National Defense Authorization Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. REED. Mr. President, I commend the chairman for the bipartisan and thoughtful way he has approached this entire process of crafting the National Defense Authorization Act for this year. We had a very successful markup. The result was a strong bipartisan vote of 25 to 2 on the committee. Subsequently, with our staff, we have done an extraordinary job. We have been able to include an additional 100 amendments, on a bipartisan basis, to the substitute. So we have been able, I think, to respond to all of the concerns of our colleagues or very many of these concerns of our colleagues.

The chairman has indicated some of the strengths of the bill. We have increased our operations and maintenance funding so our readiness stature and posture is increasing. One area, too, that I think is very important is the fundamental reform of privatized housing which was a real problem that we discovered. Again, the chairman led two very thorough hearings in which we had not only the operators but also the families who live there. The legislation before us contains significant improvements in the privatized family housing at the Department of Defense. That is something critically important.

I, too, like the chairman, would like to see a very open amendment process so we can bring to the floor amendments that are important and linked to the national defense bill, have votes on these amendments, and then move forward.

Let me just conclude my brief remarks by thanking the chairman for his leadership.

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