bill requires the Department of Defense to confer with 
universities and public health institutions to best identify the 
practices that will combat these abuses, whether that is in the 
workplace or on college campuses. Reliable data will then inform our 
prevention efforts and help stop those acts before they occur.
  We go to great lengths to keep our servicemembers safe on the 
battlefield, and these efforts need to extend to every part of their 
service. I am glad this legislation was included in this year's 
National Defense Authorization Act, and I appreciate all of our 
colleagues who fought to make that possible.
  The Defense authorization bill provides a great opportunity to 
support our friends and allies around the world, and this bill takes 
big steps to further support Ukraine against the outrageous invasion 
effected by the Russian Federation on February 24 of this year.
  We know that the United States can't focus on countering Russia or 
supporting Ukraine; we need to do both. Over the last 10 months, we 
supplied Ukraine with critical military assistance, and this year's 
Defense Authorization Act will give Ukrainian soldiers even more 
resources to keep up the fight.
  And I am glad this bill also includes a provision which will impose 
greater costs on Mr. Putin and the Russian Federation. Since Russia 
launched its attack on Ukraine, the United States and our allies have 
imposed sanctions on Russian businesses and oligarchs and cut off 
Russian banks from the global financial system.

[[Page S7171]]

  But, in typical fashion, Russia has found a loophole in the current 
sanctions. It has taken a page out of Venezuela's playbook by using the 
purchase and sale of gold to bring in cash. The Russian Federation 
started buying gold to offset the devaluation of the ruble and then 
selling that gold on international markets for high-value currency. In 
short, Russia is laundering money through the gold market, and we need 
to put a stop to it.
  That is why I introduced the Stop Russian GOLD Act with Senators 
King, Hassan, and Hagerty to end this practice. This legislation would 
apply sanctions to anyone who helps Russia finance their illegal war 
against Ukraine by buying or selling or transporting Russian blood 
gold. That means anyone who buys or transports gold from Russia's 
central bank holdings would be the target of sanctions themselves, a 
deterrent for anyone considering doing this sort of business with 
Russia.
  So we need to do everything we can to cut the financing to Putin's 
war machine, and this is one important way to do it, while we continue 
to support Ukraine in their will to repel and defeat Russian aggression 
and invasion of their sovereign territory.
  I am glad the NDAA will build on the work we have done to strengthen 
our semiconductor supply chain. I know we have all learned a lot about 
the vulnerability of our technology, everything from our television 
sets to our computers to the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, or even our 
cell phones--the threat of high-end semiconductors being cut off at 
supply.
  And over the last couple of years, we have done big things, made 
major strides to bolster domestic chipmaking. As our colleagues know, 
this is a matter of both economic and national security. Made-in-
America semiconductors, microcircuits, mean more jobs, investments, and 
more growth here in the United States, and a strong domestic supply 
means we aren't at the mercy of other countries for our most critical 
technology.
  Congress funded the CHIPS Act earlier this summer, and we are already 
seeing a glimpse of the sort of investments it will bring to the United 
States, most notably in places like Arizona and Ohio but also in New 
York and in Texas and in many other places around the country.
  There is more we can and should do to safeguard our critical supply 
chains. At this moment, Chinese companies with known connections to the 
Chinese Communist Party are actively selling semiconductors to 
companies that do business with the U.S. Government. That is a huge red 
flag and a major vulnerability. It puts us at risk of cyber attacks and 
threatens the disclosure of sensitive information.
  And our reliance on these Chinese companies is a risk in and of 
itself. If the Chinese Communist Party wanted to starve the United 
States of our access to chips, it could use these companies to help in 
that effort. With the snap of President Xi's finger, they could cut off 
the supply of chips to companies that supply products to the U.S. 
Government.
  We are well aware of the risks associated with reliance on other 
countries for semiconductors, which is why this has been such a big 
priority over the last couple of years. Now we need to ensure that the 
U.S. Government isn't purchasing chips from companies connected with 
the Chinese Communist Party.
  U.S. military assets shouldn't be threatened by using these chips, 
which could be sabotaged by the Chinese Communist Party and the 
People's Republic of China. Senators Schumer and Wicker and I have 
worked together on an amendment which will address this vulnerability. 
Our amendment would prohibit the U.S. Government from doing business 
with Chinese companies with known links to the Chinese Communist Party 
and the Chinese military. It specifically mentions three companies with 
known links.
  This ban will be phased in, in a responsible way, to ensure it 
doesn't lead to paralyzing supply chain disruptions; but once it is 
fully implemented, it will ensure that taxpayer dollars are not spent 
on chips from Chinese military contractors. I am glad this amendment 
made its way into the NDAA, and I want to thank Senator Schumer and 
Senator Wicker for working together to make this possible.

  Those are just a few of the pieces of legislation contained within 
the National Defense Authorization Act, but it also includes other 
important provisions too. It includes bipartisan legislation I 
introduced to prohibit former members of the intelligence community 
from working for our foreign adversaries, including state sponsors of 
terrorism.
  What we have seen is occasionally when people retire, they are hired 
by other foreign governments with the knowledge that they take along 
with them which came in the form of protecting the United States but 
could then be used by our adversaries to endanger the United States.
  We also, in the NDAA, amended existing drug trafficking laws to crack 
down on countries like China that are known to export precursor 
chemicals used in deadly drugs like fentanyl, the synthetic opioid that 
took the lives of 71,000 Americans last year alone.
  This also includes--the National Defense Authorization Act--the work 
product of the Environment and Public Works Committee, known as WRDA, 
the Water Resources Development Act; and, specifically, so far as it 
applies to my State of Texas, this bill authorizes the Texas Coastal 
Spine Project, which will safeguard communities and critical industries 
along the Texas gulf coast against inevitable future hurricanes.
  The bill also requires the President to document, catalog, and 
preserve evidence of war crimes committed in Ukraine so that justice 
will eventually be served.
  I want to commend Senators Inhofe and Reed for the bipartisan work 
that they have done on the Defense authorization bill. My only regret 
is it has taken us this long to get to it since it came out of the 
Armed Services Committee last July, but we know that they have done 
their best under the circumstances to include bipartisan 
recommendations and legislation that will keep our country strong and 
help maintain the peace.
  We know that both Senators Reed and Inhofe have fought tough 
headwinds getting the bill to the floor, and my hope is that tomorrow 
we will have a chance to vote on it, perhaps with a handful of 
amendments. This is a strong bill that will support our men and women 
in uniform and their families. It will help preserve our readiness 
against threats anywhere in the world and help preserve our national 
security.
  I look forward to casting my vote in support of that bill, perhaps as 
early as tomorrow.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Ms. Baldwin). The senior Senator from 
Pennsylvania.
  Mr. CASEY. Madam President, I would ask consent to speak as in 
morning business.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.