[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 7]
[Senate]
[Page 9042]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                   NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, the massive cyber attack Americans just 
read about reminds us all of the need for action on this issue. 
Building America's public and private cyber defenses won't be easy. But 
the bipartisan cyber security measure that passed out of the 
Intelligence Committee with the support of every single Republican and 
every single Democrat but one, 14 to 1, will increase the ability of 
the public and private sector to share information and to make us 
safer. That is why we are going to take it up as part of the Defense 
authorization bill now before us.
  I hope Senators of both parties will come together to support that 
bipartisan amendment when it comes to a vote, just as we saw the Senate 
come together to keep the Defense authorization bill intact and 
consistent with the budget resolution by standing against the Reed 
amendment yesterday. It keeps us on track to pass bipartisan 
legislation that will support the men and women who keep us safe every 
day.
  There is something else worth noting about the vote, too. It means we 
have now taken twice as many amendment rollcall votes on this year's 
Defense authorization bill as we were allowed on the last two bills 
combined. Again, it means we have now taken twice as many amendment 
rollcall votes on this year's Defense authorization bill as were 
allowed in the last two bills combined. It is just the latest reminder 
of a new majority that is getting the Senate back on track and back to 
work.
  Unfortunately, some leaders of the previous majority seem bound and 
determined to get us back into their gridlock comfort season. At a time 
of grave threats to our Nation, these Democratic leaders think it is a 
good idea to hold brave servicemen and brave servicewomen hostage to 
partisan demands for more waste at the IRS and bigger congressional 
office budgets for themselves. Let me repeat. At a moment of dangerous 
and gathering threats, here is the position of these Democratic 
leaders: They want to hold hostage the funding needed to make our 
troops combat ready so they can spend more on bureaucracies such as the 
IRS.
  These Democratic leaders just can't seem to kick the gridlock habit, 
even on legislation with the exact same level of funding President 
Obama asked for in his own budget. They just can't shake their passion 
for partisanship, even on a bill that sailed out of committee on a 
hugely bipartisan vote of 22 to 4. That is how the Defense 
authorization bill came out of the committee: 22 to 4.
  That doesn't mean the rest of their party has to go along with it. I 
am appealing to every commonsense Democrat--every Democrat 
uncomfortable with the thought of holding our troops and our families 
to ransom for unrelated partisan demands--to keep working across the 
aisle in good faith, instead, because many of our colleagues understand 
the true sacrifice and unparalleled value of the nearly 1.5 million 
Active-Duty men and women who proudly wear our country's uniform, the 
1.1 million members of the Reserve and National Guard, and the more 
than 700,000 civilian officials who stand in support, not to mention 
the many veterans and families who enrich our country and our 
communities.
  We certainly understand their value in Kentucky. We are proud to host 
several important military bases across the Commonwealth. I wish to 
tell my colleagues about just one of them today.
  Fort Campbell is home to approximately 30,000 Army personnel, 
including vital Special Operations units and the famed 101st Airborne 
Division. Units from Fort Campbell have bravely served as the tip of 
the spear in executing the U.S. global war on terror, with the 101st 
Airborne deploying as the first conventional unit in its support.
  It was soldiers from Fort Campbell who proudly answered the call to 
assist with the delicate Ebola mission in West Africa, and it is Fort 
Campbell's unrivaled aviation infrastructure that provides the Army 
with the critical ability to rapidly deploy servicemembers to volatile 
regions.
  It is obvious that Fort Campbell means a lot to our country, and I 
can't tell my colleagues how much it means to Kentucky. It means a lot 
to its local community, too, especially considering the fact that it 
has an annual economic impact of $5 billion to the surrounding area.
  This, of course, is hardly a unique story in America. From coast to 
coast, there is no end of examples of how our troops and our military 
enrich the fabric of our communities while at the same time keeping us 
safe. They are our neighbors. They are our friends. They are our 
daughters. They are our sons. They are not chess pieces for Democratic 
leaders to wield in some partisan game.
  If Democratic leaders are really that worried about fattening up the 
IRS or adding a new coat of paint to their congressional offices, we 
can have that discussion, but let's leave our troops out of it and 
leave their families out of it.

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