National Defense Authorization Bill

Floor Speech

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Mr. BROWN. Mr. President, today we came together to pass important bipartisan legislation to strengthen our national security and invest in American jobs.

Many of my colleagues of both parties have helped get the National Defense Authorization Act over the finish line. I particularly want to thank my colleague Senator Portman from my State, who worked with our office to secure important Ohio priorities, and Senator Inhofe and my friend Jack Reed, who served so well on the Banking Committee in addition to the work he has done on unemployment insurance and on military issues, and Senator Crapo, my colleague from Idaho, as we worked on securing and fortifying our national interests when it comes to foreign investments. All of these colleagues of mine worked with the conference committee to get our agencies new tools to screen Chinese and other foreign investments for national security threats.

This bill would not have been possible without the leadership of one Senator in particular; that is, the senior Senator from Arizona. Senator McCain's leadership on this legislation and throughout his career is why this Congress honored him through the naming of this bill--the John McCain National Defense Authorization Act. That is a rare honor. Congress rarely honors its own. We all know we all have feet of clay and don't put our friends here up on a pedestal, but for a few lions in the Senate, including Sam Nunn, John Warner, Ike Skelton, Carl Levin, and now John McCain, we have done that.

It honors his commitment to our national security through the John S. McCain Strategic Defense Fellows Program--fitting tributes to the service and sacrifice of a man like John McCain. We know his story--how a young Navy pilot was captured behind enemy lines, yet he never wavered in his commitment to his fellow POWs in Vietnam.

I have had my disagreements with him. We all have. But we have always respected each other. He has been a leader whom almost all of us from both parties have relied on for guidance, including national security issues and on issues when, in my first year in the Senate, I worked with Senator McCain on keeping down the costs of prescription drugs.

He has been a critical fighter for sanctions to hold our adversaries accountable. Last year, we worked together, along with Senators Crapo, Schumer, Graham, Rubio, Corker, and Cardin, to pass tough, new sanctions on Russia, Iran, and North Korea.

He has always been clear that we don't only honor the rule of law or refrain from torture when it is easy or convenient. He authored a 2015 amendment to prohibit the use of torture as an interrogation method.

He has been forceful in defending our allies against Russian aggression in Crimea and Georgia and Montenegro. After the Helsinki summit, Senator McCain--one of the few Republicans in this body who is willing to call the President out when he does something, especially on foreign soil, to attack the United States of America--spoke out forcefully against the President cozying up to Putin and his attacks on journalists.

He said: ``The President [of the United States, Donald Trump,] made a conscious choice to defend a tyrant against the fair questions of a free press, and to grant Putin an uncontested platform to spew propaganda and lies to the world.''

He said: ``All that makes us who we are--a republic of free people dedicated to the cause of liberty at home and abroad.''

Those words stood out because so few Republicans were willing to utter them.

Throughout his life and career, he has lived the motto of ``country first.'' I thank my colleague from Arizona for his work on the National Defense Authorization Act this year. I look forward to continuing our work together to protect our national security and together to serve the people of this great country.

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