[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 6]
[Senate]
[Page 7463]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                  NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION BILL

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, the men and women who sign up to defend 
our Nation don't ask for much, but our Nation certainly asks a lot of 
them. They sacrifice on our behalf every day. They deserve the kind of 
support that the National Defense Authorization Act before us can 
provide. It will honor commitments to veterans, servicemembers, and 
their families. It will authorize raises, support Wounded Warriors, and 
improve military benefits and health care. We need to pass it. The 
Democratic leader needs to stop preventing us from doing so.
  Yesterday in his opening remarks, he claimed he was holding up the 
bill because he hadn't had the chance to read it--then talked about a 
new book he is reading.
  Today in his opening remarks he will surely make more excuses for 
Democrats not to do their jobs--then head to a press conference titled 
``Do Your Job.''
  You can't make this stuff up. But it is not funny.
  Look, we get it. Democrats want to run TV ads claiming the Senate 
can't get anything done. They know that is a really tough sell. They 
know the only chance to make it work is by slow-walking bills they 
actually support.
  Democrats don't actually want to be on record opposing our troops 
before Memorial Day, so they support the bill in public then bog it 
down in private and cover with one embarrassing excuse after the next: 
We haven't read it. It was written in secret. The dog ate it. It is 
just embarrassing.
  As the chairman of the Armed Services Committee said, ``We need to 
move forward with this legislation. We need to move forward with it 
now, for the sake of our men and women who are serving and defending 
this Nation and putting their lives on the line.'' He is right.
  So here is an idea. How about Democrats skip talking about doing 
their jobs at a press conference and actually do their jobs instead? 
They can follow the lead of this Republican majority--a majority that 
continues to do its job--and show how important things can be 
accomplished for the American people as a result. So no more needless 
delays, no more embarrassing excuses, and no more blocking benefits for 
the men and women of our military. Let's work together to get this 
done. We have already seen what is possible in the Republican-led 
Senate when we do.

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