this has no business being in the ndaa. when we are stragging to recruit and retain servicemembers, this is more important. this bill will take away necessary care. gender-affirming care this is lifesaving for the children who need t our soldiers need to be able to focus on their missions not worry aring whether their children are able to get the medical treatment they need. in order to illustrate the impact of this political attack, i would like to share the following story from a military spouse whose family would be harmed by this provision of the ndaa. they write, my spouse is proudly served in the air force for 22 years, dedicating their life to protecting our country. over the years our family has moved across the nation and the world, embracing the challenges and opportunities that military life brings. one of the greatest blessings of this life has been the assurance of quality health care for our family. it's been a cornerstone of our stability and a key reason why my spouse continues to serve. knowing we could dep

i speak out to oppose the ndaa due to the g.o.p.'leadership to impose extreme dogma to the national defense. taking away care for trans kids and not restoring i.v.f. for families are two examples. big brother attacks like those don't belong in this bill. if we ignore extremism now, the next time there will be another group attacked and then another and another until eventually no one will be left to defend you when you need it. bully extremists rarely stop unless stood up to. stand up for the family's ability to make health care decisions, not what extremists want. the fight of some today could be your fight tomorrow. vote no on extremism and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from alabama is recognized. mr. rogers: i'd like to yield two minutes to mr. wittman. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. wittman: thank you. i'd like to thank the chair for yielding and the ranking member for the incredible work they've done on a bipartisan way. as this year ends, we face a turn y

that is what the ndaa seeks to do. we are proud to see it pass and encourage the senate to pass this legislation so it can be sent to the president's desk to be signed into law. thank you for everyone who joined knee this evening and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: under the speaker's announced policy of the chair recognizes the gentleman from virginia for 30 minutes. mr. good: i rice to express my appreciation for the privilege of representing them these past four years. being their congressman has been an honor. when i answered the call five years ago to run for congress i identified as a biblical and constitutional conservative. i wanted the voters to know how i would make decisions and represent them and how i would vote on their behalf in washington. i wanted them to know that my values and presumes come from my christian faith and my guiding political philosophy comes from the constitution and stated limits on federal power. my alegionsance has been to creator, safer, constitution, the promises i made to t

bill, the ndaa. congress has passed the ndaa on a bipartisan basis for over six straight decades, and this year will be no different. many feared that it would, given the polarization, given the late date, but no, we're having -- we're passing the ndaa, and that's a very good thing. the ndaa isn't perfect, but it still includes some very good things that democrats fought for. just like in the c.r., it has strong provisions to stand up against the chinese communist party here on a national security basis. it boosts our use of a.i. for national defense. this is one of the things our forums on a.i. talked about early on and is now in the bill. and it expands tech innovation here at home by expanding money to tech hubs, that i'm particularly glad that the ndaa expands the tech hub program, that i created with senators young, cantwell, and others, in the bipartisan chips and science act. these funds are going to transform communities in upstate new york, the midwest, and across the country that hadn't bee

otherwise known as the ndaa. this bill both invests in the quality of life for our service members and their families and strengthens our national security capabilities. those two aspects are what drove the negotiations and the efforts for this entire bill. the ndaa supports the employment of the -- deployment of the national guard to our southern board. supports israel, cuts infee he fishent programs and guts policies at the d.o.d. it cares for our service members and seeks toism prove their quality of life by providing critical housing upgrades, pay raises, lower health care wait times, better access to childcare, employment support for spouses, and much more. house republicans take our responsibility to provide for our service members and their families anti-mission seriously. we look forward to working with president trump and his administration to secure our border. bolster our national security and support our military. this comprehensive bill assures that america can remain the most powerful in the world.

