[Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 115 (Wednesday, July 15, 2026)]
[Senate]
[Page S4095]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                   National Defense Authorization Act

  Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, few votes in this body are as important 
as the vote to fund our troops, our military.
  Yesterday, right here on this floor, the U.S. Senate--every single 
Democrat--voted to block that funding. And just 10 minutes ago, the 
minority leader came to the floor and bragged about the fact that the 
Democrats had blocked the funding for our military. He stood here and 
said they are proud of the fact that they are, once again, choosing 
politics over the security of our Nation.
  That is what we're facing here in the U.S. Senate today. We're 
talking about the National Defense Authorization Act, and this Congress 
has passed this bipartisan National Defense Authorization Act every 
year for the past 65 years.
  And when it came to the floor of the Senate yesterday, the minority 
leader said to the Democrats: Say no. Say no to the military.
  I am going to go through the list of all the things they said no to 
yesterday. This year should be no different than the other years--65 
years in a row.

  This year's Defense bill gives our military every tool it needs to 
keep us, as Americans, safe. It invests in peace through strength at 
home and abroad. Importantly, this bill provides a pay raise for the 
men and women who defend our Nation.
  Every single Democrat in this Chamber joined Senator Schumer, joined 
Bernie Sanders, and joined Elizabeth Warren and said: No, we are not 
voting for it. We are not voting for it.
  That is what they said. They refused to allow the debate to even 
begin. This was before the bill even started the debate here on the 
floor of the Senate. And it is interesting because many of them flip-
flopped. What do I mean by that? It means that, first, many of them 
voted for the bill in the committee in order to send it to the floor. 
Then it gets to the floor, and what happens? All of them vote to block 
it from even beginning the debate. Apparently, Democrats were for it 
before they were against it.
  Here is what Democrats voted against: They voted against higher pay 
for our troops. They voted against better healthcare for our service 
members and their families. Democrats voted against better housing for 
our troops. Democrats voted against stronger deterrence. Democrats 
voted against a more lethal military. Democrats voted against a larger, 
stronger Navy.
  Democrats even voted against a modern nuclear deterrent. Don't we 
want to deter nuclear war? This is at a time when nuclear weapons are 
proliferating all around the world. In my home State of Wyoming, we 
have F.E. Warren Air Force Base. The airmen who serve there are the 
lynchpin of our land-based nuclear force. The deterrence there has been 
known over the decades as our Nation's ``ace in the hole.'' That is how 
it works--the desire to protect us as a nation.
  Democrats voted against all of it. They actually even voted against 
expanding our military recruitment effort. They don't want us to be 
able to recruit for the military, and they don't want the military to 
be properly funded and equipped in a way that protects us as a nation.
  Democrats actually even voted against more savings for taxpayers. 
Democrats voted against protecting women's sports at our military 
schools. No, they don't want any of that. Democrats voted against 
promotions based on merit and merit alone: Oh, no. You have merited and 
earned a promotion? No, you are not getting it on merit alone.
  That is who the Democrats have become. That is the threat to our 
Nation--this far-leftist group that is telling the Democrats here on 
the floor of the Senate what to do. And for things that had been 
bipartisan in the past, they said: No, we can't do that anymore.
  This far-left wing of the party is telling us what to do and how to 
march in step.
  Democrats voted against ending harmful DEI mandates. They voted 
against stronger border security. They like open borders. They don't 
want border security. They voted against funding to combat against the 
cartels that are moving poison into the country--killing young people 
in record numbers. Democrats voted against stopping the flood of deadly 
drugs and illegal border crossings.
  Just 2 days ago, right here on the Senate floor, the Senator from 
Maryland, Senator Chris Van Hollen, said this: Missile defense--to 
defend against incoming missiles for the American people--was wasteful 
spending.
  It is remarkable. Defending the country is wasteful spending. That is 
who the Democrats have become.
  The Democrats act like pennypinchers when it comes to paying our 
troops to protect our homeland; yet, they accept the astronomical cost 
of the waste, the fraud, and the abuse--free healthcare for illegal 
immigrants, the fraud that is happening like we are seeing in 
Minnesota, and all of those things. The Democrats are for all of that, 
but they are not for our troops, and they are not for defending our 
Nation. That is the Democrat Party of today.
  The Democrats of today are radical; they are extreme; they are 
dangerous; they are scary. Well, the world is a dangerous place, and by 
voting against the National Defense Authorization Act, the Democrats 
are disrespecting the American troops; they are undermining American 
security; and Democrats are jeopardizing America's strength.
  Look, our friend Lindsey Graham believed in peace through strength. I 
do, as well as do most Americans--but not the Democrat Party of today. 
It is time for us to act on that belief: that America is best when we 
are strong and it helps make us more safe. It is time for the Senate to 
pass a bipartisan National Defense Authorization Act, and it is time 
for Democrats to act like Americans.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Sheehy). Without objection, it is so 
ordered.
  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the scheduled 
vote at noon now begin immediately.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.