Gregory Meeks: “I want to thank the distinguished chair of the House Armed Services Committee for all of his hard work in putting…”

“I want to thank the distinguished chair of the House Armed Services Committee for all of his hard work in putting together, as he was just closing, what I think is a bill that is one of the best--a lot of hard work that he has done. I thank the ranking member also. Madam Speaker, I rise today to speak in favor of passing this measure here before us today. Every year for the past six decades, Congress has passed a Defense authorization bill. This is an important bipartisan tradition, and I commend, as I said, Chairman Smith for his admirable work carrying out this legacy. Unfortunately, Congress has been asleep at the wheel when it comes to our State Department. We have not passed a comprehensive State Department authorization in nearly two decades. Congress has been attuned to defense for decades, but we have consistently left diplomacy out to dry. I am glad that tonight we will be ending this trend by passing out both a Defense authorization bill and a bipartisan State authorization bill contained therein. We need a State Department for the century ahead, not decades past, and my State authorization bill will now put us on that track. Now, no bill is perfect. Unfortunately, I am disappointed that there are some provisions that were not included in this NDAA.…”