on the ndaa, last night the senate voted to advance the ndaa by a strong margin of 83-12.daa is now on a glide path to final passage. everyone knows this ndaa is not perfect, but it still takes a strong stand against the chinese communist party. these are things that i've pushed very hard for. it boosts the use of a.i. for our national defense, another thing i care a lot about. and expands tech innovation programs for communities across the country. a third thing that is very, very important and good. it has many good things democrats fought hard for. i'm gratified it has all these. the chinese communist party, the use of a.i. for defense, and expanding tech innovation. of course, it has bad provisions we democrats would not have added, and other provisions we would want left out entirely. i'm particularly glad this year's ndaa expands the tech hub program i created with senators young, cantwell, and others in the bipartisan chips and science act. these funds will transform communities in upstate new york, the midwest and across the country into the next epicenters of inno

we are preparing to wind down the 118th congress with the ndaa, farm bill extension that is being contemplated and of course the continuing resolution while simultaneously preparing for the 119th congress. democrats have made clear that we are red cry, willing and able to find bipartisan common ground with the incoming administration and the issue particularly as it relates to driving down the high cost of living for every day americans, which we must tackle together and decisively while at the same period of time, we will push back against far right extremism whenever necessary. it has become increasingly apparent that many of my house republican colleagues want to jam big tax cuts, tore the wealthy, well off and well connected down the throats of the american people and try to pay for those tax cuts which will not benefit every day americans. by cutting social security and medicare. should not hypothetical, it's not hype or hyperb omp le but happening before our very eyes because extreme maga republicans in the house are telling us repeatedly that's exactly what they plan to do to the americ

you heard about the ndaa. we're proud of this product. it was released over the weekend. includes critical wins for our troops and for our country at a very important time. i want to thank chairman mike rogers, the house arm serd vis committees, the committee members and all the staff for their really hard work on the bill. we spent time and effort working on it because our service members and their families deserve our best efforts. that's why we made landmark investments in their quality of life with a 13.5% pay raise forker service members. that's important right now. improved housing for our military families and other benefits. it's also why we stopped funds from going to c.r.t. and our military academies, we banned tricare from prescribing dreams that would ultimately sterilize our kids. and we gutted the d.e.i. bureaucracy. and because we believe in peace through strength we blocked the biden administration's plan to reduce the number of u.s. special forces, we supported the deployment of the national guard at the border, we supported u.s. joint military exercises

the ndaa is now on a glide path passage. of course the ndaa is not perfect. it doesn't have everything either side would like. it includes some provisions we democrats would not have added and of the provisions we would want left out entirely but, of course, you need bipartisanship to get this through the finish line. the ndaa took a strong stance against the ccp, the chinese communist party. something i have fought for very hard to get in that bill and now it's in. the ndaa will boost use ai for our competitiveness in national defense come something you know i'm very passionate about. it would also expand the -- the bipartisan chips and science act. these funds will transform communities in new york and across the country into the next epicenters of innovation. lots of smaller cities and rural areas that were left out will now be part of this modernization of our tech industry. bipartisan measures to expand on it i i come to expand her ai infrastructure and strengthen u.s. edge against the ccp, are so important to our national security and our technological

will you be supporting the ndaa and how many democrats will oppose due to that particular provision? mr. jeffries: it's a member-to-member, case-by-case analysis in terms of people making decisions as to what is the right thing to do. there are a lot of positive things in the national defense re-authorization act and there are some troubling provisions in a few area as well. i haven't taken a position and i'm still looking at the four corners and going to the floor today. reporter: on the tax cuts next year, republicans will have a narrow majority, will they come after democratic votes on this? or is there some negotiation in there? mr. jeffries: i think it's clear that with respect to certain areas of tax reform including strengthening the child tax credit, strengthening the low-income housing tax credit, which is used to create affordable housing for low-income families and working families and some cases moderate income families as well along with restoring the state and local tax deduction which was unnecessarily taken away by the republicans in the g.o.p. tax scam in 2017, there

