the senate armed services committee passed our version of the bill 3 months ago. one of the most important legislative items that we are responsible for and our nation is responsible for is to provide for arm when and women and uniform --our men and women in uniform and yet this administration and senator schumer are advocate -- abdicating our authority. let's take a look around the globe at what is going on. china is testing hypersonic missiles. russia is exerting pressure on ukraine. iran is exerting influence across the region, as is north korea. the taliban has control of afghanistan, providing safe harbor for terrorist organizations. our southern border is wide open, folks. who was providing for our national securi and how will we get that donety if we are not able to get the ndaa over the finish? i am calling on leader schumer to set aside floor time instead of doing this low level nominations. let's make sure our federal government is providing the authorities necessary for our military, our men and women in uniform, to protect our nation. >> we have an imp

the senate armed service committee passed our version of the bill three months ago. one of the most important legislative items we are responsible for, and our nation is responsible for, provide for men and women in uniform and our nations defense. yet this administration and leader schumer are advocating our authority. let's take a look around the globe at what's going on. china is testing hypersonic missiles. russia is exerting pressure on ukraine. iran is exerting influence across the region as is north korea in their region. the taliban now has control of afghanistan providing safe harbor for terrorist organizations and our southern border is wide open, folks. who is providing for our national security? how will we get that done if we are not able to get the nda over the finish line? i am calling on leader schumer to set aside for time instead of doing all of these low-level nominations, let's make sure our federal government is providing the authority necessary for our military, our men and women in uniform to attacked our nation. >> today we have an important e

a few months of taking office, as the newest and by far the most junior member of the senate armed services committee, we were asked to vote to re-authorize and continue the war in vietnam. at that time support in vermont for the war was strong. but i always aopposed it. i always opposed it. we voted five times. each time the vote to continue the war was defeated by one vote. i was proud to be that one vote. i hoped that vermonters would respect my judgment and can sense -- conscience, even if they disagreed on my vote to end the war. i learned early in my career that good judgment and hard work are what vermonters expect from their representatives. the hard work part began as a member of the senate agriculture committee. where i became its chairman. we used it to bring several born in vermont ideas to capitol hill such as the promise of the future and poorest legacy program. these programs have conserved thousands of acres of working farmland and forestland in vermont and even throughout the country. that's why i began a program that's since brought tens of millions of dollars to aid in the cleanup

years of work in the armed services committee, under the leadership of senator john tower cementing themodernization, in arms control, and perhaps his most lasting legacy, the strategic defense initiative, were all on the line in the writing of the national defense authorization act of 1989. democrats had gained control of both the house and the senate in 1986 and had carefully chosen the 1989 defense bill as the vessel of their attempted clawback of reagan advances in national security. 1988 was an election year, the last year of the reagan presidency. the democrat party was feeling very encouraged by the midterms and strongly believed they would win the white house in 1988. they gambled, they could go very far in curbing reagan's national security agenda without completely gutting it by using restrictive language in the bill to bound and limit the advances in missile deployment and strategic defense initiative while counting on the election of a new democrat administration. reagan was at his weakest, they reasoned, and the new defense intellectuals, gore, kerry and their allies in the

where was the senate armed services committee that did nothing. imagine if, if china had done anything, if russia or iran had done anything, north korea had remotely done anything like this, where the u. s. media would be what we would be hearing about today. you bring up my next point. do you think there will be accountability over what happened? i certainly hope so, and if we can encourage it, we certainly should of but the, the reason this story made it into the new york times was because of the courage of journalists and sources of who had run into absolute lack of accountability and resorted to this means of getting the story out and this has been the norm. should there be accountability that would be new and, and, and my eyes are not just on the failed government in washington, but the rest of the world. where are the sanctions, can you imagine thus sanctions, if this were any other country doing this, where is the united nations or at least some international pressure? yeah, absolutely. where is the sort of pressure you would be seen if thi

s. congress, where was the senate armed services committee that did nothing. imagine if, if china had done anything, if russia or iran had done anything, north korea had remotely done anything like this. where is the sort of pressure you would be seen if this were a nation being targeted by the united states rather than be in the united states? the 20th, on the way in the us of a young man who fatally shot 2 paypal and injured another during black lives matter protests in wisconsin last year and his clothing remarks. the prosecutor alleged that carl lewis in house provoked the entire incidents by pointing a long bow old rifle that protested worse and house insists he acted in self defense now except to the jury. and if the case that has divided america collars in house travel ticking osha in august last year, when he was 17, he says he went there to protect local businesses from the riots following the death of a black man during an altercation with police. during a confrontation, he opened fire. he claims in self defense. 2 people died and another was wound.

