NY-22 Minute: Rep. Brindisi secures increased funding for Rome Labs in Armed Services Committee ‘mark up’ of national defense act By Luke Perry
Rep. Anthony Brindisi is intimately involved with a significant part of the U.S. legislative process, the National Defense Authorization Act, as a new member of the Armed Services Committee. Brindisi described the bill as “one of the best examples of bipartisanship in Congress.” The $740 billion allocation recently passed through committee 56-0.
Defense jobs are a major source of employment in NY-22, including Rome Labs, D-Fas, and various defense contractors. “It’s important that we continue make investments in those installations to protect those jobs,” Brindisi told Talk of the Town (WUTQ in Utica).
The bill includes a $30 million increase for Rome Labs. Brindisi said they are doing “cutting edge research” on quantum computing and unmanned aerial research. One of Brindisi’s amendments authorizes $10 million for a Quantum Information Science Innovation Center.
Brindisi emphasized the importance of requiring the Department of Defense (DOD) purchase less products from China. DOD currently does this out of convenience, which Brindisi contends is not appropriate during national emergencies or war. Brindisi has previously advocated for DOD to buy American products, successfully championing the SPOONSS Act.
“We can’t be relying on adversaries like China to help provide things like medical equipment, personal protective equipment, pharmaceuticals,” Brindisi said. “If we were ever at war with China, God forbid, what they could do to our supply chain. They would shut us down.”
Photo from Rep. Brindisi
Afghanistan was another consideration. The war in Afghanistan is America’s longest, lasting nearly two decades. Brindisi believes “we’ve been there far too long and lost too many lives.”
“We have to start drawing down our troops and getting out of Afghanistan,” Brindisi said, “but we have to do it responsibility, so we don’t leave behind the ability for the Taliban or Al-Qaeda to regroup and plot terrorist attacks against U.S. interests from Afghanistan.”
Brindisi has received classified briefings on Russia paying bounties to the Taliban to kill American service members. “There is certainly good intelligence indicating that Russia did pay bounties for American services members,” Brindisi said.
Brindisi thinks “we need to make sure that all of us, Congress, the president, are doing all that we can to do to get to the bottom of this” and “make sure our troops are safe overseas.”
Photo by Rep. Brindisi
Brindisi says there is bi-partisan support for military and intelligence leaders to come before Congress and explain “why the President wasn’t briefed, and more importantly, what are we doing about it now” to ensure the U.S. is holding Russia accountable.
“This is unacceptable,” Brindisi said. “Supplying arms to Taliban militias is one thing. Putting bounties on the heads of our men and women in uniform is an extreme act of aggression against this country. If it’s true, there needs to be serious and swift action taken against Russia to show our displeasure for what happened here.”
The future of the National Defense Authorization Act is unclear. The act has been passed annually for over 50 years, but President Trump threatened a veto if the final version renames military installations currently named after Confederate generals.
Luke Perry (@PolSciLukePerry) is Professor of Government at Utica College
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