the ndaa prevents the d.o.d. from requiring service members and civilian employees to use zero-emission vehicles for official travel. although it might be usable in some phases, zero-emission vehicles can be impractical and unreliable, particularly in remote or high-stakes operational environments. the weapons system climate preference prohibition. the bill prevents d.o.d. from issuing rules that prioritize weapon systems based on their climate impact rather than their effectiveness in combat. our troops deserve to have the best tools to win wars, not the most environmentally friendly ones. the defense industrial base greenhouse gas rules, the ndaa blocks the d.o.d. from implementing costly new greenhouse gas rules that would impose unnecessary burdens on the defense industrial base. these rules can stifle innovation, slow production and drive up costs for critical defense equipment. the millertary's role is clear -- the military's role is clear. protect and defend the american people. anything that distracts fro

we must finish our work on the ndaa.e must keep the government open, act on the social security fairness act, act on wrda and eda and confirm more of the president's nominees. it's going to take cooperation from our republican colleagues to get these things done in a timely fashion. first, as i said, we must pass our annual defense authorization bill, the ndaa. this afternoon we'll take the first procedural vote on the ndaa package sent to us last week by the house. if cloture is invoked, i hope we can find a path to passing ndaa as soon as tomorrow. this year'sed ndaa is -- this year's ndaa is not a perfect bill but it nonetheless has good things democrats fought hard for and that will strengthen military families and boost tech innovation here at home, something very important to me and to you, madam president. to be sure, the ndaa has some bad provisions democrats would not have included, and there are other provisions that were left out of ndaa which we still hope can get done elsewhere. i want to thank chairman reed

and again, this ndaa doesn't solve that problem at least not yet.o work with the new administration, the new trump treasury department on aligning our national security with president trump's priorities and do so in a way that will protect our national security and protect american investors 34* . maria: you're running to be the next head of the financial committee. you could make a big difference as chairman of the financial services committee. what would be your goals? >> well, the goal would be two fold. number one, to restore the american dream through the power of free market capitalism. and number two, we want to make sure that we bring our party together and all factions of our party under the banner that free market capitalism is america first and we're going to unite the chamber of commerce republicans with the america first populists. maria: in the face of doge and the department of government efficiency trying to look for places to cut, would you support a merger of the securities and exchange commission and the commodities futures tradin

>> we got the ndaa decided on the house side.e will be sending that as a separate bill over to the senate and final package, and i think it's got a great chance of getting done. the ndaa is one of the last bipartisan things that's done in congress and for 63 straight years, i believe. it's happened. so, it will get done this year as well. the cr, the continuing resolution is up next. then we have disaster relief. we are working on the details of both of those latter measures. >> bret: new defense budget prepared over the weekend you just mentioned. does not include this $25 billion increase in spending that the incoming senate armed services committee chairman roger whitaker requested. he calls it a, quote: missed opportunity. is he right? >> we hope we can restore quickly peace through strength. getting right back to the funding aspects. part of the reconciliation process, probably, in the first part of next year. >> bret: does that require more money for the pentagon, for the military? >> well, the pentagon does need investment

senators will vote on the final version of 2025 defenseams and policy legislation, also known as the ndaa, and a bill authorizing water infrastructure projects to be constructed by the army corps of engineers. watch live coverage of the house on c-span, the senate on c-span two, and wll of our congressional co with our free video app. c-span now or online at c-span.org. in 2023, more than 100,000 americans died from drug overdoses. in response, the national opioid settlement fund has provided more than $21 billion to local governments to address the crisis. this monday, a discussion on how those funds can be used in preventing and treating drug abuse from the american enterprise institute, watch at 2:00 p.m. eastern on c-span3. c-span now, our free mobile video app, or online at c-span.org. >> if you ever miss any of c-span's coverage, you can find it anytime online at c-span.org, videos of key hearings, debates, and other events feature markers that guide you to interesting and newsworthy highlight. these points of interest markers appear on the right-hand side of your screen when you hi

