The United States Needs to Remain Engaged, Prepared, and Powerful
‘The growing global unrest should be a lesson to us as the Senate gets ready to turn to the National Defense Authorization Act later this week. I know my colleagues on both sides share my hope that this year’s NDAA can build on the successes of the past two years… It’s essential we continue rebuilding our military by authorizing sufficient support to modernize and sustain the advantages that America’s all-volunteer armed forces have over our adversaries.’
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks on the Senate floor regarding the upcoming Senate debate on the National Defense Authorization Act:
“All these events I’ve discussed, from Iran’s misbehavior to China’s aggressiveness, underscore one thing very clearly: The United States needs to remain engaged, prepared, and powerful. We need to leave zero doubt among our friends and allies, our most violent foes, and everybody in between: While the United States does not seek conflict, we must be prepared to decisively defeat our adversaries if conflict is forced upon us. That’s deterrence.
“The growing global unrest should be a lesson to us as the Senate gets ready to turn to the National Defense Authorization Act later this week. I know my colleagues on both sides share my hope that this year’s NDAA can build on the successes of the past two years. Our first obligation to the American people is to ensure for their defense. It’s essential we continue rebuilding our military by authorizing sufficient support to modernize and sustain the advantages that America’s all-volunteer armed forces have over our adversaries.
“Working with the Trump Administration in recent years, we’ve been able to end a chapter of harmful spending cuts that had left military leaders less able to address emerging challenges. As a result, last year’s legislation -- named for our dear colleague, the late John McCain -- authorized the largest year-on-year increase in defense funding in fifteen years. The bill introduced last week is a step further toward implementing our important new National Defense Strategy. Toward renewing the readiness and lethality of our forces. Toward making sure that we never ask brave American men and women to step into harm’s way without all possible tools and training to help them succeed.
“This crucial legislation has a chance to be a major bipartisan success story of this Congress. It’s already off to an encouraging start, having been voted out of the Armed Services Committee by an overwhelmingly bipartisan margin. And it’s easy to see why. As great-power competitors like Russia and China continue to challenge U.S. interests, this NDAA will help maintain and expand our alliances and partnerships, along with our own ability to stand firm.
“The bill puts readiness front and center. In recent decades, our most formidable competitors have taken every opportunity to deploy new technological threats. Keeping American and allied servicemembers out of harm’s way means keeping up with these developments — and outpacing them. The bill takes steps to expand oversight and increase efficiency at the Pentagon. And it honors the tremendous sacrifices made by servicemembers and their families by securing the largest pay raise in a decade, along with several other important reforms.”
Related Issues: National Security, America's Military, NDAA
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