Michael Waltz: “With 23 years of service as a Green Beret, as a special operator with tours in the White House and the Pentagon, I can…”

“With 23 years of service as a Green Beret, as a special operator with tours in the White House and the Pentagon, I can assure my colleagues that my primary focus is the Floridians I represent and the troops downrange. There are many things that I support in this bill: support and greater benefits for Gold Star families--although some of those recently introduced are not fully funded; restricting additional contracting with the Maduro regime; fully authorizing the Navy's anti- submarine warfare capability; and, of course, the emerging Space Corps. But I would describe this bill is, in many ways, necessary, but in a whole, not sufficient, particularly in seeking to close Guantanamo Bay without sufficient alternatives that previous administrations and Congresses have all, I think, sought to do in good faith; tying the President's hands in protecting the border and on Iran; and, of course, a wholly insufficient top line, as we have discussed here today, to deal with the global threat that remains on terrorism, to deal with China, to deal with Russia, Iran, North Korea, and other near-peer threats. Mr. Chairman, I hope this bill improves, sincerely, with amendments on the floor to be worthy of the men and women downrange defending this great country.”