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Floor Speech

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Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I also ask unanimous consent that prior to the vote, I be able to complete my remarks, followed by Senator Inhofe, followed by Senator Reed.

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Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I am pleased that today we will finally move to a vote on the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2022. Thanks to the Democrats' focus on their reckless Build Back Better tax-and-spending spree, consideration of the NDAA, one of the most important bills we consider every year, was delayed for months.

Of course, once we finally got onto the bill, Democrats rushed the process. Senators of both parties filed a total of 1,000 amendments on this bill, but not one--not a single one--of those amendments received a vote on the Senate floor.

But at least we are finally here set to pass this critical legislation. I am pleased the Republicans were able to strengthen this bill in committee and in the so-called preconference negotiations. This includes removing troublesome provisions like red-flag laws that would summarily suspend the Second Amendment rights of our men and women in uniform.

Thanks in large part to Republican efforts, the final bill is $25 billion above President Biden's inadequate budget request.

We have made a lot of progress over the past several years on rebuilding our military, which, I might add, after years of underfunding and budgetary uncertainty, combined with heavy operational demands, had been left underequipped, undermanned, and underprepared to meet the threats of the 21st century. The situation had gotten so bad that in 2018, the bipartisan National Defense Strategy Commission released a report warning that our readiness had eroded to the point where we might struggle to win a war against a major power like Russia or China--an especially chilling warning considering the mounting destabilization from both of these countries today. The Commission noted that we would be especially vulnerable if we were ever called on to fight a war on two fronts.

But, as I said, over the past several years, we made a lot of progress on restoring military readiness. Unfortunately, President Biden's inadequate budget request threatened to undo some of that progress. So I am pleased--very pleased--that, thanks in large part to Republican efforts, Democrats and Republicans have agreed on a final number that will continue our reinvestment in our military so that our men and women in uniform will have the resources they need to address the threats of the 21st century.

With both China and Russia flexing their military power and the growing danger of a further Russian invasion of Ukraine, it is critically important that we ensure that our Nation is always prepared to defend itself and our vital national interests, whatever the threat.

On the subject of Ukraine, I am very pleased the final bill we will vote on today includes an additional $50 million in military assistance for Ukraine. Ukraine has spent years dealing with a Russian invasion that threatens to push further into its sovereign territory, and we should be supporting the efforts of this free nation to defend itself from Russian aggression.

I am particularly proud to announce that this year's NDAA contains the necessary funding to continue essential preparation for the B-21 mission at Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota.

We found out in June of this year that Ellsworth had officially been named ``Main Operating Base 1'' for the future B-21 bomber, home of the Raider. This designation not only means Ellsworth will be the first base to host the B-21 Raider but will also host the formal training unit and the first operational squadron. The stealth B-21 bomber will eventually replace the Air Force's B-1s, which have been a proven workhorse within Global Strike Command but must be divested to free up capacity and resources for an even more agile and capable bomber fleet.

Once operational, the B-21 Raider will be a critical part of our Nation's long-range strike capabilities and nuclear deterrent well into the future. I am incredibly proud that South Dakota and Ellsworth were chosen to serve as the first operating base for the B-21s.

When I first came to the Senate, the outlook for Ellsworth wasn't so rosy. I had barely arrived here in the Senate when Ellsworth was placed on the base realignment and closure, or BRAC, list. It was an all-hands effort by the congressional delegation and Ellsworth and State and community leaders to make the case to the Bush administration and BRAC Commission to remove Ellsworth from the closure list.

Many thought that South Dakota might not have the clout to make this stand, that we didn't wield enough influence. We were only given about a 12-percent chance of pulling through, but we were determined that we weren't going to lose Ellsworth. We stood our ground, and we won the day. Ellsworth was removed from the BRAC list that August, and we got right to work on building up the base so that we would never again find ourselves in the same position.

In 2007, we saw the Air Force Financial Services Center open at Ellsworth, and 2011 saw the arrival of the 89th Attack Squadron and its command and control stations for MQ-9 Reapers. In 2015, a decade-long mission paid off with the quadrupling of the training airspace for the base. The Powder River Training Complex is now the largest training airspace in the continental United States and can be used for large- force exercises that draw combat aircraft from across this country. It is also well-suited for B-21 training, which is undoubtedly one of the reasons Ellsworth was chosen as the first home of the Raider.

I am committed to ensuring that Ellsworth has everything it needs for its new mission so that it can continue to serve as one of our Nation's essential military assets for decades to come. To that end, I worked to ensure that this year's National Defense Authorization Act contain not only full funding for B-21 development but full funding for the first of many equipment and support facilities that will be needed for the B- 21 mission at Ellsworth, including a low observable coating and restoration facility, a wash rack and maintenance hangar, expanding the flight simulator facility, and more. It is imperative that these and follow-on military construction projects at Ellsworth stay on pace to ensure the B-21, once fielded, can begin operations alongside the current B-1 mission at Ellsworth to enable a smooth transition from one mission to the next.

The National Defense Authorization Act also ensures adequate support for our B-1s in South Dakota and in Texas and deployed on Bomber Task Force missions so that they have the resources they need until they are replaced by the B-21s.

I will continue to do everything I can here in Congress to support our B-1s at Ellsworth and advance the B-21 mission.

Providing for our Nation's defense is one of our most serious responsibilities as Members of Congress. We have an obligation to ensure that our Nation is prepared to meet any threat, whether the danger comes from terrorism, rogue states, or major powers. We have an obligation to ensure that our men and women in uniform have the resources they need to confront the threats that we ask them to face.

I am frustrated that it took us so long to move to consideration of this year's National Defense Authorization Act, but I am happy we did at least manage to secure a solid piece of legislation, and I look forward to voting for this bill later today.

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Mr. THUNE. The following Senator is necessarily absent: the Senator from Wyoming (Ms. Lummis).

The result was announced--yeas 88, nays 11, as follows: [Rollcall Vote No. 499 Leg.] YEAS--88 Baldwin Barrasso Bennet Blackburn Blumenthal Blunt Boozman Brown Burr Cantwell Capito Cardin Carper Casey Cassidy Collins Coons Cornyn Cortez Masto Cotton Cramer Crapo Cruz Daines Duckworth Durbin Ernst Feinstein Fischer Graham Grassley Hagerty Hassan Hawley Heinrich Hickenlooper Hirono Hoeven Hyde-Smith Inhofe Johnson Kaine Kelly Kennedy King Klobuchar Lankford Leahy Lujan Manchin Marshall McConnell Menendez Moran Murkowski Murphy Murray Ossoff Peters Portman Reed Risch Romney Rosen Rounds Rubio Sasse Schatz Schumer Scott (FL) Scott (SC) Shaheen Shelby Sinema Smith Stabenow Sullivan Tester Thune Tillis Toomey Tuberville Van Hollen Warner Warnock Whitehouse Wicker Young NAYS--11 Booker Braun Gillibrand Lee Markey Merkley Padilla Paul Sanders Warren Wyden NOT VOTING--1 Lummis

The motion was agreed to.

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