During a Senate Appropriations Committee markup on Thursday, Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) spoke about the FY2025 Department of Defense Appropriations Act.
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NewsTranscript
00:00First of all, let me thank Chairman Tester for your partnership in developing the Defense
00:07Appropriations Bill.
00:09I also want to extend my gratitude to Chair Murray for working with me to ensure that
00:15this bill provides our military with the resources it requires.
00:20This additional funding is sorely needed to meet global threats that combatant commanders
00:27describe as the most dangerous in 50 years.
00:31The Commission on National Defense Strategy, chaired by former Representative Jane Harman,
00:38stated that the threats to the United States are the most serious since World War II.
00:45Overall, this bill provides $851.7 billion for the Department of Defense and for our
00:54intelligence community.
00:56That is 3.3 percent compared to last year's fiscal 2024 levels.
01:03It strengthens our military across all domains in the air, on land, at sea, in space and
01:10in cyberspace.
01:11By contrast, the Administration's budget would have led to the smallest Air Force in history
01:19and our naval fleet of 296 ships would have shrunk by five ships over the next five years
01:26while China's Navy continues to grow to 435 ships.
01:33Our bill includes $37 billion for Navy shipbuilding, the largest shipbuilding budget ever.
01:40It begins to reverse the dangerous decline in the number of Navy ships, although much
01:46more remains to be done to respond to the surge in the size of the Chinese Navy.
01:54Specifically, the bill would provide funding for seven new battle force ships, including
01:59three DDG-51 destroyers.
02:02These destroyers, including those built at Batharm Works, the USS Kearney and the USS
02:08Arleigh Burke, have proven invaluable in defending commercial and U.S. vessels in the Red Sea
02:17as well as in the defense of Israel.
02:19The bill provides funding for a second ship set of Virginia-class submarine material to
02:26provide certainty for suppliers and to avoid supply chain disruptions.
02:33And it supports the Navy's plan for a four-ship procurement of amphibious ships, which will
02:39save taxpayers more than $900 million than if they were bought individually by buying
02:47material in bulk and streamlining construction.
02:51For the Air Force, the bill provides additional funding to make nearly 500 more aircraft available
02:59than the President's budget request would allow.
03:02This is because the Air Force had an unfunded requirement that we are taking care of that
03:10will be used to purchase aircraft spare parts.
03:15And just to emphasize how important this is, it prevents the grounding of an estimated
03:23221 airplanes because of the lack of spare parts.
03:30The bill also fulfills the Army's number one unfunded priority for 1,200 counter-drone
03:37systems and radars.
03:39Iran and its proxies, as well as Russia in its attacks in Ukraine, have demonstrated
03:46that warfare has changed.
03:49Our strategy must reflect that reality.
03:53In total, the bill provides approximately $1 billion for counter-drone capabilities
03:59to address this growing and evolving threat.
04:02To deter and counter China's growing military capability, the bill more than doubles the
04:08funding proposed in the budget request for offensive space control capabilities.
04:14It also increases funding for missile defense in Guam, a joint fires network to enhance
04:21targeting capabilities in the region, and five other otherwise unfunded requirements
04:28at the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command.
04:31I do want to emphasize that the bill does not just focus on aircraft, ships, weapons,
04:38and equipment, critical though those are.
04:41It also gives our brave, highly skilled service members the pay and benefits they deserve.
04:48It funds a 4.5 percent pay raise for most of our service men and women and a 5.5 percent
04:56pay raise for the most junior enlisted service members.
05:01We need also to recognize the need to accelerate modernization of Marine Corps barracks that
05:09are in poor condition by providing $1 billion for that purpose.
05:15That is $349 million more than the budget request.
05:20Another $135 million is included for a new special payment for soldiers on operational
05:27orders and deployed away from their permanent duty station.
05:32This payment is similar to the Navy's C-PAY incentive that recognizes the greater-than-normal
05:41rigors during long operational deployments.
05:46At home, this bill includes $4.9 billion, more than double the request, to help strengthen
05:52the U.S. defense industrial base.
05:55The funding will expand solid rocket motor production, increase raw material purchases
06:02needed for critical weapons systems, and modernize ammunition plants as well as our public shipyards.
06:10The bill includes $5.9 billion to maximize the production of eight critical munitions
06:16in demand worldwide, such as the Patriot air defense missiles and the Tomahawk cruise missiles.
06:24Collectively, these investments continue the transition from just-in-time to a just-in-case
06:31approach to weapons manufacturing.
06:34For the National Guard, the bill includes $1 billion that was excluded from the administration
06:40budget to address capability gaps and equipment shortfalls.
06:45It also includes funding to add seven new countries within the state partnership program.
06:52That has been such a terrific success.
06:55Finally, this bill includes assistance for our Baltic allies on NATO's eastern flank
07:03with Russia, funding to provide new weapons for Taiwan to defend itself, and continued
07:10support for the U.S.-Israeli cooperative missile defense capabilities.
07:16These missile defense capabilities are playing an indispensable role in thwarting Iran's
07:23unprecedented drone and missile attacks against Israel.
07:29As the vice chairman of the Commission on National Defense Strategy noted, we can't
07:36confront the biggest threat since the height of the Cold War with the smallest military
07:42in a generation, historically low defense spending, and an atrophied industrial base.
07:52Those are words we need to pay attention to, and this bill does.
07:56Let me close by acknowledging that the bill before us reflects input from each and every
08:03member of this committee, as well as countless of our colleagues who do not have the honor
08:11of serving on this committee.
08:13So I want to thank each of our colleagues for their contributions, and let me thank
08:18our staff who have worked so hard on this bill.
08:21I do want to mention the staff on the minority side as well.
08:27Ryan Caldell, Todd Phillips, Jason Potter, Jesse Tollinson, Mike Wakefield, of course,
08:36the indispensable, soon-to-makers of dispensable, Kate Covert, Mike Clemente, Laura Forrest,
08:46Abby Grace, Katie Hagan, Bridget Kolish, Rob Leonard, Ryan Pettit, Kim Sigura, and Gabriela
08:57Amanda.
08:59I did not know that the Democratic side had doubled the staff of our side, but fortunately
09:07they work together in a very nonpartisan, bipartisan way, and that's how we get things
09:12done on this committee.