Rodney Frelinghuysen: “I thank the chairman for yielding. I thank him for his leadership, and I thank Ranking Member Lowey as well. They both…”

“I thank the chairman for yielding. I thank him for his leadership, and I thank Ranking Member Lowey as well. They both deserve credit for moving this bill. As we begin consideration of this important legislation this afternoon, I want to pay tribute to the men and women of our Armed Forces, all volunteers. They deserve our heartfelt thanks for their dedicated service and sacrifice. That is also extended to the professionals in our intelligence community. These men and women-- whether in uniform or not--deserve greater certainty, stability, and predictability in their lives, something that they have often lacked as a result of a flawed congressional budget process over the last several years, which we seek to reestablish today as regular order. And, frankly, so do the American people. They deserve better. The centerpiece of this comprehensive package, the engine that drives this bill is our House defense bill, which passed in June with overwhelmingly bipartisan support. Like that bill, this measure assures a strong national defense posture against terrorist groups like ISIL and al Qaeda, and challenges from nation- states like Russia, China, and Iran, and it addresses the Ebola epidemic. This bill provides $554 billion in new spending authority for the Department of Defense and our intelligence community, and it includes $64 billion for overseas contingency operations.…”