Statement By SASC Chairman John McCain On President Trump Signing Into Law the National Defense Authorization Act

Press Release

U.S. Senator John McCain (R-AZ), Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, released the following statement today on President Trump signing into law the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2018 (NDAA):

"I am encouraged that the President today signed into law the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2018, which authorizes nearly $700 billion of spending for national defense. The NDAA authorizes the resources and provides the policies necessary to begin the process of rebuilding our military--and it is the result of an open and bipartisan legislative process.

"For too long, cuts to the defense budget have crippled military readiness and put the lives of our service members in danger. We have seen the results of those unconscionable budget cuts: sailors and marines are working 100-hour work weeks, the Air Force is short 1,500 pilots, only a handful of Army brigades are combat-ready, and more service members are being killed and injured in routine training accidents than by our enemies in combat. This is unacceptable and entirely avoidable. We cannot delay any longer in providing our service members the resources they deserve.

"We must remember that the NDAA is only part of the solution to the problems facing our Armed Forces. Congress and the White House must expeditiously work to negotiate a bipartisan budget agreement to secure this critical funding for our military instead of again forcing the Department of Defense to tread water by passing another Continuing Resolution. A multi-year budget agreement providing substantial, sustained growth in defense spending is the only way to give our men and women in uniform the resources they need to keep us safe."

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