Blumenthal on the Senate Floor: "Military Spending Alone Does Not Guarantee Our National Security"

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] – As the Senate considers the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) this week, U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee tasked with crafting the legislation for Fiscal Year 2021, spoke on the Senate Floor yesterday, emphasizing the need for a comprehensive investment in education, health care, housing and addressing racial injustice to ensure national security.

“These weapons platforms and the hardware that we produce does not constitute alone our national defense,” said Blumenthal on the Senate Floor. “We need to have a strong nonmilitary infrastructure. Education, health care, housing. Our national defense includes those essential components. And so I believe that we must scrutinize this budget with a view to reducing any expenditures that are unnecessary, and I will state as a matter of principle when we vote on this NDAA that I will be supporting amendments that potentially achieve more equity and effectiveness in the way we make commitments in support of our national defense. And we must interpret as broadly as is necessary how that defense must be supported.”

“It's not alone the money in this NDAA. It's also what we commit to racial justice in this country, the quality of our policing and our education, which should not depend on a young person's ZIP code; the quality of our health care, which right now has racial disparities that are inexcusable; housing that often results from redlining. And protections in the workplace, which could be achieved by a fairer, more effective use of OSHA. The quality of our society and our projection of power abroad depends on our quality of life and the quality of services that we provide on education and health care and housing and all of the other infrastructure, including transportation. So we need to consider those factors and do what is necessary to assure that our war fighters and our military never have a fair fight, that they always predominate on the battlefield. And we must protect our veterans to whom we make the commitment that we will always have their back when they come home.”

Blumenthal expressed regret at the partisan rejection of his amendment to restrict the President’s authority under the Insurrection Act in the Senate and applauded the House for advancing a similar measure, emphasizing: “Our military should defend liberties, not endanger them, misdirected by a misguided president.”

Blumenthal thanked the military families who have reached out to him and his office, sharing challenges they have encountered, saying: “We used their experience to craft these overdue policies, and I want to say to those families, to the spouses and loved ones, that they serve as much as the men and women they support in uniform.” The provisions Blumenthal is championing include holding commanders accountable to military families, making child care more affordable, expanding support for military moms, and preventing mental health discrimination.

Stating his commitment to strengthening the Connecticut industrial base, Blumenthal remarked he would continue his push to fully fund two Virginia Class submarines, ensure robust investment in the Columbia Class program, and support other military platforms manufactured in Connecticut, including fifth generation fighter jet engines and Sikorsky helicopters. He also stressed his commitment to funding training opportunities that will support the talented industrial base workforce, while increasing supplier development funds to bolster small businesses in the supply chain.

As a member of the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, Blumenthal also expressed his steadfast support for an amendment based on the Fair Care for Vietnam Veterans Act, which he cosponsored, requiring the VA to provide benefits for veterans suffering from a number of ailments tied to Agent Orange exposure, stating: “The Trump administration says it doesn't want to spend the money to cover the four conditions in this bill, but when we send people to war, we make a commitment. We make a commitment and we accept an obligation to treat them, no matter what the costs, no matter what the cause of their service-related injuries are, when the science and the facts support it.”

The full transcript of Blumenthal’s remarks is copied below.

Part 1:

I’m proud to talk about the National Defense Authorization Act, which has come to this body with a strong bipartisan vote from the Armed Services Committee where I serve. I'm proud to have helped to craft this legislation. And I'm proud to be voting for some of the amendments that have been permitted votes on the floor. One that has not been permitted relates to the Insurrection Act, a 213-year-old law that has been invoked at various points in our history to protect civil rights, as it was during the era of desegregation. But President Trump had threatened to use this slavery-era law to silence calls for justice from Americans protesting centuries of racist oppression. In effect, he had threatened to invert the Insurrection Act to deprive Americans of their First Amendment Rights, and so I introduced the bill called the CIVIL Act that would preserve presidential accountability to Congress whenever the Insurrection Act is invoked. It would require the president to consult with Congress prior to invoking the act and provide certification to Congress to justify the use of this authority. It has other provisions. It was voted down in the markup of the Armed Services Committee, but I sought a vote on the floor, and apparently it won't happen.

If the president uses force against Americans at home, Congress should demand at least the same check that applied to his use of force against adversaries abroad. I offered this act as an amendment, and I'm grateful to all my Democratic colleagues on the committee for supporting it. I am also grateful to the House of Representatives that just yesterday passed an NDAA amendment to its bill modifying the CIVIL act, which I introduced. It's called Curtailing Insurrection Act Violations of Individual Liberties. And I would like to thank my colleagues on the House side who supported this amendment, particularly Congresswoman Escobar who led the charge in the House Armed Services Committee and on the House floor. I urge that our colleagues, whether it's now in the course of considering the NDAA or at some point in the future, to hold the president, any president -- we're talking not only about this president but any president -- accountable when he uses military force against Americans. When the American military and troops of our country are used against Americans, there ought to be at least the same accountability as when American troops are used abroad with the same kind of checks. Maybe not identical, but the same kind of checks because the president using troops against our own citizens denies potentially fundamental freedom and the need for accountability is even more urgent. Our military should defend liberties, not endanger them, misdirected by a misguided president.

Despite my disappointment in the Senate's lack of action to curtail the president's unaccountable use and abuse of military power, I'm proud of a number of provisions that I also authored in this bill that invests in our most valuable military asset, our service members and their families. I'm grateful to all of the military spouses and advocates from across the country who have shared their challenges with me and my office, their stories, their voices and faces made an immensely impactful difference. We used their experience to craft these overdue policies, and I want to say to those families, to the spouses and loved ones, that they serve as much as the men and women they support in uniform.

