Jim Inhofe: “we are here today to pass the NDAA, the National Defense Authorization Act. It has just passed the procedural vote so we…”

“we are here today to pass the NDAA, the National Defense Authorization Act. It has just passed the procedural vote so we are ready for the vote that is going to take place tomorrow. It is the 59th year in a row that we will be passing the NDAA, and that is because it is the most important bill Congress will be doing all year and one that fulfills our constitutional responsibilities, and that is to defend America. There is a document nobody reads anymore that is called the Constitution. If you read that document, it tells you what we are supposed to be doing here, which is providing for the common defense or, simply put, defending America and all who call it home. This conference report does exactly that. It is a testament to the good work we can accomplish when we work together, and I am talking about Democrats and Republicans of both parties in the House and Senate. The bill has been a long time coming. We started working on it last January, 11 months ago, holding hearings with military leaders about what resources they needed around the world. We started drafting it not long after, and in May we passed the bill out of our committee. We passed the bill out of committee by a 25-to-2 vote. That doesn't happen very often on big bills. In June, we debated on the floor and incorporated more than 90 bipartisan amendments before it passed with an overwhelming bipartisan vote of 86 to 8.…”