Defense Authorization Passes With Nelson Provisions

Press Release

DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION PASSES WITH NELSON PROVISIONS

Today's Senate passage of the 2009 National Defense Authorization bill includes two important provisions sponsored by Nebraska's Senator Ben Nelson. These include language on Iraq reconstruction and a provision for care of soldiers.

"Today we passed the Defense Authorization bill, which has two key provisions of mine," said Senator Ben Nelson. "One is my bipartisan reconstruction amendment with Senators Susan Collins of Maine and Evan Bayh of Indiana. We need to end the blank check for Iraq. The government in Iraq is sitting on an oil- funded surplus totaling about $80 billion. Iraq needs to foot the bill for reconstruction - not U.S. taxpayers."

The amendment bans United States funding for major infrastructure projects in Iraq, and requires Iraq to obligate Iraqi funds for reconstruction projects before any future U.S. aid for reconstruction is obligated. The amendment also requires the President to craft a cost sharing agreement with the Iraqi Government for Coalition-Iraqi combined operations in Iraq as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom. The provision also requires the Iraqis to pay the costs of the salaries, training, equipping, and sustaining of Iraqi Security Forces along with the costs associated with the Sons of Iraq.

"This provision will institute Iraqi responsibility for their own future by requiring them to cover costs of reconstruction, the Iraqi Security Forces and Sons of Iraq, along with a greater share of the cost of Operation Iraqi Freedom," said Nelson. "This amendment will ease the strain on the U.S. budget and American taxpayers."

"The defense bill also includes my Operation Airlift language that allows the use of DoD funds to pay for travel if a reserve member is placed on leave because of training suspensions or staffing issues," said Nelson.

Forty-eight members of the 110th Medical Battalion based in Lincoln were stranded at Fort Lewis, Washington last December when training was suspended and the base was shut down for the holidays, but military rules prohibited using funds to pay for their travel back to Nebraska until training resumed.

The provision allows the Secretary of Defense to use Department of Defense funds to pay for travel in situations such as existed at Ft. Lewis. Specifically, the Nelson amendment authorizes travel if a reserve or guard member is more than 300 miles from home and is placed on leave for 5 days or more because of training suspensions or staffing issues.

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