monday senators vote on the f version of 2025 defense pro and policy legislation, also known as the ndaa, and a bill authoriz wnfrastructure projects to be constructed by the army corps of engineers. watch live coverage house on c-span the senate on c-span. two and watch all of our congressional with oe video app, c-span now or online at c-span dot org. new york city real estate developer. larry silverstein acquired a 99 year lease on the world trade center just weeks before the september 11 terrorist attacks. tonight on c-span's q&a, mr. silverstein author of the rising share stories about the rebuilding of the world trade center complex following the attacks and discusses the business, political and engineering challenges he faced during his 20 year rebuilding effort. i said it's got to be replaced because you don't low manhattan's going to become a ghost town. people kind of leave it. they'll never come back. i said. secondly, if we don't rebuild it will give the terrorists exactly what they want. i said, this is an attack not on the twin towers, not nothing like that much. more serio

the ndaa is the request of the department of defense. the admiral was very integral to that for years. defense people get involved, but the reality is, it comes from the joint staff. i will narrow my question. are you aware of the navy ever asking for this in the ndaa before? if not, why not? >> the navy requested $1.1 million to build the apollo lab in norfolk, virginia which is an additive manufacturing plant. >> thank you. >> honorable judges and audience members, remember that this debate is fundamentally a question of three key values. value, time, scope yard the first question is, who has the best returns for value on $500 million? we argue that would be navy -- or army. we have already spent 26 billion dollars on fleet modernization to try to fix our ships. their $500 million proposal is 2% of this. $500 million isn't even sufficient to repair a single ship. you should be skeptical of their claims that they can get ships out of our shipyards right now. look to our plan, an allocation of $250 million will nearly double our current

so this year's ndaa investments -- invests more money into this new drone technology. this forward-looking technology is -- enhances existing air frames that we have to be able to keep vital air dominance and control in the near-term our indo-pacific conflicts. so this is really great technology that is important, that we incorporate, that we have less risk to our pilots, we can use existing aircraft and have -- instead of having to buy nearly so much hyperexpensive new aircraft, not that i'm against it, i'm in favor of the newest, best aircraft we can get, but maybe we just don't have to buy nearly as many when the stuff that we have is still good for the mission, with the wingman approach of these drones being able to do a lot of the dirty work and take the immediate risk that the manned aircraft don't have to. so the ndaa is something we have to pass every year. we need to get this done this month. and keep that continuity that our fighting people need to get the job done as certainly it's a more dangerous world than it ever has been right at this moment, with what

the full senate was denied a chance to work its will on the ndaa. as a result, the ranking member of the armed services committee was forced to negotiate against the house's much lower top-line for defense spending from a much weaker position. the same is true for defense appropriations, and vice chair collins' efforts. as ranking member with wicker pointed out we have a lot to do repair our defense industrial base and finishing urgent business in december is no cause for celebration. it will be the end of an utterly avoidable delay. on another matter, just before thanksgiving the senate reached a deal on judicial nominees. republicans would forego procedural roadblocks on nominations to district courts which have the votes to be confirmed. in exchange the majority leader wouldn't bring remaining nominations to circuit courts to the noor because they don't -- to the floor because they don't have the votes to be confirmed. as a result, president biden is getting around a dozen more district judges and the next president will get four more circuits to

. >> on the ndaa and the farm bill what are the odds either of those are both gets attached to the ncr? >> with respect to the national defense authorization act we are proceeding on a track we hope to be able to bring it forward in a bipartisan way as a standalone. it remains to be seen what e process will be in connection with the farm bill. >> thanks, leader jeffreys. this past couple of weeks we've seen -- jerry nadler dropping his bid for judiciary and facing challengers for agriculture. what is your reflection on this increasing trend of members challenging seniority of ranking members? >> the caucuses working it well and where doing it in a cordial fashion, having internal discussions and deliberations about how to make sure we're in the strongest possible position moving forward to deal with the excesses of the incoming trump administration whenever and wherever that manifests itself. >> what do you make of these reports, top prospect of possible pardons for house democratic caucus members on the january 6th select committee? it's been critical data who have been critical donal

