'Yesterday Is Right Now': Mitch McConnell Urges Support For Military Modernization Investments

6 months ago

During remarks on the Senate floor Thursday, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) spoke about defense funding.

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00:00Now, on another matter, this week the Armed Services Committee has been marking up the

00:05National Defense Authorization Act for the coming year.

00:10In the past, the committee has prided itself on considering hundreds of amendments and

00:15thoroughly exercising Congress oversight responsibilities in the process.

00:21I expect this year to be no different.

00:25But one essential question hangs over both the NDAA and the appropriations process to

00:31come.

00:33Is Congress ready, finally ready, to fulfill our most fundamental responsibility of adequately

00:42providing for the common defense?

00:44This, of course, remains an open question.

00:50For a fourth straight year, the process of funding the federal government began with

00:54a White House budget proposal that would impose net cuts to the national defense.

01:01I've said it before, how can we expect to keep up with the pacing threat, the PRC, if

01:12our military budgets don't even keep pace with inflation?

01:17I know a number of our Democratic colleagues recognize that the threats we face are growing

01:22and that our defense requirements are growing along with them.

01:28But they don't seem to be ready to respond with any sense of urgency.

01:32Senate Democrats continue to indicate that they'll stick to their longstanding demand

01:37for artificial parity between defense and non-defense appropriations for any increases

01:44above the president's budget.

01:48It's time for all of us to face the actual facts.

01:53The threats we face have grown since the bipartisan budget caps were negotiated.

01:59They've grown since the president's budget was drafted.

02:04The defense of Israel and Ukraine continue to offer lessons on the glaring need for modern

02:11air and missile defenses.

02:14We've learned how insufficient our inventories of critical long-range munitions might be

02:20in the event of a direct conflict in the Pacific.

02:25And with the risk of simultaneous conflict in multiple regions actually growing, the

02:31enduring importance of the two-war force planning construct is making itself abundantly clear.

02:41This is the reality our colleague, Ranking Member Wicker, was grappling with when he

02:46put together a detailed plan for an overdue generational investment in the national defense.

02:53And I'm grateful to my friend for his leadership.

02:59A serious roadmap for preserving our military primacy is on the table.

03:05The question now is whether the Senate will follow it.

03:10Whether we'll lay the groundwork right now for urgent investments in critical munitions,

03:15long-range fires, sea power, and in the defense industrial base required to sustain all of

03:23it for long-term strategic competition.

03:29Way back in 1940, when the scope of the access threat was finally so glaringly obvious that

03:37even longtime skeptics began to soften their opposition to long-overdue military investment,

03:44the Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral Harold Stark, pointed out a harsh reality.

03:54Dollars can't buy yesterday.

04:01We're already facing a steep uphill climb to prepare America's armed forces to deter

04:06aggression and out-compete our adversaries.

04:12You can't surge readiness.

04:15We can't modernize overnight.

04:21Yesterday is right now, and it's time to invest in what we need to deter and defeat looming

04:29threats.

04:32So I'll be watching our colleagues work closely, and I'll urge the Democratic leader to bring

04:36the NDAA to the floor for consideration as soon as the committee completes its work.

'Yesterday Is Right Now': Mitch McConnell Urges Support For Military Modernization Investments

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