[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 204 (Tuesday, December 12, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5904-S5905]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                   National Defense Authorization Act

  Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, this week, the Senate will vote on the 
final version of the National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA, which 
is one of the most important bills we consider each year.
  We had a robust floor debate on the Senate version of this bill in 
July featuring the kind of open amendment process we should be using on 
a regular basis to debate important legislation. All told, more than 
900 amendments were considered, and 121 amendments were adopted during 
floor consideration, making this the most open NDAA floor debate in 
years. I wish we had been able to take up a final version of this 
legislation earlier, but I am glad we are on track to finally pass it 
this week.
  I have said it before, and I will say it again. If we don't get 
national security right, the rest is conversation. The security of our 
Nation is the precondition for everything else--for the continued 
enjoyment of our freedoms, for a flourishing society, for a healthy 
economy, for government's ability literally to do anything. So there is 
no time when we can afford to let our readiness slide or to take the 
security of our Nation for granted.
  But the unfortunate truth is that we have some catching up to do when 
it comes to military preparedness. We have military services that are 
well below their recruitment targets. We are behind on shipbuilding and 
ship maintenance. There is a persistent pilot shortage, and in a number 
of cases, we have too few mission-capable aircraft. We are not doing an 
adequate job of maintaining the kind of supply we need of certain 
munitions. And the list goes on.
  This is not an acceptable situation, and it could have very serious 
consequences. To give just one example, recent war games envisioning a 
U.S.-China conflict following an attack on Taiwan have had grim 
results, showing enormous military and economic costs to both sides. 
One story on these war games noted:

       And while the ultimate outcome in these exercises is not 
     always clear--the U.S. does better in some than others--the 
     cost is [clear]. In every exercise the U.S. uses up all its 
     long-range air-to-surface missiles in a few days, with a 
     substantial portion of its planes destroyed on the ground.
       In every exercise the U.S. uses up all its long-range air-
     to-surface missiles in a few days, with a substantial portion 
     of its planes destroyed on the ground.

  Well, needless to say, we have some serious work to do, and I am 
pleased to report that this year's NDAA does make some genuine progress 
on the readiness front. The bill expands the Pacific Deterrence 
Initiative and deepens our ties with our ally Taiwan to help detour 
Chinese aggression. It rejects the President's dangerous plan to shrink 
the U.S. Navy and authorizes investment in new ships. It contains 
multiple measures to increase our supply of munitions, including the 
addition of six critical munitions to the Pentagon's multiyear 
procurement program. Two of these munitions--Tomahawk missiles and Mark 
48 torpedoes--play an important role in our ability to deter China.
  I am also pleased that the committee responded to my request and 
included significant funding for joint air-to-surface standoff missile 
procurement, the long-range anti-ship missile, and development of the 
nuclear long-range standoff weapon, or LRSO. These are essential arrows 
to have in the quiver for our bombers, and the future LRSO will help 
modernize the air leg of our nuclear triad.
  This year's NDAA also critically invests in recruitment. As I 
mentioned earlier, we have multiple military services that are well 
below their recruitment targets. These represent serious future 
personnel deficiencies. All the ships, planes, and munitions in the

[[Page S5905]]

world will be of very limited help if we don't have the personnel 
necessary to deploy these resources. So expanding and improving our 
recruitment efforts has to be a priority.
  We also have to continue to work to improve the quality of life of 
our military members and their families, which is why I am pleased to 
report that this year's bill includes a 5.2-percent pay increase for 
our troops, as well as measures to improve barracks quality and expand 
access to mental health care, among other things.
  I am also pleased that this year's NDAA takes measures to keep our 
military's focus warfighting and not the dissemination of woke 
ideologies by Pentagon bureaucrats.
  Above all, I am proud to report that this year's bill authorizes full 
funding for the next steps of the B-21 mission, the Air Force's new, 
long-range, strategic bomber, which will revolutionize our long-range 
strike capabilities and be hosted at South Dakota's own Ellsworth Air 
Force Base. The Air Force calls the B-21 Raider the future backbone of 
its bomber force.
  One of my top priorities here in Congress over the past several years 
has been ensuring that the Air Force--and Ellsworth in particular--has 
everything it needs for this critical advancement in our Nation's 
readiness. This year's NDAA will once again fund not only the B-21 
bomber, which we excitedly saw take flight 1 month ago, but the support 
facilities at Ellsworth that will be needed to maintain this aircraft 
once it enters service.
  While, as I said, we are passing this bill a little late, I am 
pleased that we are finally passing it and in what I expect will be a 
strongly bipartisan fashion.