but there's a couple of potential flash points here, one of which is the ndaa, the must pass defense bill. it includes a massive raise for junior enlisted troops and a whole bunch of other things. but it also includes a pretty controversial piece about transgender children who are covered by military health insurance. and this is what you guys write this morning in punchbowl. the two parties and the two chambers have clashed over topline defense spending and culture war provisions, complicating the final talks. a last minute intervention by speaker mike johnson, barring gender affirming care for the children of military families, has upset democrats, as well as some republicans. it's the 118th congress. you know, where everything is dumber and takes longer than expected as a more general point, what what do you make of this? is it going to go through yeah, that vote is this afternoon. >> it's going to go through this is this is the annual defense authorization bill. this has been passed every year by congress since the cold war, since 1961. so this is a big deal. congress is one of t

lawmakers are considering the house approved 2025 defense ndaa. a final vote is possible today. congress is facing a government funding shutdown and must pass additional federal spending legislation by midnight friday to avert a federal shutdown. live coverage of the scent when they return at 2:15 p.m. eastern here on c-span2. >> halls of congress talking about firing unelected bureaucrats when their target civil servants and people who help make our government work. this is donald trump living up to the promises he gave the wealthiest in this country that he would do everything he can for them. but he also lied to a bunch of us. he lied to the working class people because he's not fighting for us. look at the fact he's amassed one of the richest cabinets in history of this country. i don't know how he expects, i don't expect a man worth $340 billion, elon musk, to decide what's going to happen with the agency, solstice tree administration going to administer my mother is $1200 social security check. these are the things we hope people will pay attention to over these next four

representatives also recognized the benefits of mutual cooperation by including a language in the 2025 ndaa, mutual enhanced defense cooperation between korea and the united states. similarly, our u.s. and european partners bring their own strength and expertise to the table. for example, they are both leaders in aerospace, cyber defense, and advanced autonomous weapons systems technology. today's forum is an excellent opportunity to identify how we can each leverage our effective strength to deepen our collaboration. by working together, we can create more resilient and improve and level of success out of reach for any of us on our own. working together, will also let us better purse a research and development project, emerging technologies like ai integrated weapons systems, unmanned aerial vehicles and undersea capabilities. collaboration ensures that we stay-- we stay ahead of the competition and enhance our readiness with the challenges that we have. let me close with a brief reflection of the launch we saw over the weekend. once it was thought that saving the booster from the rocket w

congress must take up the ndaa immediately. it's been floundering, the leader has been refusing to bring it up for at least six months so we can put our national defense policies in place as in next administration takes office, something that we should have done, as i said, many months earlier. as for the executive, i'm confident president-elect trump has the record and resolve to clean up the mess and i look forward to working with my colleagues and the president to secure our country's rightful, respected and preeminent role on the world stage. thank you, and i yield the >> we are talking about presidents and pardon power with samuel morrison, a former staff attorney for the department of justice in the office of the pardon attorney. sam, welcome to the program. >> thank you. thanks for having me. >> host: so what was your reaction to president biden's pardoning of his son, hunter. >> guest: i actually wasn't surprised at all. i know he said he wouldn't do it, but i expected that the he would just because the impulse of a fat

streamlined and more efficient and better and more lethal getting dei out of ndaa and getting dei out of our military, and really focusing on the real future technology that our adversaries, again, are investing in that we're not. so, you know, that's the future and i really -- i don't know. i think it's inexcusable that any public official would allow this to happen and if president trump were in office right now, i think he would get it now and not wait till january to the and this would not be, going to be an issue about this and getting down to business and going on and americans up in the air day in and day out. larry: i see the cover of this story and going for this to cover the story going to destroy and going for the hottest. the great bret baier on the 20ts out there and said to me it's the hottest story and bret baier saying that's the hottest one and going off well. he know as lot more than i do on many things, but i'm saying and asking you, brett, all right, we have fallen behind in technology and very discouraging. i hear you on that. in your professional judgment, who, w

