Sheila Jackson Lee: “As a senior member of the Committees on the Judiciary and Homeland Security, I rise to speak on S. 1356, the National…”

“As a senior member of the Committees on the Judiciary and Homeland Security, I rise to speak on S. 1356, the National Defense Authorization Act for FY2016 Conference Agreement. I thank Armed Services Committee Chairman Thornberry and Ranking Member Smith for their work and collaboration with the Senate conferees in making the revisions to the NDAA needed to address the substantial and legitimate concerns raised by in the Statement of Administration Policy regarding the original NDAA (H.R. 1735). Mr. Speaker, S. 1356 authorizes $599 billion for the Pentagon and defense-related programs for FY 2016, $5 billion less than both the president's overall request and the original agreement. President Obama vetoed the original agreement on October 22, because he objected to its $38 billion in base defense funding in the uncapped Overseas Contingency Operations account. This had the effect of giving preferential treatment to defense spending over non-defense spending in violation of the Murray-Ryan Budget Agreement and contrary to the spirit of the even-handed pain resulting from sequestration. Because of the Bipartisan Budget Agreement reached last week, conferees were able to identify the $5 billion in reductions needed to conform to the requirements of the Murray-Ryan Budget Agreement.…”