s. congress, where was the senate armed services committee that did nothing. imagine if, if china had done anything of russia or iran had done anything, north korea had remotely done anything like this. where is the sort of pressure you would be seen if this were a nation being targeted by the united states rather than being the united states? a trial is underway in the us of a young man and faithfully short to people and injured another during black lives matter of roach us in wisconsin. last year in the latest development, the judge has ruled kyle written house was legally carrying along borrow rifle on that fateful night. however, his murder trial continues, and it's the case which has divided the country or called with enough travel to kenosha in august last year when he was 17, he says he went there to protect local businesses from the rights following the death of a blackman to run a conflicts with police, similar confrontation, hope and fire. he claims in self defense. 2 people died and another was wounded. it's a case that is encapsulated to one of ame

s. congress, where was the senate armed services committee that did nothing. imagine if, if china had done anything, if russia or iran had done anything, north korea had remotely done anything like this. where is the sort of pressure you would be seen if this were a nation being targeted by the united states, rather than being the united states and f, e, i, right on contractual investigative journalism outfit. project veritas has been slammed by rights groups. case relates to alleged theft of dory belonging to president j broadens daughter ashley project. veritas is engaged in disgraceful deceptions and reasonable observers might not consider their activities to be journalism at all, unless the government had good reason to believe that project veritas employees were directly involved in the criminal theft. at the diary, it should not have subjected them to invasive searches and seizures. project veritas, as it was given the dory, what 2 individuals never published it and handed it into police during the re be if your confiscate of the phone of found a james o

s. congress, where was the senate armed services committee that did nothing. imagine if, if china had done anything, if russia or iran had done anything, north korea had remotely done anything like this. where is the sort of pressure you would be seen if this were a nation being targeted by the united states rather than being the united states trolleys are continuing in the us of a young man. he faithfully shot 2 people and injured another during black lives. might the progress in wisconsin last here in the latest development the judge has ruled karl, which a house was legally carrying a long battle rifle on that fateful light. his motive shiloh continues, and it's the case which has split the country. well, let's take a look back at the facts call. rittenhouse traveled to kenosha in august last year when he was 17. he says he went there to protect local businesses from the rights following the death of a black man 0. an altercation with police during the confrontation open fire. he claims in self defense, leaving 2 people dead and another wounded is the case

and so when something like this comes along and the senate armed services committee did interview some of the sources. we talked to, but it is we reported they really haven't followed up very aggressively office. and so i think they are couple culpable in this because congress plays in essential role. not only in financing the defense department, but in providing oversight for incidents just like this. and if they can't follow up when people have the courage, like dean course anchorage in order to come forward and make these allegations with credible evidence that and preserve than shame on them, they need to be doing more. david, one of the things i felt reading through this piece, and i really highly recommended to every one i know, and i could feel how hard this piece was to report. this is not casual reporting, this is not opinion. this is deeply reported material in the national security space with lots of dimensions. i sort of felt like you had to sort of the woodward and bernstein of telling a, you know, very complex story. but i'd like to know and have our audience understand w

he said that in response to my questions at a senate armed services committee hearing earlier in june and what is this new, more powerful military's highest priority? the peaceful island of democracy, taiwan. president xi has been very clear about his desire to bring taiwan under the c.c.p.'s control. the only thing stopping him is 100 miles of ocean, the taiwan strait, but the c.c.p.'s ambitions won't end with taiwan, india, japan, south korea, and many countries in the south china sea are feeling the effects of china's aggression in ways no one expected even a decade ago. and to back up their global agenda, the c.c.p. is hard at work expanding china's nuclear arsenal. as admiral richard, the commander of stratcom wrote earlier this year, quote, china's nuclear weapon stockpile is expected to double, if not triple or quadruple over the next decade. end quote. a new report out yesterday from the pentagon paints a worse picture. it predicts that china could have at least 1,000 nuclear warheads by 2030, roughly five times what they have now. as part of this expansion, china is building

