Howard P. "Buck" McKeon National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2015

Floor Speech

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Mr. GALLEGO. Mr. Chairman, I, too, would like to thank Chairman McKeon and Ranking Member Smith for their leadership. I am glad to have had the opportunity to work with and learn from each of them, and I certainly wish the chairman well in his future endeavors.

This legislation marks more than 50 years of bipartisan agreements on national defense. Not many committees in the U.S. Congress can say that. As a new Member, I am proud to be part of that tradition.

However, the bill only buys us a little time. Unless Congress provides relief from sequestration, next year's decisions will be exponentially more difficult. Yet we must do everything to be sure that our sons and daughters have what they need to be successful and safe, both at home and abroad. That means training or weapons or materials or supplies or equipment or machinery. Our sons and our daughters deserve the very best.

Texas is extremely proud of its connection to our military. Important installations like Fort Bliss, Laughlin Air Force Base, and Joint Base San Antonio are core parts of our economy and our communities. Texas is home to many of our warfighters--soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines--and both the civilian and military personnel who support them.

I, too, am proud to support our men and women in uniform. Thus, I urge all of my colleagues to support this bill and, like today, work in a bipartisan fashion that ends sequestration tomorrow, and from here on out, work in that same bipartisan fashion.

May God's blessings be upon all the men and women in uniform who are impacted by this bill and their families.

I want to thank Chairman McKeon and Ranking Member Smith. It was a pleasure working with them both on this bill.

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