National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2024--Conference Report--Motion to Proceed

Floor Speech

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Mr. REED. Mr. President, I rise to express my support for the fiscal year 2024 National Defense Authorization Act. I am glad that we have just brought the NDAA conference report to the floor.

First, I would like to acknowledge Senator Roger Wicker, Chairman Mike Rogers, and Representative Adam Smith, whose partnership has been critical for the success of this bill.

The hallmark of the Senate and House Armed Services Committees has long been bipartisanship, and I am glad we have continued that tradition for the 63rd consecutive year.

I would also like to thank my colleagues on the Senate and House Armed Services Committees who helped produce this bill, as well as Leader Schumer, Leader McConnell, Speaker Johnson, and Leader Jeffries, who facilitated a thorough debate and enabled all Members to engage in the process. We were able to negotiate hundreds of provisions between both Chambers over the past few months--the most in many years.

This is a strong, forward-looking bill that I think we can all be proud of. This NDAA is laser-focused on the threats we face. It addresses a broad range of pressing issues, from strategic competition with China and Russia to countering threats from Iran, North Korea, violent extremists, and climate change. The bill authorizes record level investments in key technologies, like hypersonics and artificial intelligence, and makes real progress toward modernizing our ships, aircraft, and combat vehicles.

Most importantly, this NDAA provides a historic level of support for our troops and their families, including the largest pay raise in decades.

I am confident it will provide the Department of Defense and our military men and women with the resources they need to meet and overcome the national security threats we face.

I would like to take this opportunity, also, to recognize the incredible staff who have made this bill possible. Senator Wicker will, I am sure, speak on behalf of the minority staff in just a moment, but I wanted to specifically recognize the director of the Democratic staff, Elizabeth King, and the director of the Republican staff, John Keast. They did a remarkable job, and they have led their staffs with professionalism and skill.

I would also like to thank the members of the Armed Services Committee staff: Jody Bennett, Carolyn Chuhta, Jon Clark, Jenny Davis, Jonathan Epstein, Jorie Feldman, Kevin Gates, Creighton Greene, Gary Leeling, Kirk McConnell, Maggie McNamara Cooper, Bill Monahan, Meredith Werner, Mike Noblet, John Quirk, Andy Scott, Cole Stevens, Isabelle Picciotti, Alison Warner, Leah Brewer, Sean Jones, Joe Gallo, Brittany Amador, Griffin Cannon, Sofia Kamali, Chad Johnson, Julia Coulter, Vannary Kong, Noah Sisk, Zachary Volpe, and, once again, staff director Elizabeth King.

That was a long list, but it is a fraction of what they have put into this, in terms of time and effort, and we could not have accomplished this without them.

I want to thank the floor staff and the leadership for all they have done to make this possible.

Finally, I urge all my colleagues to support this excellent bill.

With that, I will yield the floor.

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