The United States Senate is taking too long to pass the National Defense Authorization Act, said Sen. Todd Young (R-Ind.), in a news conference Tuesday. Young and other Republican senators accused the Democratic leadership of having backwards priorities.

“We have a weakened posture, vis a vis Iran, we had a botched exit from Afghanistan, the Chinese Communist Party continues…various forms of aggression against Taiwan, and we have yet to pass a national defense authorizing bill,” said Young.

He said the U.S. is facing stiff competition from countries like China, which also present military threats. But, to Republicans, Democratic leadership is prioritizing what Young called a “wish list”, namely the “soft” infrastructure bill.

He referred to it as a “multi-trillion dollar tax and spend boondoggle that funds things like tree equity and charging stations for wealthy Americans”.

The “tree equity” portion of the bill to which Young refers, is $3 billion set aside to fund the planting of tree saplings, especially in cities, in poor areas, a plan which has been mocked as a plan to plant “non-racist” trees.

Young said that while Democrats are pushing for an agreement to get the reconciliation bill passed, the Chinese are making strides in their development of new military technologies that should at least be matched by America, which Young said could be possible with money for defense.

“The Chinese Communist Party just launched a hypersonic vehicle around the world,” he said. “They have potential to put nuclear weapons on these hypersonic vehicles.”

The Chinese tested the vehicle in August, and although the test wasn’t perfect, it caught the U.S. by surprise and demonstrated that the Chinese are not far from being able to possibly deliver nuclear weapons capably and quickly. Young said the U.S. has the ability to test technology that could match and defeat it, but said the delay in passing the NDAA means the U.S. version is on the back burner.

“But, the Democratic leadership hasn’t prioritized national defense,” he said. “This is the most fundamental responsibility of our federal government. It’s time the Democrats show some leadership. It’s time they step up and work with Republicans to fund this NDAA.”