“Our defense is not something we can deal with in five years, in 10 years. It’s something that we must address now.”
During a speech on the Senate floor, U.S. Senator Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, called on Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) to prioritize our national defense by bringing the annual National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) up for a vote.
Last month, the Armed Services Committee voted to approve the Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 NDAA, which included several key provisions from Senator Fischer’s Restoring American Deterrence Act. Schumer has not yet brought the legislation to the floor for a vote of the full Senate.
In her remarks, Fischer emphasized that our national defense is a bipartisan problem to address and a bipartisan duty to secure. Fischer urged Schumer to recognize the importance of the NDAA by bringing it up for a vote as soon as possible.
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Following is a transcript of Senator Fischer’s remarks:
Madam President,
As election season approaches, our political discourse has been heated, to say the least. From an assassination attempt a couple of weeks ago to destructive protests across Washington last week, the friction within America is undeniable.
My colleagues and I are here today to discuss one of the things Americans do agree on:defending our nation.
We all see the tension simmering around Taiwan and South Korea and the tension exploding in Israel and Ukraine. And we see the threats China and Russia pose to our nation.
These threats are decades in the making. And while they sound far away—they are, after all, around the other side of the world—the close connections between the security of the world's democracies and the economies of the world mean that these developments impact our everyday lives.
America should have woken up and gotten ahead years ago. But at the very least, we must wake up now.
The most critical job we have in the United States Senate is providing for our national security. And we do that through our National Defense Authorization Act.
We passed the NDAA out of the Senate Armed Services Committee last month with bipartisan approval.
It includes provisions that will benefit our service members and that will bolster our national defense.
I supported pay raise for members of our military and secured funding for several Nebraska military construction projects.
This year’s NDAA also included important provisions to address issues within the munitions industrial base, contributing to thousands of good paying jobs throughout the country, while providing for our national security.
The bill incorporated elements of my restoring American Deterrence Act to foster a skilled nuclear manufacturing and vocational trade workforce. We heard about the importance of that need at our SASC hearing yesterday, when members received the report from the Commission on the National Defense Strategy.
I’m hopeful that the full Senate will recognize the bipartisan importance of passing the NDAA, just as we did on the Armed Services Committee.
But before we can do that, Majority Leader Schumer must prioritize bringing the NDAA up for a vote. Just as these threats impact our everyday lives, so also does our response—or lack thereof.
This is a matter of urgency. Our defense is not something we can deal with in five years, in 10 years. It's something that we must address now. And we’d better get started.
If we fail to ensure that we can produce munitions at scale, we will run out of missiles within weeks of a conflict.
If we fail to field and equip a modernized Navy, Marine Corps, Army, Air Force or Space Force, one day Xi will think: “Maybe we can win.”
Preventing that day will prevent a conflict that would touch the life of every American citizen in ways this country hasn’t seen since the Second World War.
The majority leader should have reflected that by bringing the NDAA to the floor before the August state work period. And now he needs to bring it to the floor as soon as possible.
But instead of doing our most important constitutional job, we’ve been seeing political show votes on the floor of the United States Senate.
America’s safety is a bipartisan responsibility, a bipartisan duty that requires bipartisan commitment.
Let’s show Americans that despite all the fights and disagreements, we can unite in the Senate around the most important issues. We can prioritize our security. And we can, and we must pass this year’s NDAA.
Thank you, Madam President.