>> let me say again with senator and others 24 here's on the armed services committee for 14 years, theense committee, the armed services committee, house and senate defense appropriations committees are still a bipartisan oasis of wanting to do the right thing for the country. those committees work together, they work on a bipartisan basis and pastor legislation. the appropriations bills because of the larger congressional dysfunction, they don't get them out on time but not within their control. individually if you look at the leadership of these committees, they want to do the right thing and do reforms so i think we've got the opportunity, you got a lot of new people on the senate and house armed services committee on both sides of the aisle serving in the modern war in iraq and afghanistan to the system. general jones is correct, we need to go for the management increment in the pentagon and fix the operational chain of command but i think if they could get the committees to agree with the problem and the pressing nature and get the pentagon, the problem you have is, the pentagon i

well,, you know -- actually, a couple of weeks ago, he testified under oath before the senate armed services committee house armed services committee and confirmed everything that we had in the book, including these sensitive calls with the. chinese. and we were in a time, sorry to use it again, but it fits, a time of peril between the election in november and the final inauguration of joe biden as president. so the peril was there. robert costa and i discovered a real national security crisis. worried about what was going on with china particularly. it is a hair trigger environment. it was at the time. and unfortunately, it remains. so if you listen to chairman mill milley now as lester is talking to him, milley makes it very, very clear that we're not talking about something bad happening, maybe tomorrow, although he said, anything is possible, but in the next six months, year, we are in a bad situation and he is making -- there is no ambiguity in what he is saying and what the situation is. >> bob, thank you so much. a reminder to our audience. xi jinping, he doesn't have to worry about the midterm

as close as six months from now the senate armed services committee was told that could happen. i don't say it to be dramatic, it is a reality. the world is more dangerous than its ever been in my lifetime and people reminded me over and over again yesterday, since it was my birthday yesterday, how long it has been. national security needs to be the top priority. without a strong military defending our way of life, nothing else matters. we can talk about other things, but it doesn't really matter if we can't do that. since world war ii we've ensured peace through the world by projecting strength. our military should and must serve as a strong deterrent to our adversaries and they got to know that they can't beat us. some people question that but they've got to know that they can't beat us and we've got to show them. we are fully aware they have things that we don't have, technology that we don't have and this is something that we haven't dealt with before. president biden's inadequate military budget request, the irresponsible drawdown in afghanistan, something he shouldn't have

the senate armed services committee hears testimony on the withdrawal from afghanistan and undersecretary for defense policy and director for the joint chiefs of staff testify. this is just over two and a half hours. >> i will now call the hearing to order. good morning. the committee meets today to examine the security situation in south and central asia in light of the transition of u.s. military from afghanistan. this is the sixth event in the of engagement that seek to engage the united states military 20 year mission in afghanistan. understand factors that led to the tele bans rapid takeover of the country and the collapse of the afghan forces, over the operations in the afghan evacuees and calibrate the counterterrorism operations in light of emerging threats and national security priorities. joining us today are undersecretary of defense for policy and lieutenant general, director for operations joint staff. thank you both for being here. i know there may be a tendency during the hearing to focus on the final months in afghanistan. i would stress again that the eventsts surrounding

armed services committee, as does the chair. and both of us can attest that the armed services committee is one of the most nonpartisan committees in the united states senate. and, in fact, in the armed -- let's talk about amendments for a minute. in the armed services committee, during our markup we adopted 145 amendments, most by agreement, by bipartisan agreement, by unanimous consent consent. there were a few roll call votes, but not very many. and in my experience in nine years on that committee, there have only been a handful of party-line roll call votes in the armed services committee. it produces some very odd bedfellows and some combinations that don't make much sense politically, but it's because the members of the committee put the interests of the united states of america first and make their decision on that, not on politics. so 145 amendments in the committee. then there's a managers' package that we're going to be voting on today that has 57 amendments in it, 27 supported by republicans, 27 by democrats, and three that are entirely bipartisan. so we're up to 202 amendments. that's a lot of amendments to a piece of legislation. not to mentio

