Calvert Remarks at FY26 Defense Bill Full Committee Markup

First, I would like to thank Chairman Cole for his leadership and guidance as we have worked through a particularly challenging process this year, given the recent conclusion of the FY25 process and the continuing lack of a detailed defense budget request. 

I would also like to thank both Ranking Member McCollum and Ranking Member DeLauro for their continuing friendship and partnership of many years.

As our time is very short today, and everyone is tired, I will seek to be relatively brief.

The bill before us today reflects the resources needed to face the significant and proliferating threats challenging the United States and its interests. 

It is important to note that the nation’s critical interests are global. 

The American public, the economy, and our national security rely on international communication and digital connectivity; safe and open channels for transportation and trade; and stable and reliable access to energy and other critical resources.

We protect these interests first to promote a safer, more prosperous America, but also to respect the obligations we have with our allies and partners. 

Our ocean borders, including the Arctic to the north, no longer provide the insulating protection we once relied upon to protect us.  New and more dangerous threats can reach our shores through many means. 

Our fundamental priority to protect our homeland depends on being prepared to protect our interests across multiple domains.

The growing sophistication of cyber capabilities of nation-state adversaries, criminal organizations, and rogue independent aggressors is a “great equalizer” that results in risks to our economy and safety here at home – even from remote, non-state actors.

Similarly, space, which we rely on as our “great enabler” for critical capabilities – communication, navigation, and situational awareness – is a critical but still vulnerable domain.  We must not lull ourselves into a false sense of security. For all its promise, we must be cautious against the temptation to rely exclusively on space capabilities at the expense of other complementary, highly-capable, versatile, and survivable air and terrestrial platforms.

Even with the very late conclusion of the FY25 process, the Defense Subcommittee conducted six oversight hearings and seven classified sessions with Defense Department and Intelligence Community officials this spring in preparation for FY26. 

The committee recommendation includes $831.5 billion in defense discretionary funding, which is equal to the FY25 enacted appropriation.

This bill invests significantly in modernization of the force, maintaining US maritime and air dominance, fostering both innovation and the production capacity it relies upon, air and missile defense, and support for service members and their families.  The bill also supports the President’s priority to initiate a Golden Dome for America by enhancing our air and missile defense research and development, and it helps protect against threats such as the trafficking of dangerous drugs at the border.

The Committee recommendation is fiscally responsible and adheres to the budget cap put forward by the Administration in the abbreviated budget proposal. The Committee recommendation was developed with an awareness of the defense investments moving on a parallel legislative track through the reconciliation process. While we sought to synergize the investments in our bill to the extent possible with those in reconciliation, the mandatory spending proposals in the Administration's budget fall outside the jurisdiction of this Committee and are not addressed in this bill.  However, taken together, these spending proposals represent the first $1 trillion budget for defense.

Importantly, enhancing our investments in national defense is not just about additional funding, it is also about targeting available resources where they can be most effective. 

We reflect a shared commitment with the Administration to eliminate waste and pursue governmental efficiency within the Department of Defense and the Intelligence Community, by codifying streamlined functions and management improvements.  For example, the recommendation realizes $3.6 billion in savings and reductions of almost 45,000 civilian personnel to capture the President’s Workforce Acceleration and Recapitalization Initiative efforts.  We also continued robust investment in the innovation entities within the Department such as DIU, APFIT and OSC in order to deliver capability in a time frame of relevance.

However, the Committee's effort to support this goal was somewhat hampered by the lack of a full budget proposal and detailed justification material. 

This lack of information meant that the Committee was unable to examine up-to-date program execution data and found it more difficult to assess either opportunities for increased investment or for additional reductions and eliminations.

Despite the lack of detailed information, this bill maintains the Committee’s long-standing tradition of conducting a thorough, bipartisan evaluation of available information to ensure the appropriate use of valuable taxpayer funds. This Committee has produced a bill that invests wisely to meet our obligations to the warfighter and to keep this nation safe from ever-growing threats.

I would also like to extend my sincere thanks to the committee staff on both the majority and minority for their great and efficient work under some of the most challenging circumstances in many years. 

I would like to especially thank the subcommittee majority staff: Ariana, Jackie, Bill, Kiya (key-yuh), Max, Gina, Dan, Adam Harris, John, Kyle, Taylor, and our clerk Adam Sullivan; and my personal office defense team of Danny, Brent, and NaQuan.

My thanks also to all my colleagues on the committee as well as their personal staffs for their hard work and dedication not only to this bill but also the many other analytical and oversight activities they undertake year-round to advance the work of this committee.

With that, Mr. Chairman, I yield back.