Summary: Today, Speaker Ryan spoke about the defense funding bill the House will consider this week, which gives our service members their largest pay raise in nine years, provides for training and equipment, and gives our military the resources needed to confront new challenges.
Opening Statement:
“As you also know, we just hit the six-month milestone after tax reform—and I’m sure that’s mostly what you’re reporting on these days.
“I just want to say just how far we’ve come in a brief period of time.
“Wages are rising, unemployment remains low, people are feeling confident again.
“It is just what the majority leader said: The kind of economic turnaround that we have seen since tax reform exceeded our expectations, and we’ve been working on this issue for decades.
“After tax reform, our top priority was to rebuild our military.
“One of the chief architects of rebuilding our military is Chairwoman Kay Granger.
“We needed to address a very serious readiness crisis in this country that was costing us American lives.
“We were able to secure the biggest funding increase in defense spending in 15 years.
“With this defense funding bill, we are putting these promises into action. We are starting a new era for our military.
“This bill invests in training. It invests in equipment.
“It provides funding for modern systems so that our military is best equipped for the challenges we face in 21st-century warfare. New challenges—tough challenges.
“This is about ensuring that our Armed Forces, after years of being hollowed out, can operate on the cutting edge, with agility and efficiency.
“And this defense bill gives our service members their biggest pay raise in nine years.
“What our troops do is nothing short of remarkable. They have our greatest admiration. And this raise is well-deserved.
“We want the men and women who wear our uniform to always, always have what they need to fulfill their missions, and to take care of their families.
“So we are keeping promises that we have made.
“We are doing in office what we said we would do in the campaign in 2016.
“Through our policies, whether it’s bolstering our economy or strengthening our defense, we are reinforcing America’s leadership in the world.”