>> let me say, again, with senator and others for 24 years in the armed services committee for 14 yearse defense committee, the armed services committee, the house and the senate defends appropriations committees are still a bipartisan away sis of wanting to do the right thing for the country. those committees work. they work together, they work on a bipartisan basis, and they passed our legislation. we -- because of the larger congressional dysfunction, they don't get them out all the time. but not within their control. if you look at the leadership within these committees, they want to do the right thing and do these reforms. i think we have got an opportunity, to this point, you've got a new people in the senate and the house armed services committee on both sides of the aisle serving in the modern war in iraq in afghanistan -- general jones is correct, we need to goldwater nickel -- we fix the operational chain of command -- but i think if we could get the committees to agree with the problem and the pressing nature, and get the pentagon, the problem you have is that the pentagon is

yesterday, under secretary of defense for policy colin powell testified before the senate armed services committee that there were 400 50 american citizens still in afghanistan. he said 196 americans related to leave afghanistan. september 1, the u.s. government has helped facilitate the departure of 234 u.s. citizens, and 144 permanent residence. today, you testified to a different number. it's been almost two months since the u.s. withdrew from afghanistan. there are still american citizens trying to get home to safety, still behind enemy lines. with no u.s. presence on the ground, what mechanism are you using to ensure the safety of americans that the biden administration but behind in afghanistan? brian mckeon: we're working every day to try to bring out the americans who wish to depart. we are working with a couple of airline companies that are willing to go into kabul airport, to bring people out on chartered aircraft. those -- there is no commercial air service right now to kabul airport. we expect to go this week to bring out several dozen americans. >> several dozen. why do you believe al

now, the senate armed services committee voted on that, and you know what the vote was? 25-1. -- in favor of that 5% increase. every single senate republican on the committee supported this level of funding. the house bill contains the same 5% increase, and it passed the house chamber 316-113. in order to increase the defense number and stay within the top-line established in the fy 2022 budget resolution, i reduced the amount for nondefense programs from president biden's proposed 16% increase, which i would have preferred, but i reduced it to a 13% increase. that's how negotiations work, each side has to give some. now, having offered the republican-endorsed spending level for defense, have they taken yes for an answer? no. have they taken time for a counteroffer? no. instead, they seem intent on driving us toward a full-year continuing resolution. if i had been here a long time and was a cynical person, which i'm not, i'd be worried that delay was a political calculation to tie the hands of the biden administration and thwart its agenda governing under long-term resolu

here now is republican senator josh hawley, member of the armed services committee. ey, i mean, what is china thinking when they see this? the afghan withdrawal -- the withdrawal and now this. >> well, you know, they are probably wondering why it is the people like general milley and secretary austin spend so much time recommending books on white rage, on critical race theory and are not more focused on war fighting. here's my view, we got the best soldiers, airmen, marines, in the entire world. our soldiers are made in war fighters, let them fight, let them do what they do best and stop using the military as a giant social experiment, which is what the left seems to want. >> laura: speaking of general milley, and he's apparently confident that china is not going to attack taiwan anytime soon. >> is it your belief that china is preparing to make a move on taiwan in the near future? >> i would say that based on my analysis of china, i don't think it is likely in the next -- near future been defined as six, 12, maybe 24 months, maybe that kind of window. >> laura: oh, w

