BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. JOHNSON of South Dakota. Mr. President, I am hopeful that the Senate will be able to complete action on the MILCON-VA appropriations bill today. Members have had ample opportunity to offer amendments, staff has been working to clear them, and I believe we now have a clear path to final passage.
I would like to spend a few minutes today talking about the military construction portion of this bill, which is so important to our troops and their families. The bill includes $13.7 billion for MILCON, which is $1 billion below the budget request. In drafting this bill, we took a hard look at the projects submitted by the administration and made strategic reductions in order to make wise use of our MILCON dollars without sacrificing key military priorities. I believe this bill is a prudent approach to addressing our military construction needs at home and abroad.
The bill fully funds the administration's request of $1.2 billion for Guard and Reserve projects. Typically, Congress adds funds for our Guard and Reserve components; however, given the current budget pressures, that option was not available to us this year. It is my hope the services will acknowledge and address the chronic backlog of construction requirements for the Guard and Reserve forces in future budget requests.
Of note, this bill includes $550 million to construct or modify 15 Department of Defense schools at home and overseas. As Newsweek magazine pointed out last month, a shocking number of DOD schools are crumbling and in need of replacing. The administration has made upgrading DOD schools a priority, and the committee wholeheartedly supports that goal. DOD school funding in this bill represents a significant downpayment on the estimated $3.1 billion requirement for DOD school recapitalization.
The administration's request included funding for the move of Marines from Japan to Guam. While the committee recognizes the need to restructure force posture in the Pacific, we remain concerned about the ballooning cost of this plan and the lack of forward progress on the part of our Japanese allies. The report accompanying this bill directs the Navy to provide Congress with detailed information on the cost and prognosis of the Guam relocation initiative.
Additionally, the committee is concerned with the potential cost of related troop realignments in Korea and the long-term impact of troop reductions in Europe. The report accompanying this bill addresses these concerns in depth.
As I have said before, this is a sound and responsible bill. Senator Kirk and I have worked hand in hand to forge a bipartisan approach for the MILCON-VA bill, and I believe we have succeeded. I urge my colleagues to support final passage of the bill today.
I yield the floor.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. JOHNSON of South Dakota. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Franken). Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. JOHNSON of South Dakota. Mr. President, what is the pending business?
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the question is on agreeing to the Vitter amendment.
Mr. JOHNSON of South Dakota. Mr. President, the Vitter amendment pending before the Senate is another attempt to derail the progress we have made in a bipartisan fashion on the MilCon/VA bill.
The Senate has voted twice on this issue during consideration of this bill. At the outset of debate, the ranking member of the Budget Committee raised a point of order against consideration of this bill without prior adoption of a budget resolution. I made a motion to waive that budget point of order and the Senate voted 71 to 26 to cut off debate on the motion to waive. The Senate then agreed to waive the point of order 56 to 40.
Now we have an amendment that says none of the critical funding provided in the bill can be obligated in excess of a budget resolution that does not exist. The strictest interpretation of this means the VA can't spend money on benefits for vets, and our military can't construct new training, housing, or other critical facilities until we have a budget agreement.
I don't disagree that it is important to pass a budget, but the Senate has overwhelmingly voted to move this bill so as to not delay essential funding for our troops and vets while negotiations on the debt ceiling and budget continue.
I remind my colleagues this bill is $618 million below the current level, $1.25 billion below the President's budget request, and $2.6 million below the House-passed bill. This is a responsible and bipartisan bill, and the pending amendment would stop all progress we have made. Therefore, I move to table the amendment No. 568, and I ask for the yeas and nays.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT