Streamlining Procurement for Effective Execution and Delivery and National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026

Floor Speech

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Ms. STANSBURY. Mr. Chair, I am proud to represent a district with among the highest proportion of Active-Duty servicemembers and veterans in the United States, men and women who put their lives on the line every day and embody New Mexico's tradition of service and sacrifice, because service is a part of who we are.

As written, there is so much important bipartisan work in this bill. It puts our soldiers and their families first. It delivers a 3.8 percent pay raise across the board, increases food allowances, strengthens education for military kids, expands access to dental care under TRICARE, and invests in modernizing our military to keep America safe.

It includes report language, which I am so grateful, on a bipartisan basis that the committee worked with us to help clean up unexploded ordinance in Tribal lands in New Mexico. This is the best of what America has to offer; true bipartisan work.

Mr. Speaker, so that is why I say to my colleagues across the aisle: Please don't blow up this bill. Our troops need this bill. Don't add poison pill riders that undermine our national security, that weaken our military, and make our Nation less safe just to appease a small fraction of their base.

We know that there are culture amendments that are teed up for later today that undermine support for Ukraine, that undermine environmental protections, and, yes, that undermine the readiness of our force by continuing to attack both women and LGBTQ+ servicemembers. That is the worst of our country.

I ask my colleagues across the aisle to do what is right for our military, for our country, and for our national security, and to preserve the base bill.

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