Charles Skelton: “Mr. Chairman, I rise in very strong support of H.R. 1401, the National Defense Authorization Act. For some time now I…”

“Mr. Chairman, I rise in very strong support of H.R. 1401, the National Defense Authorization Act. For some time now I have been saying that we must make this the year of the troops. This bill goes a long way towards showing the men and women in our military that we are committed to taking care of them and committed to taking care of their families. This is an excellent bill, the best defense bill that we have had in this Chamber since the early 1980s. It deserves support from every Member in this House. Let me commend our colleague and friend, the Chairman of the Committee on Armed Services, the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Spence), and thank him, as well as the subcommittee chairmen and the ranking members of our committee, for their leadership and diligence in putting this legislation together. The overwhelming committee support, a vote of 55 to 1, approved this bill, demonstrates that we on our committee were successful in the efforts in drafting a truly bipartisan measure. This bill is a very strong bill for our United States national security, which builds upon the President's proposal to increase defense spending by $112 billion over the next 6 years. But, most important, Mr. Chairman, the bill addresses the quality of life issues that are at the top of the agenda for the service members and their families. This is the year of the troops.”