[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 202 (Thursday, December 7, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5840-S5841]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



        National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2024

  Ms. HIRONO. Madam President, we now have one week left until the 
Senate is scheduled to recess for the end of the year. While this year 
is quickly coming to an end, our work in this body is far from over, 
especially as it relates to our national security.
  Yesterday, the Armed Services Committee, on which I sit, released a 
text of fiscal year 2024 National Defense Authorization Act conference 
report. This year's NDAA contains critical investments in our 
servicemembers, our military infrastructure, and our national security 
at large. Importantly, this year's NDAA contains a 5.2-percent pay 
raise for our troops--the most significant raise in more than 20 
years--and

[[Page S5841]]

prevents large cuts to servicemembers' overseas cost-of-living 
adjustment accounts.
  The bill also includes several provisions I fought to secure to 
improve servicemembers' quality of life, including a pilot program to 
give military secretaries greater authority to replace substandard 
barracks.
  As we work to defend our allies and prevent conflict in the Pacific, 
this year's NDAA contains a number of provisions to strengthen our 
posture throughout the Indo-Pacific, including establishing a strategy 
for missile defense of Hawaii and the Indo-Pacific region, providing 
greater flexibility to bolster military infrastructure in the region 
and authorizing funding for multilateral training campaigns with our 
allies and partners in the Indo-Pacific.
  As home to Indo-Pacific Command and the tip of the spear of any 
conflict in the Pacific, Hawaii plays an especially important role in 
our common defense, a role that is even more meaningful today on the 
82nd anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor.
  But as is the case across our country, much of the Defense 
Department's post-World War II infrastructure in Hawaii is in desperate 
need of repair or replacement. That is why I secured language in the 
bill directing INDOPACOM to provide a report to Congress on the state 
of all DOD infrastructure in Hawaii so that we can get serious about 
modernization.
  At a time of global instability, it is essential that we pass this 
conference report as we have every year for the last 62 years to 
protect our Nation and reaffirm our global leadership.
  The United States plays a key role and a vital role in supporting our 
allies across the globe. That is why the Senate is also working on a 
supplemental funding package to provide much needed assistance to our 
international partners, including two nations defending their rights to 
exist.
  For nearly 2 years, Ukrainians have bravely fought off Putin's unjust 
and brutal invasion with the support of the United States, support 
President Zelenskyy himself has said is essential to his country's 
success. But now, at a critical moment in this war, Republicans are 
holding up essential aid for Ukraine in exchange for unrelated 
permanent immigration policy changes. The Biden administration and the 
Ukrainians have been clear: Time is of the essence. And without United 
States' aid, Putin will likely be able to gain ground.
  Meanwhile, Israel is working to defend itself and its fundamental 
right to exist in the wake of Hamas's brutal October 7 terror attack. 
In the days following the attack, there seemed to be bipartisan 
consensus about the need to get additional aid to Israel as quickly as 
possible. But just days later, House Republicans opted to tie this much 
needed assistance to an unrelated partisan domestic policy demand--
gutting IRS tax enforcement. Republicans claim this proposal would 
offset the cost of aid to Israel, when, in fact, it would cost our 
government money in terms of lost tax revenues.
  The House Republican bill also neglected to include any of the White 
House's request for funding to address the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
  In addition to funding for Ukraine and Israel, the Senate package 
also includes language to renew the Compacts of Free Association, or 
COFA. These compacts--with Palau, the Marshall Islands, and 
Micronesia--provide the United States exclusive military jurisdiction 
in these strategic Pacific nations, critical to our national security, 
in exchange for defense and other benefits for COFA citizens.
  It is hard to overstate the importance of these compacts to our 
operations in the Pacific and to our national security. For the first 
time in nearly 30 years, these agreements also reinstate access to 
Federal benefits for COFA citizens, thousands of whom legally live, 
work, and pay taxes in the United States.
  The American people are counting on us. And, perhaps, more 
importantly, they are looking to us, watching, to see whether we can 
set aside partisan politics and do our jobs. If we fail to pass this 
supplemental national security funding package, it will send a message 
to our allies and adversaries alike that when it matters most, the 
United States cannot be counted on and this Congress cannot do its job.

  This is not a game. There is no backstop here. If we fail to do our 
jobs, people will die, our allies will suffer losses, our national 
security will be degraded, and our leadership role as a great nation 
that defends democratic values will be significantly undermined.
  I thank Leader Schumer, Chairman Reed, and those of our Republican 
colleagues who are working diligently in good faith to find a path 
forward on all of these priorities because failure is not an option 
here. With stakes this high, we have to get this done. I implore my 
colleagues to come to the table so we can do so. The world is watching.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Iowa.