Source: United States Senator for Oklahoma James Inhofe
U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, today released the following statement after the Senate adjourned for a state work week without making any progress on this year’s National Defense Authorization Act:
“Even though the National Defense Authorization Act is bipartisan and fulfills Congress’s most important duties — to provide for the common defense and take care of our troops — Sen. Schumer still won’t let us vote on the bill. Meanwhile, in the three months since the Armed Services Committee passed this bill, the threats we face around the world — China and Russia, North Korea and Iran, terrorist organizations in Afghanistan — have only gotten worse. By not prioritizing national security now, Sen. Schumer is sending a terrible message to our troops, allies and adversaries.
“Considering this bill on the Senate floor is a crucial step in the process because it allows every senator a chance to make his or her mark through what I hope will be a robust, open amendment process. I don’t want to cut my colleagues out of the process, and I don’t know why Sen. Schumer thinks that’s acceptable. Instead, we have wasted months of floor time waiting for an unpopular, partisan bill that hadn’t even been written yet.
“This additional delay will make getting our job done – and doing it right – that much harder. Now, Sen. Schumer has almost guaranteed this year will be one of the latest starts to the bicameral conference process ever. I share House Armed Services Committee Chairman Adam Smith’s sentiments fully when he said he was ‘extraordinarily frustrated.’ As soon as Sen. Schumer lets us, we’ll work day in and day out to get this year’s bill done. Our troops deserve no less. But it shouldn’t be like this.”