[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 203 (Monday, December 11, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Page S5886]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                   National Defense Authorization Act

  On NDAA, at the beginning of December, I said the Senate has three 
major priorities before the end of the year.
  First, we needed to end the blanket holds on hundreds of military 
nominees by the Senator from Alabama. We have now done that. Before we 
finish for the year, the Senate plans to move to confirm the 11 four-
star military officers awaiting confirmation.
  Second, we must pass the annual Defense authorization bill, which has 
been one of the most bipartisan priorities in Congress for over 60 
years. This will be our focus on the floor this week.
  Third and hardest of all, we must reach an agreement on the national 
security supplemental. We are still working, and while we are not near 
an agreement yet, we are going to keep pushing as the week progresses.
  Last week, I filed cloture on the NDAA conference report, and we 
expect to move forward on the NDAA conference report after lunch 
tomorrow. At a time of huge trouble for global security, passing the 
Defense authorization bill is more important than ever.
  This year's NDAA makes strong downpayments in outcompeting the 
Chinese Communist Party, particularly by approving President Biden's 
trilateral U.S., U.K., and Australia nuclear submarine agreement. We 
have been working on AUKUS all year. It is one of the most important 
tools we have against the Chinese Government, and it is a major 
accomplishment to get it done.
  I want to thank the chairman of the Armed Services Committee, Jack 
Reed, and Ranking Member Wicker for their good work in shepherding this 
bill through committee and through the conference process. I commend 
all conferees for their good work over the past few weeks.
  I thank my colleagues for working together to ensure the Senate's 
six-decade streak of passing the NDAA remains unbroken.