[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 6]
[Senate]
[Pages 8650-8651]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                  NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION BILL

  Mr. McCAIN. Mr. President, I want to thank the 85 members who voted 
for the bill, and I would like to criticize the 13 who voted against 
it.
  I think this is a good bill. I want to thank Senator Reed for his 
cooperation and the effort that has been made in our committee on a 
bipartisan basis. If it were not for his cooperation and assistance and 
partnership--equal partnership--we would not have been able to have a 
bill of these significant numbers.
  I want to thank the Members for their votes. But I would also like to 
point out that, as happy as I am about the size of the vote, we left 
out some very important amendments. Particularly, we left out one that 
has to do with interpreters who are being slaughtered as we speak 
because they are the No. 1 targets for the Taliban and for ISIS.
  As I take pleasure in the size of the vote, I would also urge my 
colleagues that when we take up a bill of this significance, not every 
Senator can have his or her way. Not every Senator can have their 
amendment, particularly when it is not agreed to on the other side. So 
I have to say, I blame a few Senators who believe it is their way or 
the highway. I hope that when we move forward with other legislation, 
we can have amendments, debate, and vote. That is what the Senate is 
supposed to be about.
  Finally, I again thank Senator Reed and his staff for all of their 
cooperation and assistance. We intend to go to conference and get a 
bill to the President's desk.
  I would point out to my colleagues that this legislation is probably 
the biggest reform enacted by the Senate Armed Services Committee and 
the Senate since Goldwater-Nichols some 30 years ago. There are 
fundamental reforms in the military and how they do business, and that 
is very badly needed.
  We had a hearing a couple of weeks ago about an F-35. The first time 
the F-35 began production was 15 years ago. I change one of these every 
18 months. Our acquisition system is broken; it needs to be fixed. 
There are billions and billions of dollars of cost overruns that we 
need to fix if we are going to have the confidence of the American 
people in their tax dollars being spent wisely.
  Again, I thank my friend and colleague from Rhode Island.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Rhode Island.
  Mr. REED. Mr. President, let me commend and thank the chairman on his 
leadership. He began this process with great deliberation months ago by 
bringing together experts on defense organization--experts on military 
and strategic policy. Through a series of many hearings, we were able 
to craft significant legislation reforming the operations of the 
Department of Defense. We will now go to conference and begin to work 
to improve that legislation. I think improvements can be made with 
respect to the changes in the context of Goldwater-Nichols 
reorganization. But I think the chairman's leadership was absolutely 
essential and incredibly productive in this process.
  We have had debate on a number of issues on the floor. I think we are 
now at the point where we should be, not only continuing our efforts to 
get this bill passed but, once again, underscoring the need to 
eliminate sequestration, which is looming on the horizon. When we don't 
have the relief afforded by last year's temporary agreement, we will be 
dealing with numbers that will not allow our military to perform their 
basic mission of protecting the United States. Therefore, we have to 
start working on this issue of sequestration. As I suggested, it 
applies not only to the Department of Defense but to other agencies of 
the Federal Government.
  Through the very careful leadership of the chairman, we were able to 
come up with a working and I think workable compromise with respect to 
Russian engines without surrendering the basic principle that the 
chairman had enunciated that we should not be relying on Russian 
engines to send our technology into space.
  As the chairman also indicated, there are several issues that we 
could not reach consensus on and which deserve not only a vote but in 
many cases deserve passage.
  Senator Shaheen has worked tirelessly. I have never seen a colleague 
work so intensely, so thoughtfully, so professionally, literally going 
from office to office asking for support for the Afghan interpreters--
individuals who have already been targeted in many cases because of 
their help to the United States. If we don't have this legislation 
passed, then not only will we send a terrible message to these 
individuals who have served with us and sacrificed along with us, but 
also to succeeding generations who will not come to our aid because 
they are afraid of the consequences. So not only looking back at 
justice and equity for people who helped us but looking forward to 
being able to operate in not just Afghanistan but other areas of the 
world, I think it was necessary to not only bring up the Shaheen 
amendment but to pass it.
  As the chairman pointed out, Senator Gillibrand has a very important 
amendment with respect to sexual assault in the military. She has done 
remarkable work with respect to the Uniform Code of Military Justice. 
She has worked very closely with many colleagues.
  I must also thank Senator Claire McCaskill for her extraordinary 
efforts. There are many provisions in this bill that Senator Gillibrand 
has included, but there is one very important to her about the role of 
the commander. That issue deserves a debate. Like the chairman, I do 
not agree with the conclusion, but I certainly believe that she should 
have had a vote.
  Senator Murray also came here with a very important amendment, 
cryopreservation for soldiers. As they go overseas and they do want to 
have a family, there is the risk in battle which could prevent that, 
and this is a procedure which would allow them not only to serve their 
country but in the event of them being wounded, they could still have a 
family. Again, many people have different views on this particular 
amendment, but I believe a vote would have been in order.
  These are three issues, but these issues cannot undercut the 
incredible reforms that the chairman inspired with the bill and the 
thoughtful debate and ultimately the conclusion--strong bipartisan 
support for this initiative.

[[Page 8651]]

  I want to thank the staff because we could not have done this without 
them. I want to particularly thank Chris Brose and all of his 
colleagues on the Republican side. They did a remarkable job.
  I want to individually thank my staff: Jody Bennett, Carolyn Chuhta, 
Jon Clark, Jonathan Epstein, Jon Green, Creighton Greene, Ozge Guzelsu, 
Mike Kuiken, Gary Leeling, Kirk McConnell, Maggie McNamara, Mike 
Noblet, John Quirk, Arun Seraphin, and my staff director, Elizabeth 
King.
  Let me thank the floor staff too. Without Gary and Laura and others 
on the floor, we would not have gotten to a conclusion.
  With that Mr. President, I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Arizona.
  Mr. McCAIN. Mr. President, I thank my friend from Rhode Island and 
look forward to the conference and, for the 54th straight year, 
completing a bill where the Congress of the United States sends to the 
President and the President signs into law the National Defense 
Authorization Act.
  I don't know of a greater responsibility that we have, and, despite 
our differences and issues, I think that was why the vote was as 
overwhelming as it was today. Unfortunately, the two Senators from 
Idaho were uninformed on the importance of this issue.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor.
  Mr. REED. I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. PERDUE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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