Senator Britt Joins Senator Collins, GOP Colleagues in Calling for Consideration of Defense, MilConVA Appropriations Bills Ahead of Funding Deadline

‘As long as I am in this body, I am going to keep pushing this issue’

WASHINGTON, D.C., September 18, 2024 – U.S. Senator Katie Britt (R-Ala.) today delivered a speech on the Senate floor calling for the consideration of the Fiscal Year 2025 (FY25) Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act and the FY25 Defense Appropriations Act.

Senator Britt joined a group of Senate Republicans, led by Appropriations Vice Chair Susan Collins (R-Maine), in calling for consideration of the two bills individually.

Both pieces of legislation were advanced unanimously out of the Appropriations Committee by August 1 but have not been brought to the Senate floor for consideration, even as government funding expires on September 30.

Excerpts from Senator Britt’s remarks are below. The full video is available here. 

“. . .We have members of the Appropriations Committee, both Democrat and Republican, that sit and work together. We have a job to fund the government. We’re supposed to do it by September 30. We have marked up 11 out of 12 of those bills in an extremely bipartisan fashion. But yet, those bills still sit on Chuck Schumer’s desk. He hasn’t brought one of them to the floor.”

“Secretary Austin, obviously appointed by President Biden, confirmed by this body, has said that a CR will hurt our men and women in uniform. So what we should be doing is figuring out a path forward to fund defense and to fund our veterans. So today, you see members of the Republican Party standing up and saying ‘let’s get this chamber back to doing the critical work we were sent here to do.’ It’s long overdue.”

“The American people deserve better. And yet somehow, we can’t get the media to cover this. We can’t get them to cover the fact that Leader Schumer has refused to lead. . .But do you know what Chuck Schumer took his time doing yesterday? Creating a show vote for commercials for men and women on the other side of the aisle that are in vulnerable seats, instead of putting the American people first.”

“As long as I am in this body, I am going to keep pushing this issue. I’m going to keep moving it to the front. We are going to find a solution to actually getting back to doing the work the American people sent us up here to do.”

In the FY25 Defense Appropriations Act, Senator Britt supported $6.1 billion for Alabama priorities, including:

• $1.42 billion for flight training at Fort Novosel, a $32 million dollar increase from last year
• $605 million for The Missile Defense Agency, headquartered in Huntsville
• $247 million for twelve additional Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) systems, which are built in Troy
• $77 million for Joint Air-to-Ground Missiles (JAGMs), which are built in Troy
• $825 million for Joint Air-Surface Standoff Missiles (JASSMs), which are built in Troy
• $896 million for Long Range Anti-Ship Missiles (LRASMs), which are built in Troy
• $21 million for Hellfire missiles, which are built in Troy
• $284 million for Javelin missiles, which are built in Troy
• $34 million for Hydra rockets, which are built in Anniston
• $198 million in programmatic requests directly supporting the Alabama defense small business industrial base
• $1.509 billion for the overhaul and maintenance of Army Vehicles at the Anniston Army Depot (ANAD), including:
  • $853 million to procure 45 Abrams tanks
  • $403 million for 38 Stryker vehicles
  • $256 million for Paladin Integrated Management artillery vehicles

In the FY25 Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, Senator Britt secured $22.5 million in congressionally directed spending for Alabama, including:

• $6.5 million to Fort Novosel for the construction of a Crash/Rescue Station at Hatch Army Heliport
• $6.6 million to Fort Novosel for the construction of a Crash/Rescue Station at Tabernacle Stagefield
• $5.5 million to Fort Novosel for the construction of a Flat Iron Facility (aka Medevac Facility)
• $1.3 million to Fort Novosel for planning and design of a Flight Control Tower at Hanchey Army Airfield
• $2.6 million to Fort Novosel for the planning and design of an Installation Service Node Facility to support communication and other mission critical equipment

###