The NDAA includes important provisions that I championed to hold commanders accountable to military families, make child care more affordable, expand support for military moms and prevent mental health discrimination. These measures are profoundly important. Provisions I offered with Senator Kaine will make child care more affordable by authorizing hardship waivers, requiring fee reductions for families with more than one child, and the NDAA will support those military moms by extending Tricare to include other kinds of services.

The Connecticut military industrial base will benefit from the increased expenditure, the robust investment in two Virginia class submarines. My priority during the negotiations on the conference committee will be to advance this cause. Madam President, with your permission, I am going to interrupt to yield to the Majority Leader so that he can remark on the remaining business and then I’ll resume.

Part 2:

These provisions for expanding our production of submarine and other military platforms must also focus on our supply base, on the workforce that keeps us safe, on men and women who comprise indeed the most talented workforce using and building unmatched military technology to keep our country secure.

We should keep in mind the families of our military and continue fighting for even more provisions that enable them to continue their great work, but these military platforms assure that our troops will never have a fair fight, that they will always be superior no matter what the terrain or arena or the fight. I'm pleased that the NDAA makes robust investments in Connecticut's industrial base, and I will make as my top priority during the negotiations of the conference committee to restore full funding for two submarines, even beyond the commitment in this NDAA to a second Virginia class submarine in this budget authorization.

I was pleased again to see action by the House, which provides for two fully funded Virginia class submarines in the House Armed Services Committee version of the NDAA. And in addition to fully funding the first Columbia class submarine, a historic milestone for this program, the Senate version added an additional $175 million for Columbia class supplier development. The heroes in this story are not only the big contractors, they are the supply chain, not only the companies with hundreds of employees, but the components makers and the parts manufacturers that may make tiny pieces of the submarine by comparison to its massive length. But they are all heroes of our defense industrial production.

People are the foundation of the submarine industrial base, and this bill authorizes an additional $20 million in workforce development funding, and I will seek to expand a supplier development program which provides the kind of support that the supply chain needs. We must ensure that the final bill preserves not only the necessary levels of funding for not only the Virginia class and the Columbia class submarines, but also for continued growth of our fifth generation fighter fleet. It's a key component of our national defense, the Senate version of the NDAA authorizes the growth of the F-35 fleet by 93 aircraft, including 14 aircraft above the president's budget request. I remain a staunch advocate of the CH-53-K program, and I was happy to see the House Appropriations Defense Committee fund nine CH-53-K helicopters. I'm going to work to continue to ensure that the final NDAA also authorizes nine helicopters. I want to congratulate and thank Sikorski, Pratt Whitney, Raytheon Technology, and again the many suppliers throughout Connecticut that contribute to an aerospace program second to none in the world.

And finally, let me talk a little bit about the Fair Care for Vietnam Veterans Act of 2020. Later this week, we'll vote on an amendment to the NDAA based on the bicameral Fair Care for Veterans Act of 2020. In March, I, along with Senator Tester and 30 Senate colleagues, introduced this legislation to require the VA to provide benefits for veterans suffering from bladder cancer, hypothyroidism, parkinsonism, and hypertension. The National Academy recognized that these illnesses have an association with herbicide exposure. It reached that conclusion in 2016, and since then, I have been fighting, along with many of my colleagues, to get the VA to include these four conditions that is presumptive linked to Agent Orange, only to have this administration officials block us at every turn despite the scientific proof, the incontrovertible science that these conditions are linked to Agent Orange and despite more than 3,000 veterans who suffer from these conditions, the Trump administration VA resisted and refused to acknowledge the connection. I look forward to voting to add bladder cancer, hypothyroidism, and Parkinson's to the list of Agent Orange presumptives. One condition in our bill, hypertension, was not included in this NDAA amendment, but I am committed to adding it during conference. It is supported by the science as a condition linked to Agent Orange. The Trump administration says it doesn't want to spend the money to cover the four conditions in this bill, but when we send people to war, we make a commitment. We make a commitment and we accept an obligation to treat them, no matter what the costs, no matter what the cause of their service-related injuries are, when the science and the facts support it.

Facts are stubborn things, as many have said. To veterans in Connecticut and nationwide, I will never stop fighting to get good health care for our veterans, and I know this issue is bipartisan in its support. So I look forward to voting in favor of FY 2021 NDAA, but I also think our colleagues must recognize that military spending alone does not guarantee our national security. These weapons platforms and the hardware that we produce does not constitute alone our national defense. It is the quality of our people, whether they are in the supply chain or the defense establishment or our troops on the ground or in the air, at sea, to recruit and train the best possible military. We need to have a strong nonmilitary infrastructure. Education, health care, housing. Our national defense includes those essential components. And so I believe that we must scrutinize this budget with a view to reducing any expenditures that are unnecessary, and I will state as a matter of principle when we vote on this NDAA that I will be supporting amendments that potentially achieve more equity and effectiveness in the way we make commitments in support of our national defense. And we must interpret as broadly as is necessary how that defense must be supported.

It's not alone the money in this NDAA. It's also what we commit to racial justice in this country, the quality of our policing and our education, which should not depend on a young person's ZIP code; the quality of our health care, which right now has racial disparities that are inexcusable; housing that often results from redlining. And protections in the workplace, which could be achieved by a fairer, more effective use of OSHA. The quality of our society and our projection of power abroad depends on our quality of life and the quality of services that we provide on education and health care and housing and all of the other infrastructure, including transportation. So we need to consider those factors and do what is necessary to assure that our war fighters and our military never have a fair fight, that they always predominate on the battlefield. And we must protect our veterans to whom we make the commitment that we will always have their back when they come home.

Thank you. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that my statement appear uninterrupted in the Congressional Record.

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