Jim Inhofe: “We are at the point now where I would like to make a few comments, and I would like to ask our ranking member to make…”

“We are at the point now where I would like to make a few comments, and I would like to ask our ranking member to make some comments. This has been a long time in the making. I have said several times on the floor that this, in my opinion, is the most important bill of the year. It is something we have done every year. This will be the 60th consecutive year that we have actually done this bill. It is never easy. One reason it is not easy is because everybody knows it is going to pass, so people want to be a part of it and put their many amendments that aren't even germane on this bill. We are now to the point where, in just a few minutes, we are going to be voting on the final passage of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021. When Senator Reed and I introduced this bill, we thought we had a good bill. The bill was really led by the Members. This never happened before. We started off with over 700 requests and amendments so that the Members themselves have drawn this bill together. It is not as if it is put together by a committee; it was put together by all of us here in the Chamber. The committee approved it 25 to 2. That is overwhelming. I think everyone understands that. We filed it with the hopes of adding a few more amendments on the Senate floor. We did that. We added more than 140 amendments altogether. We even had some debates and rollcall votes on amendments, something we haven't done probably in the last 5 years or so.…”