Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I rise today to support the Department of Defense Appropriations Act. I thank Chairwoman Granger and Ranking Member Visclosky for bringing this bill to the floor. This bill helps to close gaps in readiness while making investments in research and development. These investments are critically important because I guarantee our adversaries know where we have work to do. Mr. Speaker, I represent a congressional district home to two Army bases, the NSA, several National Guard facilities, and dozens of our private sector partners. I serve on the board of the United States Naval Academy, and I co-chair the Army Caucus. My experience tells me we are living in a world that has changed since our Armed Forces entered the Middle East 16 years ago. While our men and women in uniform fought asymmetric foes, our near-peer adversaries such as Russia and China made advancements in technology that threaten to degrade our military qualitative advantage. This appropriations bill ensures our troops are ready and that we have enough of them to get the job done. It fully funds the new end strength number and allows for a 2.1 percent pay raise for our troops. This is the least we can do for the brave men and women who sacrifice for our country. This bill also deters Russian aggression by fully funding the European Reassurance Initiative, and makes critical investments in missile defense technology.…”