as you know, i sit on the senate armed services committee and its strategic forces subcommittee. would be very interested in your thoughts on china's nuclear stockpile and its expanding capabilities, specifically with regard to our challenge right now here within the discussions going on that some of our members think it's okay if we were to perhaps not modernize our own triad. in fact they question whether anybody really cares whether we have a triad or not. china, and this is at an unclassified level, they've been increasing their stockpile. some folks don't think that we need to be improving and upgrading and modernizing our own nuclear triad. i think china is aggressively growing their own, and i think this is a critical part of their foreign policy strategy. and i think it's one way in which the prc, in terms of their diplomatic efforts, uses it as a hammer when they deal with other countries. could you share a little bit about how you see that impacting your ability to negotiate with the prc once you are there? >> senator, thank you. and thank you for the conversation we ha

here is republican senator josh halley, member of the armed services committee.na thinking when they see this, the afghan withdrawal and now this? >> they are probably wondering why it is that people like general milley and secretary austen spent so much time recommending books on white rage, critical race theory and are not more focused on war fighting. we've got the best soldiers, airmen, marines and the entire world. our soldiers are amazing workers, train them to fight, let them do what they do best and stop using the military is a giant social experiment which is what the left seems to want. >> general milley is apparently confident that china is not going to attack taiwan anytime soon. >> is it your belief that china is preparing to make a move on taiwan in the near future? >> i would say based on my analysis of china i don't think it is likely in the near future being defined as 6, 12, 24 months, that kind of window. >> what a relief. don't over to the late mike calls to chinese counterpart he's gleaning this information but i think remember general milley

senate and the house. the intelligence committees, the armed services committees, want to find out what's going on. and the dod is now ramping up the effort to give us some answers, hopefully. >> the united states under donald trump started the space force. this is very different. it will be fascinating to see what they find. what do you think the viable explanation might be? >> well, they delivered director of national intelligence delivered a preliminary assessment in june and said, look, there's probably not one single neat answer to this. there may be a lot of things going on. but again it's the speeds, maneuvers, accelerations that go beyond what we can do that give cause for concern here. frankly, if an adversary, russia or china have developed what they call breakthrough technologies, this is of extreme concern. people like marco rubio and christian jillen brand, bipartisan, we want some answers. guillen brand had -- >> nick, i'm glad you're on top of it. i think there needs to be some answers to some unexplained questions. all right, nick, thank you so much for joining us tonight. our final

senator inhofe, the ranking member of the armed services committee, worked with democrats and had agreed to this. and on top of all that, senators reed and inhofe also reached a bipartisan agreement to hold votes on 19 amendments here on the floor before republicans blocked that proposal two weeks ago. 19 amendment votes, mr. chairman, 19. that is more than the total number of amendments to ndaa that received votes under the republican majority and under leader mcconnell when we debated this bill in 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2020. not more than each year. more than all of them put together. we just had two amendments on ndaa in 2017 when mcconnell was majority leader. we had five in 2018 when mitch mcconnell was majority leader. three in 2019. and seven in 2020. adding that up, that is a total of 17. that's over four years. this year we offered 19 amendment votes, including bipartisan measures to combat ransomware, repeal the 2002 iraq aumf and support cyber defense of our critical infrastructure. but when we tried to get consent to move on this package of amendments, our republican colleagu

with me now to continue the conversation, hawaii democratic senator mazie hirono who sits on the armed services committeesee you. the defense authorization bill is a bill that normally gets overwhelmingly bipartisan support. but what does it say about the state of affairs on capitol hill when this piece of legislation gets mired in political wrangling? >> it just goes to show that only, you know, a few people can gum up the works. in this case, it's about seven republican senators who are ignoring the fact that there have been over 50 amendments, bipartisan amendments, to the national defense authorization act. so i expect that something will be worked out, maybe as soon as today. so that we can get that bill done. >> and how could that be worked out by today? how do you see that happening when you have this relatively small group of people saying "no"? >> oh, that they will see the light and there'll be some sort of compromise that is achieved, so my hope is that it will get done quickly, because we have a lot of other things on our plate, as you know, jose. >> absolutely. another big item, for example,

