Jim Inhofe: “it is my understanding that the minority leader was going to be here, but we are getting very close to the time we…”

“it is my understanding that the minority leader was going to be here, but we are getting very close to the time we actually cast our vote at 10:30--just 20 more minutes. In the event that the minority leader comes, I will dispense with my remarks and defer to him. It is my honor to present the 60th annual National Defense Authorization Act. For 59 straight years--you can't say this about any other piece of legislation, all year or anytime, except the Defense authorization bill--we have passed this bill. We have passed this bill every year for 59 years, and this will be 60 years, and I anticipate that we will pass it now. There isn't much that happens around the Capitol that has a track record like that. Maybe I am biased, and maybe in some people's minds I am wrong, but I think this is the most important bill of the year. I really believe that. I have believed that since 1987, and this is something that we have to do. There is an old document nobody reads anymore called the Constitution. In there it tells us what we need to be doing, and that is exactly what we are going to be doing today: providing for our defense. So it is simple what this bill does. It makes our country more secure. It supports our troops who defend it. Right now this couldn't be more important. As President Trump's national defense strategy tells us, we are up against the most serious threats we have seen maybe forever.…”