William M. ``Mac'' Thornberry: “I commend the gentleman from New Jersey for his leadership and for bringing this measure to the floor. Mr. Speaker, the…”

“I commend the gentleman from New Jersey for his leadership and for bringing this measure to the floor. Mr. Speaker, the bill the gentleman brought to the floor on Wednesday, just the day before yesterday, passed the House, passed the Senate, and it was signed into law by the President last night. So the argument that you can't fund any of the government unless you fund all of the government is, obviously, not true. Every single Member of the House voted for the bill that the gentleman from New Jersey brought to the floor that was dealing with military death benefits. We have set priorities. We have said the military has to be paid, and this bill also sets priorities because the nuclear deterrent is absolutely central to our national security just as the military is. For 60 years, the centerpiece of our country's security has been the nuclear deterrent that has helped keep us secure. These are aging weapons, however, and so that means there are maintenance issues, there are safety issues, there are reliability issues, which a very highly skilled, dedicated workforce must address every single day. So that's what this bill does. This allows that work to continue, as well as the very important work in dealing with nonproliferation, as well as keeping our nuclear-powered ships operating. All of those things central to our country's security are empowered by this bill. {time} 0945 Mr.…”