>> well, at first i want to thank senator gillibrand who's really been the leader on this in the armed services committeehip and the support of many of us, this has been included in the senate version of the national defense authorization act. so, we have a comprehensive approach that's been developed that's in the senate bill. there's a different approach. it's more narrow in the house bill. so, the letter you're referring to is a group on a bipartisan basis who want to make sure that when they're negotiating the final bill between the house and the senate that they use the stronger, more comprehensive version of addressing these issues. >> so, is the ndaa officially getting punted now to the end of the month? >> well, we're waiting to hear from mitch mcconnell about that. i know that the leaders of the legislation worked together as always. i mean, this is probably one of those bipartisan bills that is done every single year in the senate. they work closely together. they want to get this done. leader schumer has actually authored more amendments, they've had more amendments accepted in a package than

armed services committee today. i know you have plans to speak to the senate in washington in the coming weeks.r conversations so far, are they willing to give it? >> well, it's just a select adjustment to what you said. it's select members of the house foreign affairs committee. we hope ultimately the senate and the armed forces. we need a broader discussion along immigration lines for the afghan special operations force. they're not eligible for an sib, but they need to be. they pose a national security risk if captured, but it's also a moral imperative. we're asking congress to help us create language that will allow a path to citizenship for these amazing operators and professionals who fought to the very end. >> scott, you're doing great work, and i know the folks on your team are doing great work. a lot of folks on the ground risking their lives to do this. our thanks for the effort you're making. >> thanks, jim. keep our veterans and your families in your minds this veterans day. it goes far beyond "thank you for your service." they're carrying a heavy hold. >> will do. thank you. >>> st

association they want answers, joining me right now tennessee senator marsha blackburn a member of the armed service commerce and judiciary committeeecond. but first let's talk about this jamie dimon conversation we reported what jamie dimon said the quote here is the quote, he said the communist party is celebrating 100th year showing j'moring i make a bet we last longer, he said that an hour later or couple hours after widely reported he walks back the comment says he regrets it your thoughts? >> jamie dimon should have said having we will last longer freedom free people free markets, that will always outlast the communist party, because people innately want freedom they are going to tilt that way. the chinese people all 1.4 billion of them, what are they going to want? they are going to want to make decisions for themselves, and they have learned that if you speak out against the ccp, they are going to disappear you going to shut you up, but look at what message it sends to our markets in the free world if somebody like jamie dimon is backing down to the ccp. we know what they are doing to american companies, that is why why man

when i first got here, my first two chairs of this -- of the armed services committee were carl levin and john mccain, senators who represented in my mind the best of the tradition of this senate. argued fiercely in favor of their positions. worked hard to resolve conflicts within the committee and were absolutely committed to the values of the united states of america. despite all the partisan differences that exist in the country, this bill is an example that we are still united when it comes to the defense of the united states. it comes on the heels of monday's signing of the historic bipartisan infrastructure bill. i think it's interesting that that bill has in its name -- it has a name, i'm not even sure what it is, but everybody refers to it as the bipartisan infrastructure bill because it was supported by bipartisan majorities in both houses. and in this bill, we're coming together to do something similar to support our country and particularly to support those who put their lives on the line to defend this country. and i want to stop there for just a second. we all go through life getting various jobs,

armed services committee and combat veteran himself. thank you for your service to this nation but this revelation by the washington examiner and this gop memo in the senateing almost none of the 82,000 people were vetted, that is exactly the opposite of what the president and secretary mayorkas promised us. >> you know i have been one of the strongest and loudest voices that we had to take care of our allies, had to get americans out and had to stand with those who stood with us for so many years to defend our flag but just one more incident where the biden administration botched this thing. there were many of us republican and democrat, veterans back in april listen as he made this announcement saying you have to start the evacuation now and you have to get these people to third countries or third-party locations where you can do a thorough and proper vetting, where you can buy time, get them to safety but to the vetting and get the right people, now we found out on the one hand they want to say losing this war was a strategic failure but the evacuation was a big tactical success. we are finding not even that was a success. they didn't get the right peo

