DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2006 -- (Senate - October 03, 2005)
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Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, this is a matter that I have discussed with the managers of the bill as well as, on several occasions, our distinguished Republican and Democratic leaders. On behalf of Senator Levin and myself, I file today the 2006 authorization bill which has been prepared by the Committee on Armed Services. It was taken up by the Senate some weeks ago but, due to schedule pressures, we did not have the opportunity to finish that bill.
I emphasize that Senator Levin and I jointly are taking this action today. We do so having also worked very conscientiously with our two leaders to prepare a unanimous consent request, which is still in the works, by which our bill can once again be brought up as a freestanding measure and the Senate act upon it. I will not dwell at this time on the various options we are discussing as to how that UC is drawn up. Senator Levin and I believe that it is imperative, on behalf of the men and women of the Armed Forces, that this bill be considered in a timely fashion. As we continue our work on the UC, I have to seize upon this opportunity, together with Senator Levin, to file our bill as a proposed amendment to the appropriations bill, together with a managers' package, a proposed managers' amendment, of some 80 amendments that Senator Levin, since the time of the original consideration of our bill, and I have looked at, agreed, and would be seeking unanimous consent for the incorporation of those amendments in our bill.
The armed services bill was acted on with some 31 amendments at the time it was on the floor. So we have the original bill with 31 amendments which were agreed to in the course of several days of deliberation. Again, the Defense authorization act is too important to our soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines, and the national security of our country for the Senate not to complete action on it. If we cannot achieve unanimous consent prior to the final passage of this bill, it is the intent of Senator Levin and myself to urge upon the Senate the incorporation of the Defense authorization bill, together with at least a first managers' package of 80 amendments. For the convenience of Senators, I ask unanimous consent that a list of those 80 amendments and a brief description and the Senators, some 68 in number, who are affected by this managers' package, be printed in the RECORD.
By way of historical context, I would like to point out the following: There is an unbroken record for the last 45 years of Senate history that the Senate has passed an annual Defense authorization bill. The Senate and House have come to a conference agreement on and the President has signed that conference into law as the National Defense Authorization Act. Only once before has the chairman of the Armed Services Committee had to resort to the rare parliamentary procedure of proposing that that bill, the entire Defense authorization bill, be placed upon another legislative matter. That was in the year 1988.
Time is short. We must be reasonable in the amount of time we have been debating both the authorization bill and the appropriations bill. I ask for my colleagues' consideration and restraint in offering amendments to the appropriations bill, as well as to the authorization bill, hopefully, to achieve the unanimous consent agreement, which I hope will be offered in the next few days, to enable the authorization bill to become a freestanding bill with a designated number of amendments, with designated time agreements, and a clear estimate for both the Republican and Democratic leaders as to the number of days that would be required for completion. That will all be set forth, hopefully, in the next few days in a UC request.
We must be aware of the importance of the measure, the authorization bill. Hundreds of thousands of soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines, guardsmen, Active Reserve and National Guard, and countless civilians who support military, diplomatic, and humanitarian operations are serving valiantly in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other locations to secure our national security. This bill would provide them a broad range, literally a million-plus individuals in uniform and civilians, with better equipment to do their daily jobs and enhanced quality of life for themselves and their families through pay raises and benefits and the like.
For example, without this bill being acted upon by the Senate, we could not increase the death gratuity to $100,000, which the Senate strongly desires, for survivors of military members whose death resulted from wounds, injuries, or illnesses incurred under combat-related conditions or in a combat operation or a combat zone. We could not increase TRICARE benefits for the children of survivors. We could not provide the military services with the authorities for bonuses and other incentives needed to meet the troublesome recruiting situation today. We could not implement new assistance to school districts with significant enrollment increases in military-dependent students to stop troop relocations, creation of new units, and realignments under the BRAC Commission and, above all, the annual pay raises which the Congress provides for the men and women.
In addition to the above, the threat reduction program, which is designed to keep nuclear materials and expertise away from terrorists, would expire. Weapons systems costs would increase because multiyear procurement authorities would not be enacted. Special acquisition authorities designed to facilitate the rapid procurement of technologies to prevent casualties from terrorist roadside bombs, or IEDs, would fail to go into effect. Military construction and family housing programs would be jeopardized, including over $1.5 billion to fund projects in support of communities that will be affected by the 2005 BRAC round, if that is eventually becoming law. These are a few of the essential authorities contained in the legislative provisions of this year's bill, something that I am proud to say the Senate Armed Services Committee has worked on since January of this year and resulted in 278 legislative provisions as contained in this bill.
