[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 12]
[House]
[Page 16278]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                            NDAA VETO THREAT

  (Mr. STEWART asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. STEWART. Mr. Speaker, I think this is absolutely nuts. Yesterday 
the House and the Senate sent the President the National Defense 
Authorization bill requesting his signature, which he has now 
threatened to veto.
  I was an Air Force pilot for 14 years, and I sit on the House 
Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. I understand how critical 
it is that our military be prepared; and to be prepared, they have to 
be adequately funded.
  Vetoing NDAA means that we simply don't provide authorization for 
funding for our troops. It means we cut our military readiness. It 
means we can't continue our fight against ISIS. It cuts such critical 
programs that protect us as our missile defense program. I just simply 
don't understand it.
  The President doesn't have any specific objections to this bill. It 
funds to the exact level that he has requested. By doing this, the 
President has ignored the primary responsibility that the Federal 
Government has to defend and protect the United States.
  I hope that the President will not fail in that responsibility. I 
hope he will sign this critically important bill.

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