[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 171 (Thursday, October 16, 2025)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7153-S7154]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



             Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2026

  Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, today the Senate has the opportunity to 
begin consideration of an appropriations bill that is vital to our 
national defense and to the well-being of the brave men and women who 
serve in our Armed Forces.
  The fiscal year 2026 Defense appropriations bill would provide U.S. 
military services with the funding needed to deter China and Russia, to 
support our servicemembers and their families, and to strengthen the 
defense industrial base.
  The bill would remove the uncertainty that our American troops face 
about when they will be paid because of the needless and reckless 
government shutdown that Leader Schumer has directed.
  I would point out that passing a continuing resolution, as we have 
tried to do 10 times now, would also remove the cloud of uncertainty 
hanging over military paychecks.
  In July, as the Presiding Officer is well aware, the Appropriations 
Committee advanced the Senate version of the Defense appropriations 
bill by an overwhelming bipartisan vote of 26 to 3.
  The Senate version addresses major funding gaps across the board. It 
would invest in shipbuilding, including providing a critical 
downpayment toward an additional DDG 51, the workhorse of the U.S. 
service fleet, along with investments in additional Columbia- and 
Virginia-class submarines.
  It would expand critical munitions production, including air and 
missile defense interceptors, long-range missiles, and next-generation 
hypersonic weapons developed by our most innovative firms.
  It would fund drone and counterdrone technologies, which are 
increasingly changing the nature of the battlefield, as we have seen in 
both Ukraine and Israel. And it would sustain security cooperation with 
close allies and partners whose growing defense capabilities are force 
multipliers for the United States and contribute to the deterrence of 
shared adversaries.
  Finally, this bill would invest in our most precious asset: the 
courageous,

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dedicated, patriotic men and women of our Armed Forces. It shows our 
continuing commitment to their readiness, well-being, and mission 
success.
  Let me commend the leadership--the outstanding leadership--of 
subcommittee chairman Mitch McConnell and ranking member Chris Coons 
for their hard work on this bill. I also want to thank majority leader 
John Thune for his commitment to bringing fiscal year 2026 
appropriations bills to the Senate floor.
  This is such a welcomed change compared to last year when then-
majority leader Senator Schumer refused to bring a single one of the 12 
annual appropriations bills to the Senate floor for consideration.
  I want to note for my colleagues that the Senate version of the 
Defense bill was put together with input from 94 of our Senate 
colleagues who submitted more than 5,800 requests to the committee for 
our careful consideration.
  For all of these reasons, I urge my colleagues to allow us to proceed 
to the consideration of the fiscal year 2026 Defense funding bill. We 
want this to be an open process, with an opportunity to add additional 
bipartisan bills that address vital domestic priorities, including 
biomedical and scientific research and infrastructure, and we want 
Members to have a voice in the funding decisions that affect all of our 
States and constituents back home. That is the approach that we took in 
committee. That is the approach that we want to take on the Senate 
floor.

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