Majority Leader Schumer Floor Remarks On The Bipartisan National Defense Authorization Act

Washington, D.C. – Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) today spoke on the Senate floor on the Senate moving forward to approve the Senate led, bipartisan NDAA. Below are Senator Schumer’s remarks, which can also be viewed here:

Last night, Senators overwhelmingly voted to end debate on the NDAA by 85 to 15. That is a strong sign of support, and it shows you the momentum for finishing the NDAA quickly. We’ll work today to reach a time agreement with Republicans to finish the job on the NDAA as soon as today.

At a time of huge trouble for global security, doing the defense authorization bill is more important than ever.

Passing the NDAA enables us to hold the line against Russia, stand firm against the Chinese Communist Party, and ensure that America’s defenses remain state of the art at all times.

Now, the NDAA process here in the Senate is precisely the kind of bipartisan cooperation the American people want from Congress.

When this bill came before the Senate in July, we had a robust debate and amendment process. We voted on dozens of amendments on the floor, and even included more in our manager’s package. Both sides had input. Both sides had a chance to shape the bill. And in the end, the Senate’s version of the NDAA passed in an overwhelming 86-11 vote, with majorities – significant majorities – from both parties.

And after a lot of hard work reconciling the Senate’s NDAA with the House’s version through the conference process, I’m pleased the final version of the NDAA has many of the strongest provisions of the Senate’s original bill.

We’ll give our service members the pay raise they deserve.

We’ll strengthen our resources in the Indo-Pacific to deter aggression by the Chinese government and give critical resources for training, advising, and capacity-building for the military in Taiwan.  

And we’ll approve President Biden’s trilateral U.S., U.K., and Australia nuclear submarine agreement. This historic agreement will create a new fleet of nuclear-powered submarines to counter the Chinese Communist Party’s influence in the Pacific.

I applaud my colleague, Senator Reed of the Armed Services Committee, as well as Ranking Member Wicker for their excellent leadership pushing this bill over the finish line. I commend all conferees for their good work over the past few weeks.

And thank you to my colleagues on both sides for uniting to get the NDAA done. When we finish our work in the Senate, I urge Speaker Johnson and the House to move this bill quickly.

As I have said repeatedly, we began the month of December with three major goals here in the Senate before the end of the year.

First, we had to end the unprecedented, months long, destructive blockade of hundreds of military nominees. We’ve done that.

Second, we needed to pass the NDAA, as we have for decades on a bipartisan basis. We’re going forward on that today.

And finally, and hardest of all, we must reach an agreement on a national security supplemental.

Democrats’ are still trying to reach an agreement on the supplemental. We urge Republicans to show that they’re still serious about getting something done.

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