UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES / From the desk of Tom Cole
In 1793, in his fifth annual State of the Union Address, President George Washington said, “if we desire to secure peace … it must be known that we are at all times ready for war.” Peace through strength. This is a concept that has long been the foundation for American foreign policy and a core principle of the Republican party. Moreover, today, during a time of significant global uncertainty and emerging threats against our nation, it is a strategy that we must continue to apply.
Therefore, this past week, I urged my colleagues to vote in favor of the Fiscal Year 2026 Defense Appropriations Act in order to not only ensure that our troops are fully equipped, trained, and prepared to meet any future challenge, but also modernize our military capabilities in a time when the nature of war is constantly shifting with new technologies.
In an increasingly dangerous world, this funding legislation will guarantee America’s military superiority by making key investments in fifth- and sixth-generation aircraft, the nuclear triad, hypersonic programs, and national security space, as well as allocate dollars for missile defense and President Trump’s Golden Dome.
Additionally, the Defense Appropriations Act cares for our troops and their families by increasing basic pay for all military personnel by almost four %. This bill also slows down permanent change of station moves, which will not only improve quality of life for our service members, but also save us $662 million.
Due to a detrimental four years of the Biden Administration’s radical open-border policies, an influx of drugs and bad actors poured into our nation, resulting in an unprecedented fentanyl epidemic. The Defense Appropriations Act will clean up some of that mess by cracking down on those international bad actors who facilitate drug trafficking and manufacturing. Specifically, it provides $1.15 billion for counter drug programs and increases funding for the National Guard Counter Drug Program. It also transfers Mexico from U.S. Northern Command’s jurisdiction to U.S. Southern Command for better coordination, prioritization, and logistical reasons.
While this legislation does pour necessary dollars into the Department of Defense, it also supports the mandate of the American people. The Defense Appropriations Act eliminates waste, fraud, and abuse and requires detailed reports on spending and allocations at the Pentagon. It prioritizes fiscal sanity by reducing $6.5 billion and almost 45,000 civilian full-time equivalents to capture Workforce Acceleration and Recapitalization Initiative efforts.
This bill prohibits funding for sex-change surgeries, abortion-related travel, drag queen shows, and COVID vaccine and mask mandates, as, put quite frankly, taxpayer dollars should never be spent on these things.
The Defense Appropriations Act refocuses the Pentagon on lethality and strength, as opposed to woke initiatives. In fact, it completely codifies President Trump’s common sense executive actions to end discriminatory DEI and Critical Race Theory programs at the Department of Defense.
At the end of the day, this legislation is necessary. So, I have encouraged my colleagues to vote yes to peace through strength. Vote yes to putting America’s military, warrior ethos, and readiness first. Vote yes to protecting the American people and preserving the freedoms generations have fought to defend. Vote yes to improving the quality of life for our selfless and fearless military members. Vote yes on the Fiscal Year 2026 Defense Appropriations Act.