second, as i mentioned, we'll finish passing the ndaa. members should be prepared to take the first procedural vote early next week. we also, we must also pass an extension of government funding to avoid a shutdown right before christmas. the only way we prevent a shutdown is through bipartisan cooperation without any last-minute poison pills that create controversy. we can't have that. it has never worked in the past. and adding poison pills at the 11th hour would only make the risk of a christmas shutdown greater. i'm pleased so far talks remained productive. negotiators continue working around the clock to reach an agreement. they're meeting early in the morning. they're meeting late at night. and they will work through the weekend if necessary. i want to thank chair murray, ranking member collins, appropriators in the house and house leadership for their cooperation on getting a c.r. done. i also hope we can reach an agreement to pass a strong disaster package before the end of the year, as part of the c.r. democrats continue to work

i'd like to know if the ndaa, if the military pay raise stays the same percentage of rates that they suggested. guest: i do believe there was a pay raise. i do believe that that was in there. host: are you former military? caller: yes sir, i sure was. i did a couple of tours in vietnam, afghanistan and iraq. host: military pay in general, how do you think it is today? caller: as far as being enlisted, i can't get over that congress looks after our jr. enlisted so well. i think it is going to be like 14.5, that would be great for those guys. host: under the deal reached by the house and senate, the national defense authorization act will allow all servicemembers to receive 4.5% pay bump next year, junior troops a 14.5% pay bump. guest: that is something they are really pushing for, something they really advocate for. to the college point, they believe that the servicemembers do deserve higher pay, they do deserve a raise for their service and what they've been doing. that was something that was

senators will vote oninal version of 2025 defense programs and policy legislation, known as the ndaa. and a bill authorizing water inucture projects to be constructed by the army corps of engineers. watch all of our congressional cove with our free video app, c-span now or online at c-span.org. >> american history tv, exploring the people and events that tell the american story. this weekend, the st. charles county historical society in missouri hosts a conference of the american revolution in the west. historians discuss the weapons of the revolution, the role of spain and native americans. on lectures in history, the second of a two-part lecture by university of maryland history professor on the trial of lizzy borden, accused of murdering her father and step-mother with an a&. s -- ax. and revisiting the ford presidency, including oral history interviews. exploring the american story, watch american history tv every weekend and find a full schedule on your program guide or watch online any time at c-span.org/history. >> the house will be in order. >> this year c-span celebrates 45 y

the ndaa authorizes full funding for joint u.s.-israel missile defense programs like the iron dome, a defensive mechanism which allocates $47 million for cutting-edge technologies like anti-missile laser defenses and commits $30 million to dismantling hamas' tunnel networks. as iran continue its aggression against israel, these measures reaffirm our unwavering support for israel's right to defend itself and its future and to exist. together we must ensure that israel has the tools it needs to stand strong. our partnership is ironclad, it's important to both of us, it's important to the israeli existence and even other arab countries nearby have acknowledged that israel is an important partner due to the success of the abraham accords and ask arab israelis that live in the country, do you like it better here or would you rather go back to something else? they like it better in israel. so there's a lot of good that comes from that nation being able to stand on its own as it's always been a beacon of light and of opportunity for peopl

the senate also plans to vote on a policy bill known as the ndaa.aker, president of the national collegiate athletic association testified before the sioux judiciary committee investigating legalized sports betting the supreme court ruling in murphy vs. the ncaa. watch on the c-span networks or in c-span now, our free mobile video app. also head over for scheduling information or to watch live and on-demand anytime. c-span, your unfiltered view of government. >> for over 45 years c-span has been your window into the workings of our democracy offering live coverage of congress, open for them called in programs and unfiltered access to the decision-makers that shape our nation and we have done it all without a cent of government funding. viewers value transparent, no spin local coverage and your support helps keep our mission alive. and as we close of the year we are asking you to stand with us. 100% toward supporting c-span's vital work, helping ensure that longform, in-depth and independent coverage continues to thrive in an era where it is needed m

the chairman of the past, you have continued a legacy of passing a partisan ndaa for the past 64 years and spearheaded the establishment of the newest branches of the armed services, you've solidified your place in history, quite frankly, as an innovator, a hard working and a principled, effective legislator. >> on behalf of the total guardian force i want to say thank you for your enduring optimism, it's rare to have in washington d.c. somebody who is principled, educated and optimistic in a position of power. on behalf of myself, on behalf of my husband and my children, and my family, thank you for being an amazing mentor, an amazing friend, a boss and being there for me in some of my darkest hours. >> thank you. thank you very much. [applause] >> ladies and gentlemen, we are going to take a 15 minute break. please talk amongst yourselves. thank you. [inaudible conversations] lawmae menorah which belong to speaker johnson.

