Discussion · House of Representatives
Mike Rogers Republican
“I want the House to pass this military funding bill. Both parties worked together to write it. It fixes years of neglect in our military and makes our armed forces strong enough to deter China and other enemies.”
“Mr. Chair, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Chair, I will start by thanking my good friend, Adam Smith, the ranking member of the Committee on Armed Services, for his work on this bill. Again, this year, we have continued to work in a bipartisan fashion to lead the Committee on Armed Services, and we have done this for years. I could not have a better partner in doing that. Folks really need to take note of this, because this is the largest piece of authorizing legislation that moves through the Congress. It authorizes over half of all discretionary spending. We lead this committee in a bipartisan fashion. We passed this bill out of committee in a bipartisan fashion, and that doesn’t just happen. That occurs because of leadership that we get from both sides of the aisle. The staff take their cue from the chair and the ranking member--and other Members do--when we conduct our business, and we do it in a bipartisan fashion. It is so important. We are talking about our Nation’s security. We are talking about our men and women who put their lives at risk for our Nation, for the families involved. We want them to know that this is not political gamesmanship that is leading up here. This is Members working in a serious, focused fashion to try to get good policy developed that will make their lives better and keep our Nation free and safe. Adam Smith just does a great job in leading the committee. When he was chair, he led by example, and he has continued to lead by example as ranking member, and I appreciate that. I also thank the staff for their work. We have an incredible professional staff on the Committee on Armed Services on both sides of the aisle. They do follow our lead, and they work in a very collaborative fashion, and I thank them for that. We had a little over a thousand Member provisions submitted to our committee before the markup. We had 1,200 amendments offered during committee markup and 1,400 amendments here. The staff had to go through all of that and work it up, and they have just done it in a very professional fashion. I also thank House legislative counsel, CBO, and the Parliamentarian for their leadership and staff in developing this bill to the point it is at today. Mr. Chairman, a couple of weeks ago, we celebrated the 250th anniversary of our independence. But as many of you know, the Army, Navy, and Marine Corps are each celebrating their 251st birthday this year. That is because in 1775, the Continental Congress knew we needed a professional fighting force to secure our freedom. It was a bold and courageous act that shocked the British and the world. I am certainly not asking for Congress to do anything that courageous. But for the sake of guaranteeing our freedom well into the future, we need to act now to reverse decades of underinvestment and neglect in our Armed Forces and our defense industrial base. This bill will do that and much more. It will build the ready, capable, and lethal fighting force we need to deter China and other adversaries. I know there are provisions in this bill that some folks disagree with, but understand that this is just a single step in a long process. Everyone should know that we will continue to work in a bipartisan manner as we make our way through the Conference committee. We will work to produce a bill that can best pass both Chambers and be signed into law. I urge all Members to help us reach that goal by supporting this bill today and moving it along. Mr. Chair, I urge a ``yes’’ vote, and I yield back the balance of my time.”
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Speech on a bill
Signal 39 of 100
Much of this statement went to praise, blame, greetings, routine procedure or general stories rather than reasons, requests or specific points.
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Mr. Chair, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Chair, I will start by thanking my good friend, Adam Smith, the ranking member of the Committee on Armed Services, for his work on this bill. Again, this year, we have continued to work in a bipartisan fashion to lead the Committee on Armed Services, and we have done this for years. I could not have a better partner in doing that. Folks really need to take note of this, because this is the largest piece of authorizing legislation that moves through the Congress. It authorizes over half of all discretionary spending. We lead this committee in a bipartisan fashion. We passed this bill out of committee in a bipartisan fashion, and that doesn’t just happen. That occurs because of leadership that we get from both sides of the aisle. The staff take their cue from the chair and the ranking member--and other Members do--when we conduct our business, and we do it in a bipartisan fashion. It is so important. We are talking about our Nation’s security. We are talking about our men and women who put their lives at risk for our Nation, for the families involved. We want them to know that this is not political gamesmanship that is leading up here. This is Members working in a serious, focused fashion to try to get good policy developed that will make their lives better and keep our Nation free and safe. Adam Smith just does a great job in leading the committee. When he was chair, he led by example, and he has continued to lead by example as ranking member, and I appreciate that. I also thank the staff for their work. We have an incredible professional staff on the Committee on Armed Services on both sides of the aisle. They do follow our lead, and they work in a very collaborative fashion, and I thank them for that. We had a little over a thousand Member provisions submitted to our committee before the markup. We had 1,200 amendments offered during committee markup and 1,400 amendments here. The staff had to go through all of that and work it up, and they have just done it in a very professional fashion. I also thank House legislative counsel, CBO, and the Parliamentarian for their leadership and staff in developing this bill to the point it is at today. Mr. Chairman, a couple of weeks ago, we celebrated the 250th anniversary of our independence. But as many of you know, the Army, Navy, and Marine Corps are each celebrating their 251st birthday this year. That is because in 1775, the Continental Congress knew we needed a professional fighting force to secure our freedom. It was a bold and courageous act that shocked the British and the world. I am certainly not asking for Congress to do anything that courageous. But for the sake of guaranteeing our freedom well into the future, we need to act now to reverse decades of underinvestment and neglect in our Armed Forces and our defense industrial base. This bill will do that and much more. It will build the ready, capable, and lethal fighting force we need to deter China and other adversaries. I know there are provisions in this bill that some folks disagree with, but understand that this is just a single step in a long process. Everyone should know that we will continue to work in a bipartisan manner as we make our way through the Conference committee. We will work to produce a bill that can best pass both Chambers and be signed into law. I urge all Members to help us reach that goal by supporting this bill today and moving it along. Mr. Chair, I urge a ``yes’’ vote, and I yield back the balance of my time.