CASPER, Wyo. — Wyoming’s United States Congresswoman Liz Cheney called for Democrats to refocus their attention away from impeachment proceedings into U.S. President Donald Trump.
Instead, Cheney says the House of Representatives should bring the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act up for consideration.
“In her remarks, she called on House Democrats to refocus their attention from impeachment proceedings to passing a bipartisan NDAA to support the troops and strengthen national security,” Cheney’s office said in a Wednesday, Dec. 4 press release.
Her office provided a transcript of Cheney’s remarks on the floor of the House Wednesday. They also shared a video of her remarks as broadcast on C-Span.
The transcript can be accessed below this video:
REP. LIZ CHENEY: Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to thank my friend and colleague, Mr. Woodall. I do miss our time together on the Rules Committee. I will look forward to a Rules Committee under a majority leadership in the near future and we’d like to have you back, Mr. Woodall. So thank you for all of your great service to our nation and to this institution.
Mr. Speaker, if we defeat the previous question, we will amend the rule and begin immediate consideration of the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act. I urge the House to move forward on this measure and give our men and women in uniform the resources they need, the tools they deserve to defend all of us.
As matters stand, Mr. Speaker, we are facing a grave situation. Combining the already-delayed NDAA with the most recent continuing resolution is bad enough. But further delay on this defense bill combined with the potential of yet one more continuing resolution—that, Mr. Speaker, is a national security nightmare.
Timely, stable, adequate funding is a prerequisite for a strong military. It is the first step toward ensuring the security of each and every American. That is why, Mr. Speaker, it is vital that we as a body fulfill this, our most important Constitutional duty which is to provide for the common defense.
If we fail to do so, nothing else we do in this body will matter. If this chamber fails to do so, Mr. Speaker, make no mistake, the Democrats will be held to account. The partisan tactics and the baseless impeachment exercises we have seen will be to blame. Speaker Pelosi’s leadership has cast a cloud over the defense authorization and appropriations processes in this body.
In July, Mr. Speaker, the House voted on a hyper-partisan defense bill on an unprecedented party-line basis. This legislation was loaded with poison pills. But it did not have to be this way. The Senate passed its bill on a bipartisan basis, carrying on a decades-long tradition.
Then, as if this partisanship in the defense bill wasn’t enough, Democrats decided to begin a closed-door impeachment inquiry. An inquiry which has served only to distract and delay the NDAA process further. Not only that, Mr. Speaker, but the Democrats have hijacked the Intelligence Committee – one of the single most important committees in this body responsible for the security of this nation. They have hijacked it with an impeachment process that we have now seen is an absolute and clear waste of valuable time with huge costs to the American people.
Think for a moment about the sacrifices that our men and women in uniform are making right now as I speak. Our troops are hunting down ISIS and al Qaeda terrorists, they are deterring rogue regimes, and they are working with vital allies around the world. They are securing the freedom of millions of Americans.
Ensuring their ability to do so is not a matter for partisan tactics or delay. Protecting our men and women on the front lines should be Congress’s first priority. Unfortunately, our men and women in uniform are once again being held hostage in order for the Democrats to chase an impeachment fantasy.
The fact is that our adversaries are not pressing pause. China and Russia are developing hypersonic strike weapons, modernizing their nuclear forces, advancing their air and missile defenses, and increasingly making advances in emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence.
These threats will not go away. In fact, the longer our national security is subject to partisan distractions, the harder it will become for America to match and overpower these threats.
When Democrats choose partisanship over providing for our nation’s security—as they have since this Congress was sworn in—they are helping the Chinese, the Russians, rogue regimes and terrorist groups. The American people will hold the Democrats accountable for their gross neglect of our Constitutional obligations. Mr. Speaker, we must act now to pass a bipartisan NDAA to support our troops, and to strengthen our security. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. With that, I yield back.