the chairman of the past, you have continued a legacy of passing a partisan ndaa for the past 64 years and spearheaded the establishment of the newest branches of the armed services, you've solidified your place in history, quite frankly, as an innovator, a hard working and a principled, effective legislator. >> on behalf of the total guardian force i want to say thank you for your enduring optimism, it's rare to have in washington d.c. somebody who is principled, educated and optimistic in a position of power. on behalf of myself, on behalf of my husband and my children, and my family, thank you for being an amazing mentor, an amazing friend, a boss and being there for me in some of my darkest hours. >> thank you. thank you very much. [applause] >> ladies and gentlemen, we are going to take a 15 minute break. please talk amongst yourselves. thank you. [inaudible conversations] >> for over 45 years, c-span has been your window into the workings of our democracy, offering live coverage for congress, and call-in programs and shaping the nation, we've done it without a cent of government

just like government funding, the majority leader did not learn from his mistakes on the ndaa. two days ago, on wednesday of this week, he actually came down here and brazenly acknowledged what many people had said, that they were worried we would not even be able to pass the defense authorization bill this year, because he hadn't scheduled it for consideration on the floor. but he came down and bragged that, yes, here we are, we're going to vote on the ndaa, but it's a conference report that rank-and-file members have never had the chance to debate and amend on the senate floor. this again was a bill negotiated behind closed doors, not in the light of day, with senators, all 100 senators, having a chance to participate. it was just a railroad job. well, he acts like this is the way he handled it was to his credit, but just the opposite was true. next we have the farm bill. a strong and on-time farm bill is essential to the health and well-being of the agriculture industry, the american people, and our economy. texas, which i'm proud to represent, is home to more than 230,000 f

senate votes on the ndaa. on tuesday charlie baker testifies investigating the growth in legalized sports gambling since the supreme court's ruling in murphy versus the ncaa. watch net weeks -- next wk live on the c-span networks or c-span now. head over to c-span.org for scheduling information to watch live, or on-demand any time. c-span, your unfiltered view of government. >> american history tv, exploring the people and events that tell the american story. this weekend, the saint charles county historical society jose conference of the american revolution the west. historians discuss the weapons, the role of spain and native americans and the 1779 mississippi river campaign. in lectures in history the second and a two part lecture in michael ross on the 1893 trial of lizzie borden, accused of board -- murdering her father and stepmother with an ax. lizzie borden became a lasting figure in american popular core chiller -- culture. on the presidency we will revisit the ford presidency with scholars reflecting

he wrote about the ndaa, brown this product release over the weekend and includes critical wins for ouroops and our country at a very important i do what you think chairman rogers of the house armed services committee at all community members and staff with a really hard work on the bill. spent a lot of time and effort working on it because our service members and a families deserve our best efforts. that's what with the landmark investment in quality of life as you heard with 14.5% pay raise for junior service members, important right now and approved housing for military families and other benefits. it's also why we stopped funds from going to crt and a military academies. we banned tricare from prescribing treatments that would sterilize her kids and we get in the dei bureaucracy and because we believe in peace through strength with lots of vitamin c and reduce the number of use special forces we supported the diploma of a national guard at the border. we expanded use of joint military exercises to israel and we increase funding for use defense initiatives in the indo-pacific and tha

so the national security commission for emerging biotech was created under the ndaa. we are charged with investigating, with elevating, and with coming up with recommendations for members of congress. the -- not just the tech no economic competition we're in but more specifically the biological domain of that competition. let me begin with the end the chinese are ahead. the chinese are ahead of this competition. we know what it takes to catch up. what threats are presented by our current predicament. number one, i begin with the war fighters themselves. if we lack the ability to take our amazing innovations into scale -- and to scale those innovations by biomanufacturing capabilities, our war fighters will lack the biomaterials in the future that allow them to suppress their thermal signature they won't have the access to the biosurveillance systems required to detect horrible pathogens and figure ott the source of those pathogens, potentially get guidance on how to counteract those pathogens in real time. we'll lack the ability. to understand the nature of our compet