joining me right now is tennessee senator marsha blackburn to talk more about this, she is a member of the armed services and veterans affairs committees of where we are on these negotiations, for the regular sill united recd a. >> the socialist democrats are trying to push all of these socialist wish list items into this bill. you've got the moderates who are saying we're not going to vote on this bill until we get a cbo score and you have the senate, where the legislation has to come and of course you have manchin, sinema, and some of the moderates there, some of the people would are actually up for re-election in the senate who are saying hey, wait a minute, you know, you can't do this. and when you look at the paid leave, when you look at the salt deductions and by the way, the democrats have to admit that is their gift to their wealthy donors on the east coast and the west coast. but i think the democrats are further apart now than they were a month ago when it comes to getting a decision and an agreement on this reconciliation bill. maria: well, i mean, you even have your colleague, joe manchin, saying, quote, it is unbelievable

host: the senate yesterday coming back after the thanksgiving break and they are working on the defense authorization bill. here's the headline and roll call. the armed services committee. republicans delay vote on bill. mitch mcconnell their public and later accused democrats of rushing legislation. [video clip] >> why do democratic colleagues want to shortchange national defense? for the time and attention on another spending spree. iraq wish list that would hurt american families. working families are hit hard. gas prices are up about 50%, a used car prices are up more than 25% in grocery prices across the country in every category are up significantly. in response washington democrats want to spend trillions more. if you put these at face value, this would alone would unleash $800 billion in the next five years. years five through 10 are when crushing tax hikes and phony accounting would begin to kick in. even then the bill is not paid for. president biden promised this legislation would cost zero dollars. obviously that is false. congressional budget after 10 years after tax hikes and fake offsets, there spree would still add up to $367 billion. and add that alter

senate side for bob dole. i want to mention the congressional oversight part because it's not just a matter of -- it's also the armed services committee. so when we get to money or soldiers, officers who don't get the payout. half and a year and half now. it's out of the kind of corruption. it's the question of the armed forces. how many armed leaders they have in afghanistan in the first 12 years of the conflict? general lute may know the number. scott miller, the longest general we had -- that leads to a certain, i've got to get my merit badge now, my mark now. and it doesn't always mean good choices. hr knows, a lot of our activities in the -- valley, highlighted in the book read platoon. it's a corruption of the armed forces. we didn't do as officers what we needed to do to take care of troops. -- >> can i just go on the record to reject that? that senior officers did it for a mirror badge? did you just say that? >> i not only said it, i repeat it again. and i say it to you -- >> mr. armitage, i'd like to reclaim my time. mr. mcmaster, i'd like to hear your perspective. >> i think that this idea of over optimism and confirmation b

so last week i called on the senate armed services committee chairman jack reed to schedule a hearing on this issue. i want to hear straight from the small business owners who are struggling to figure out how to comply. we need to know just how disruptions and how disruptive in their ability to complete their work may impact the defense supply chain. i also want to hear from expert witnesses within the department of defense. we need to have a full picture of the current state of the vaccine compliance. if the senate were to take action on a solution, it is critical that we have all the facts. i've also sent a letter to the president urging him to reverse course on his federal contract vaccine mandate. on monday, the white house backed down from their arbitrary deadline of december 8 with the announcement of new flexibilities in their guidance. while this step is in the right direction, they haven't gone far enough. the vaccine mandate is still a compliance burden on small contractors no matter how flexible the white house tries to make them. our workforce will -- still will be unneces

that we hope to have offered last night, to have hoped to have a vote on the senate floor, passed the house armed services committee, unanimously passed the house arms committee and was included in their final bill which passed with 316 votes, including 181 democrats. that's right, mr. president. this same amendment passed unanimously out of the house armed services committee, and 181 democrats on the house side supported this amendment in their ndaa. over here in the senate, though, don't let the majority leader fool you. this ndaa process was a closed one as a result of his inability to bring the bill to the senate floor in a timely manner in order to provide sufficient opportunity for member input. i urge the majority leader to change course and allow a robust ndaa amendment process that includes a vote on our amendment when the senate returns after thanksgiving. thank you, mr. president, and i yield back. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: quorum call: quorum call: quorum call: mr. reed: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from rhode island is recognized. mr. reed: m