I respectfully ask my colleagues to support my efforts and that of Senator Levin in bringing the Defense authorization bill to the floor.
As I said, I rise on behalf of myself and Senator Levin to announce that we have taken what I consider extraordinary action by filing two amendments to the pending bill. It is with great reluctance that I propose these amendments to the Defense Appropriations Act. But I do so only with the interests of the men and women of our armed forces at heart.
The first amendment consists of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2006--including not only the version of the bill unanimously reported out of the Armed Services Committee on May 17, but also 31 amendments added to the bill when it was on the floor in July.
Senator Levin and I, with our respective leaders, are trying to work out a unanimous consent agreement that would return the Defense authorization bill to the floor as a stand-alone bill. However, in the absence of that agreement, we have to leave open the option of including this bill on another legislative vehicle. The Defense authorization act is just too important to our soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines and the national security of our country for the Senate not to complete action on the bill. If we cannot do this as a stand-alone bill, we need to find another way to bring this bill into law.
The second amendment we are offering today contains additional amendments that are agreed and ready to be included in a ``managers' package'' to the Defense authorization act. I offer this amendment to illustrate to my colleagues the significant progress that has been made on this bill so far. This new managers' package contains 80 amendments on behalf of 67 Senators. Together with the action already taken on this bill in July, our colleagues can clearly see that nearly every U.S. Senator has made an important contribution to the Defense authorization act.
I am committed to making this ``managers' package'' the first amendment to be considered to the Defense authorization bill once it is taken up as a separate bill. We are not finished reviewing proposed amendments. The committee is still working through a number of amendments that I expect would be included in a second managers' package.
Since January 1961, the Senate has passed an annual Defense authorization bill. Each and every year, for 45 years, the Senate and the House have come to a conference agreement on and the President has signed into law a National Defense Authorization Act. Only once before has the chairman of the Armed Services Committee had to resort to the rare parliamentary procedure of proposing to put the entire defense authorization bill on another bill. This occurred in 1988. As the custodian of this important piece of legislation, I find I am left with very few options this year to ensure Congress can adequately support our troops by passing this bill.
I, with my friend Carl Levin, am willing to do whatever it takes to pass this bill. Time is short and we must be reasonable in the amount of time we spend debating this bill. I ask for my colleagues' consideration and restraint in offering additional amendments to this bill and to support a unanimous consent agreement to limit the number of contentious amendments that may require time to debate on the floor. At the same time, Senator Levin and I pledge to work with Senators to accept as many amendments as possible in a managers' package.
Our responsibility to consider and pass the Defense authorization bill goes beyond statutory requirements, floor schedules, and historical precedent. We must also be aware of the importance of this measure to our men and women in uniform around the world. Hundreds of thousands of soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines, and Coast Guardsmen--active, reserve, and National Guard--and, countless civilians who support military, diplomatic and humanitarian operations are serving valiantly in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other locations to secure hard-won military successes and to preserve peace and freedom. This bill will provide them with better equipment to do their daily jobs, and an enhanced quality of life for themselves and their families. Together we can and must complete this bill for them.
Without this bill, DoD could not, for example, increase the death gratuity to $100,000 for survivors of military members whose death resulted from wounds, injuries, or illnesses incurred under combat-related conditions or in a combat operation or a combat zone; increase TRICARE benefits for the children of survivors; provide the military services the authorities and pays needed to enhance recruitment and retention in the active and reserve forces; and implement new assistance to school districts with significant enrollment increases in military dependent students due to troop relocations, creation of new units and realignments under BRAC.
In addition, authorities related to the Cooperative Threat Reduction Program which is designed to keep nuclear materials and expertise away from terrorists would expire. Weapon systems costs would increase because multiyear procurement authorities would not be enacted. Special acquisition authorities designed to facilitate the rapid procurement of technologies to prevent casualties from terrorist roadside bombs or IEDs would not go into effect. Military construction and family housing programs would be jeopardized, including over $1.5 billion to fund projects in support of the 2005 BRAC round.
These are just a few of the essential authorities contained in the 278 legislative provisions in this year's bill.
So I ask my colleagues to support Senator Levin's and my efforts to bring the Defense authorization bill to the floor. We are all mindful of the risks members of the U.S. Armed Forces face every day and of the sacrifices made by the families and communities that support them. Our men and women in uniform have been asked to do much in the past year, and they have responded in the finest traditions of the generations of Americans that preceded them. The American people are proud of their Armed Forces for what they have accomplished, and for the manner in which they represent American values and the generosity of America. It is time for us in the Senate to do our part.
With the understanding that the two bills are filed, I yield the floor.
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