the senate voted 91-6 to include my amendment in the ndaa last year, showing an overwhelming bipartisan consensus on the need to address this issue. we all know how hard it is to find consensus around here. a 60-vote threshold can be hard to come by on many important issues. but upwards of 90 votes should send a clear message that this issue is one that we deem of utmost importance on a bipartisan basis. we all are acutely aware of our competition with china and our need to counter some of china's aggression, including prohibitions on certain outbound investments are a critical step to that end. i must say, we've had some great partners in the house. i want to thank in particular john molenare chair of the senate select committee in the house, congressman michael mccaul, chair of the foreign relations committee, and speaker of the house, mike johnson, who have all contributed to our efforts to advance this issue. but this isn't where the story ends. the senate has -- or had, another opportunity to include these provisions in the defense authorization act this year, but house minority le

we will face that as we begin to develop through the ndaa our mission long-term to keep this country safe. we have to acknowledge that our adversaries will work together to our detriment. ai can help us. our intel is critical, so that we know in advance what they are up to, so that we can be more capable but this is a big part of an integrated approach to keeping our country safe and it involves the use of intel in everything we will use in the future but moving it to a war fighter at the speed of light. >> we have seen in the war in ukraine both the incredible importance of real-time intelligence. the ability of both sides to see combat maneuver way faster than in previous conflicts. way faster than anyone could say the u.s. moves, but now ubiquitous drones allow, give a much better picture, much earlier warning. at the same time, electronic warfare has cut off some of that access to the network. you made a good point, the adversary has a wrote in this. senator kelly, what are your thoughts of how we develop intelligence that can serve in this, both the importance of ubiquitous inte

minority whip john thune talked today about mitch mcconnell's fall and discussed the annual policy bill, ndaaate democrats' weekly news conference with majority leader chuck schumer, and sworn this by adam schiff of california and andy kim of new jersey. >> today one of the most beloved members of our caucus in this chamber and a near and dear friend of mine will deliver his farewell address on the floor. that's senior senator from maryland, ben cardin. everybody knows

it's one of the things i actually put in this year's ndaa that we just passed, that we can catch up withe of our adversaries in this space. i think the bigger question we need to ask, though, is what is the pushback on this, whether it's drones today, whether it's chinese intrusion sets which have hit our telecommunications and something called salt typhoon that have really put us on the defensive edge? i think a lot of americans are asking, when do we start pushing back? when do we start doing more than defense? but aggressive offense on making sure this doesn't show up on our shores. >> sir, speaking of the chinese, and you mentioned, of course, that salt typhoon hack that has reportedly gotten into the american telecommunications networks in ways that allow them to listen to phone calls, read text messages and other things. there was also reporting overnight. this is from cbs news. still, at this point, not confirmed here at cnn. but the reporting that they have is that donald trump, the president elect, has invited xi jinping, the chinese president, to the inauguration next month. do

comes into office and turning now, as i mentioned, you're on the armed services committee and the ndaa, which is the huge annual defense authorization bill, is in the spotlight right now because it includes a republican provisions that would prohibit government provided insurance coverage, tricare coverage of gender affirming care for transgender children of service members. >> i do want to note that tricare covers hormones and mental health coverage, not surgeries, for dependents who are diagnosed with gender dysphoria. but i wonder you, as someone who has been critical at times of your party and how they talk about transgender rights issues, did did this being in that bill inform your decision that you will vote no on the bill you know, we haven't had the vote yet, but i am completely against this rider because it is politicizing the defense bill. >> the defense bill has a long history of being totally bipartisan, and this was a very difficult year to actually make it bipartisan. democrats and republicans worked together on the armed services committee through long, long nights over