[Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 106 (Wednesday, June 24, 2026)]
[Senate]
[Page S3232]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

  SA 6024. Ms. HIRONO submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by 
her to the bill S. 4784, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 
2027 for military activities of the Department of Defense, for military 
construction, and for defense activities of the Department of Energy, 
to prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for 
other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

       At the appropriate place, insert the following:

     SEC. ___. SENSE OF THE SENATE REGARDING FISCAL YEAR 2027 
                   FUNDING DISPARITIES AND DOMESTIC NEEDS.

       (a) Findings.--The Senate finds the following:
       (1) The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 
     2027 reported by the Committee on Armed Services of the 
     Senate authorizes an unprecedented $1,150,000,000,000 for 
     national defense programs, reinforcing a continuous and 
     disproportionate escalation in military spending.
       (2) The United States is currently facing a severe 
     affordability crisis, with millions of people in the United 
     States and working families struggling with the skyrocketing 
     costs of basic necessities, including food, housing, and 
     healthcare.
       (3) On July 4, 2025, the enactment of the Act entitled ``An 
     Act to provide for reconciliation pursuant to title II of H. 
     Con. Res. 14'', approved July 4, 2025 (Public Law 119-21; 139 
     Stat. 72) (commonly known as, and in this section referred to 
     as, the ``One Big Beautiful Bill Act''), mandated deep and 
     devastating structural cuts to essential nondefense safety 
     net programs.
       (4) The cuts and administrative hurdles mandated by the One 
     Big Beautiful Bill Act are projected to slash over 
     $1,000,000,000,000 in funding for the Medicaid program under 
     title XIX of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1396 et seq.) 
     (in this section referred to as ``Medicaid'') and the Patient 
     Protection and Affordable Care Act (Public Law 111-148; 124 
     Stat. 119) over the next decade, ripping health care coverage 
     away from 15,000,000 people in the United States, and putting 
     over 750 hospitals, nursing homes, and clinics at risk of 
     closure.
       (5) Concurrently, sweeping rollbacks and funding 
     restrictions have severely impacted access to the 
     supplemental nutrition assistance program established under 
     the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.) 
     (in this section referred to as ``SNAP''), a vital lifeline 
     that millions of women and children depend on to prevent food 
     insecurity and hunger.
       (6) National security depends not only on military 
     readiness, but also on the economic well-being, health, and 
     stability of the people of the United States.
       (b) Sense of the Senate.--It is the sense of the Senate 
     that--
       (1) the massive funding disparity between defense 
     expenditures and domestic nondefense investments for fiscal 
     year 2027 is unacceptable;
       (2) it is unconscionable to authorize over 
     $1,100,000,000,000 in defense spending while at the same time 
     forcing deep cuts to programs like SNAP and Medicaid that 
     millions of people in the United States rely on to survive;
       (3) this spending gap will only grow with the proposed 
     plans for an additional $350,000,000,000 of defense spending 
     through budget reconciliation and upwards of $80,000,000,000 
     or more in supplemental defense spending requested to cover 
     operational shortfalls due to the unauthorized war with Iran; 
     and
       (4) Congress must reject this imbalanced approach to 
     Federal spending and commit to a budget strategy that 
     balances national security obligations with the urgent, 
     fundamental human needs of everyday people in the United 
     States.
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