Ken Calvert

Mr. CALVERT

Mr. CALVERT. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material on H.R. 4365, and that I may include tabular material on the same.

Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chair, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Chairman, I rise today in support of H.R. 4365, the fiscal year 2024 Defense Appropriations bill, which is a result of months of hearings, briefings, and engagements by all members of the subcommittee. To provide for our strong national defense, this bill recommends $826.45 billion for the Department of Defense and the intelligence community, which is $27.8 billion above the fiscal year 2023 enacted level. When I became chairman of the subcommittee, I made it clear to the Department they would not receive any blank checks. Any requests that lacked adequate justification, was early to when the funds were needed, had unjustified cost growth, or did not directly support DOD's mission would not be funded in the bill. It is our constitutional obligation of Congress and this committee in particular to ensure the proper and appropriate use of taxpayer funds. At a time when the Department of Defense leadership is more focused on cultural issues than its warfighting mission, this obligation is more critical than ever. I am proud to say that, due to the hard work of the members of the subcommittee, the bill funds our defense needs in a fiscally responsible manner. Specifically, this bill cuts nearly $20 billion from the President's misguided request and reinvests these funds into warfighting capabilities and additional support for our servicemembers. I also approached crafting this bill with a comprehensive strategy focused on specific lines of effort: investing in America's military superiority to deter the People's Republic of China; combating illicit fentanyl and synthetic opioids which are killing over 100,000 Americans every year; shaping a more efficient and effective workforce; creating a culture of innovation; enhancing oversight of all programs to ensure the appropriate use of taxpayer dollars; and taking care of servicemembers and their families. To counter China, this bill doubles funding for the International Security Cooperation Programs for Taiwan, provides an additional $200 million to accelerate the delivery of the E-7, prohibits the decommissioning of four ships to grow the fleet, adds aircraft like the F-35 and the CH-53K, continues investments in next-generation platforms, and supports recapitalization of the nuclear triad. To enhance DOD's efforts to counter the flow of deadly drugs into the country, the bill includes a historic investment of $1.1 billion in drug interdiction and counterdrug activities account, including increased funding for counternarcotics support, demand reduction, the National Guard Counterdrug Program, and the National Guard Counterdrug Schools. The bill also moves Mexico into the SOUTHCOM area of responsibility, which will foster a more holistic approach to Latin- American security issues. To drive reforms to the Department's workforce, this bill cuts over $1 billion from the budget request for the Department's civilian workforce. This bill accomplishes this goal through attrition while exempting employees engaged in shipyard, depot, healthcare, and sexual assault and response duties. I want to be clear. No one will be fired as a result of this language. During our analysis of the budget request, the services and agencies across DOD reported attrition rates as high as 14 percent. This bill directs DOD to adopt smart business practices to become more effective and efficient, which is desperately needed. The bill also mandates a reassessment of DOD's manpower requirements, a plan to adopt technology to improve its business processes and provides $751 million for the Chief Data and Artificial Intelligence Office to further accelerate business modernization. This multipronged approach is critical to create a physically sustainable and efficient workforce and is informed by previous Defense reform efforts. Next, we are aware the Department must innovate faster to keep pace with global threats. To do this, the bill includes over $1 billion to the Defense Innovation Unit to get needed capability into the hands of the warfighters. The bill focuses on near-term delivery of capability and partnering with the private sector. We cannot continue to take decades to produce new systems or, even worse, invest billions into programs that must be eventually canceled due to nonperformance. To bridge the valley of death, the bill includes $300 million to expand the successful procurement pilot program, APFIT. Further, it creates a new portfolio to rapidly field commercial technologies for the warfighter through nontraditional entities within the Department. To get the Department focused on its warfighting mission and away from culture wars, the bill includes a number of new general provisions to send a clear message to the Department. These include funding prohibitions on teaching critical race theory, facilitating access to abortions that attempt to ignore the long-standing Hyde amendment, overreach by the Biden administration on climate change, and promoting so-called diversity, equity, and inclusion programs. The fact that the committee has to address these issues reflects the failure of the Department's leadership. Finally, investments in weapons systems do not matter if we fail to invest in our most important resource, our servicemembers. With changes in this bill, junior enlisted servicemembers will receive an average pay increase of 30 percent. This will have a significant impact on recruitment, retention, and will improve the quality of life for our servicemembers and their families. I was shocked to see that the Biden administration opposed a pay increase in their Statement of Administration Policy. As an appropriator, it is our responsibility to ensure our military has the resources necessary to deter conflict and, if we do get into a fight, that we win and they lose. This bill makes it clear to any adversary that challenging the United States military is not in their best interest. Before I close, I will comment on the number of amendments we have received for this bill. I am supportive of this open, transparent, and inclusive process. However, we have to be mindful not to rob our readiness accounts to fund other priorities. I look forward to working with all Members on this as we move forward in the process Finally, I thank all the staff for the incredible work they do to vet the budget request, work with the Members, put forward recommendations, and assemble the final product. As my ranking member and former chair, Ms. McCollum, knows, putting together this bill is not an easy task, so I thank her and her staff for their cooperation. This is a strong bill for our servicemembers and their families. I look forward to working with my friends on the other side of the aisle, the Senate, and the administration to enact a bill as soon as possible. Not doing so is a disservice to the men and women of the United States Armed Forces. I strongly urge support of this bill. Mr. Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chair, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Mike Garcia), a member of the Committee on Appropriations and a champion for our members in the military.

Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chair, let's be clear about what critical race theory is. It is a divisive, leftwing intellectual construct that advances the notion that racism is systematic in our country's institutions. It advocates for race-based solutions and rejects equal opportunity in favor of equal outcomes. My friends on the other side like to deride the prohibition in our bill for funding activities that promote, in part, condoning an individual feeling discomfort, guilt, or anguish. They claim that the bill will prohibit teaching uncomfortable historical truths, but they always omit the last part of that statement, which is ``on account of that individual's race or sex.'' Do my friends on the other side really want to fund activities that debase individuals because of their race or sex? I don't think so. I reject it, and this bill rejects it. Mr. Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chair, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Oklahoma (Mrs. Bice), a member of the Committee on Appropriations.

Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chair, I yield an additional 30 seconds to the gentleman from California.

Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chair, I thank the gentlewoman for her comments, and I know that eventually we will work out our differences, but, yes, I admit, this bill prohibits funding for drag queen story hour for kids and drag queens in recruitment. I had to choose between building ships or those kinds of decisions. I chose the ships. With that, this debate going forward, I want to talk about the readiness of our military operations, building the necessary equipment to make sure that our men and women win any war that we may have to involve ourselves in. Hopefully none. Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chair, pursuant to House Resolution 723, I offer an amendment en bloc.

Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chair, these are noncontroversial amendments supported by both sides. Mr. Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chair, pursuant to House Resolution 723, I offer amendment en bloc.

Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chair, these are noncontroversial amendments supported by both sides. Mr. Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. CALVERT. I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Guam (Mr. Moylan).

Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chair, these are noncontroversial amendments supported by both sides. Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chair, pursuant to House Resolution 723, I offer an amendment en bloc.

Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chair, I rise in opposition to this amendment. The bill has a constrained top line. I cannot support directing $50 million to a pilot program. Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to vote against this amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chair, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Wisconsin, a retired Navy SEAL.

Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chairman, I claim time in opposition.

Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chairman, I claim time in opposition.

Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chair, I rise in reluctant opposition to this amendment. The amendment proposes to develop a single-stage-to-orbit rocket. The idea of a single-stage-to-orbit rocket is appealing, but the laws of physics are stubborn. In the early 2000s, I was the chair of the Space and Aeronautics Committee at the time, and NASA and industry spent more than a billion dollars on such a concept and concluded that it wasn't practical or feasible. I am not aware of any facts that changed that conclusion. I urge my colleagues to vote against this amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chair, as the designee of the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Granger), I move to strike the last word.

Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chair, I rise in opposition to the amendment. First, I want to address some confusion surrounding this funding. This is not the same funding that is included in the supplementals for Ukraine. This funding is not sent directly to Ukraine. Rather, it pays for training and procurement of U.S. equipment. Congress has funded this initiative in every single year since it was authorized in 2016 during both Democrat and Republican administrations. In July, the House voted to authorize this funding at the same level. After the invasion of Crimea by Russia, we decided to fund this training for the Ukrainian military. Not only would this amendment strike the funding, it would also strike the important conditions on funding. We have sent a very clear message to the Department, no blank checks. That is why this bill contains many new oversight provisions, including notification requirements before funds are spent, a GAO report review of the Defense Department's execution of Presidential drawdown authority, a reporting requirement on increasing burden sharing for Ukraine, and a requirement that the inspector general review the Department's end-use monitoring program. This bill also includes funding for a special inspector general for Ukraine, if authorized by the final NDAA. The funding included in this bill is not supplemental funding. It is not a blank check. It has broad support. I urge a ``no'' vote, and I yield back the balance of my time. Amendment No. 150 Offered by Mr. Griffith

Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chair, I claim the time in opposition.