National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013

Floor Speech

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Mr. QUIGLEY. Mr. Chair, I am offering a commonsense amendment with my friend from the other side of the aisle Mr. Hultgren from Illinois.

Our amendment simply asks the Government Accountability Office to study the packaging procedures for hazardous materials by Department of Defense, and submit recommendations for improvements to Congress.

Safe and timely shipment of supplies and equipment to our troops is vital to their safety and success.

Unfortunately, due to the extremely complicated packaging requirements for hazardous materials, a large volume of needed supplies are often frustrated, or delayed.

According to one recent study by the Air Force, 73 percent of the hazmat frustrated shipments had no shipping documents and were delayed 11 15 days on average.

These delayed shipments harm our troops and costs us billions.

By reducing frustrated shipments by just 3 percent, DOD could save $2 billion annually.

Our amendment would require GAO to examine current shipping processes and identify improvements in order to expedite shipments, improve safety and reduce costs, and I encourage my colleagues to support it.

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