[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 87 (Friday, July 1, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: July 1, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
             DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 1995

                                 ______


                               speech of

                        HON. PETER J. VISCLOSKY

                               of indiana

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, June 29, 1994

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 4650) making 
     appropriations for the Department of Defense for the fiscal 
     year ending September 30, 1995, and for other purposes:

  Mr. VISCLOSKY. Mr. Chairman, we live in a time when Government is 
often criticized for beingshort sighted. Annual budgets grow tighter 
yearly forcing us to respond to immediate needs, and often forsaking 
the future.
  This is not true of the fiscal year 1995 defense appropriations bill, 
which, under the leadership of Chairman Murtha and Mr. McDade, looks 
beyond this decade and into the next century. While the bill serves the 
immediate national interest--especially in regard to the readiness of 
our troops--it will have a profound impact on future our ability to 
afford the best defense possible. I commend the subcommittee chairman 
and ranking member for their dedication our Nation's long-term ability 
to defense itself.
  I also want to recognize the subcommittee staff for their incredibly 
hard work on this legislation. It would be difficult to find a 
collection of more knowledgeable, dedicated people. I especially want 
to congratulate Don Richbourg on this, his last bill as staff director 
for the subcommittee. He has provided a great service to this Congress 
and his country. We will all miss him.
  The fiscal year 1995 defense appropriations bill will enhance our 
ability to be flexible and avoid the past mistake of locking ourselves 
into brittle systems that cannot accommodate change. This is an era of 
great political and social evolution. While this era represents many 
opportunities, no one can assess with certainty what the future holds. 
All we can do is ensure that those who follow us in this body are given 
the greatest flexibility possible.
  Defense flexibility has many factors: the ability to use a system for 
several different purposes; the ability to evolve a system; and, the 
ability to easily insert new technologies--whether more advanced or 
less costly. Obviously, a low-cost system frees up funds for other 
purposes.
  Consider the legislation's proposal for the Navy's new attack 
submarine [NAS]. The bill proposes the Department of Defense take a 
quick step back, reassess the program, the consider how they can make 
it more flexible.
  More specifically, the legislation calls upon the Department to 
review preliminary cold war era designs and invest in changes to reduce 
the risks associated with this new submarine program. It demands that 
the Navy work with the program's contractors to review all work to date 
and make sure that every effort has been made to get the cost of the 
ship down. If there is an area where further savings could be made 
wisely, it must be incorporated into the ship's plan now. Most 
importantly, the bill directs the Navy to make sure the NAS is fully 
modular. It is imperative that as new technologies come available, they 
can be easily installed in the submarine.
  Should, for example, an electric propulsion system become available, 
one that will allow for cheaper and quieter submarine propulsion 
without hazardous environmental waste, this legislation strives to make 
sure that it could be incorporated into the submarine without a 
complete redesign of the ship. This should also be the case for the 
sail, the forward section of the submarine, and the central portion in 
case of the need to insert special mission modules.
  I want to make it clear to my colleagues, this is the last possible 
year to make these types of changes to the NAS. This is the last year 
Congress can make sure the NAS is malleable enough and cheap enough 
that it can be afforded in the next century. The NAS design contract is 
ready to be let. If we fail to take this quick breather in fiscal year 
1995, the NAS design will be set in stone. It will be much too 
expensive--in both cost and time--to make changes to the program that 
will keep it flexible and cost effective enough to be the submarine of 
our Nation's future. Instead it will be a very expensive, 20th century 
ship lurching along in the 21st century.
  Another example of the forethought of this legislation is its 
approach to space launch. The proposal halts further procurement of a 
launch program that would bring the cost of each heavy launch up to $1 
billion in the next century, in favor of a new, flexible, and cost 
effective launch vehicle.
  Specifically, the legislation restricts the expenditure of funds for 
the Titan IV launch vehicle to 41 vehicles. The current cost of 
launching a Titan IV is about $350 million. Should we move ahead as 
planned, however and procure a 42d vehicle, the cost to launch the 42d 
vehicle will be about $1 billion. The legislation recognizes that now 
is the time to change this course, before procurement of more Titan 
IV's begins and Congress finds itself in the uncomfortable position of 
choosing between billion dollar launches and the expensive cancellation 
of an ongoing program.
  The legislation requires the Department of Defense to begin working 
on a new launch program in fiscal year 1995--10 years before we need 
the vehicle. Ten years to experiment with technologies so the next 
vehicle capable of launching heavy payloads is flexible and cost 
effective.
  The bill makes available $100 million for development of a low-risk, 
new family of launch vehicles. The vehicles are to be configured to 
replace Titan IV class payloads, but are to have common hardware, 
common payload interface, and provide launch support for both medium 
and heavy payloads. The bill requires the Department of Defense to 
conduct an open competition that will incorporate the many low-cost 
advances by small innovative firms in recent years. Again, this 
proposal stresses flexibility and lower cost, commonality of vehicles, 
and the ability of the vehicle to perform more than one task.
  The final aspect of the legislation I want to bring to my colleagues' 
attention is the provisions regarding the ammunition industrial base--
the group of industry and Government entities that develop and 
manufacture ammunition for our Nation's defense. The bill's goal is to 
lay to rest as much of the old ammunition industrial base as possible 
to make space, both physically and fiscally, for more modern facilities 
and weaponry.
  The bill provides an $110 million appropriation for the destruction 
of old, useless munitions. These munitions, which comprise 13 percent 
of the stockpile, or over 350,000 tons of material, absorb both space 
and valuable resources that are required to store them safely. The 
sooner we rid the inventory of useless munitions, the sooner these 
funds will be available for forward-looking programs.
  In the same vein, the legislation contains an $86 million 
appropriation to accelerate the layaway of ammunition manufacturing 
facilities that are not needed for current requirements. This funding 
will also be available to close facilities no longer needed at all.
  In addition to getting rid of the obsolete, the legislation stresses 
making the operating aspects of the ammunition industrial base more 
economical and flexible. There is an appropriation of $60 million to 
modernize facilities and machinery that are still in demand. The 
ammunitions operation and maintenance account has been funded at $340 
million to bring ammunition management accounts up to acceptable 
levels. These funds will cover safety and security of facilities, 
receipt and issue, rewarehousing, inventory management, surveillance 
and maintenance of ammunition management accounts--areas that have long 
been under funded. It will also provide adequate administration of 
facility layaway.

  To the detriment of our Armed Forces, ammunition procurement has 
faced severe budget cuts in recent years. In the last decade, overall 
ammunition procurement has been cut by 78 percent and training 
munitions and war reserves have reached unacceptably low levels. 
Further, of the Department's list of 18 munitions that are in need of 
modernization, funding had been budgeted for only 5. This bill begins 
to address these problems.
  The bill provides a $308.6 million increase in the overall 
appropriation for ammunition procurement. These funds will begin to 
provide for 14 munitions modernization and increased procurement to 
begin to bring war and training reserves up to acceptable levels.
  The initiatives I have listed here are among many in this bill 
designed to bring the ammunition industrial base in line with the real 
needs of the Department of Defense and its soldiers. They will rid the 
Department of waste, and free up much needed funds for modernization.
  In closing, I again commend Chairman Murtha and Mr. McDade for their 
foresight and dedication to making sure our Nation's defense is sound, 
economical, and flexible. I urge my colleagues to support this 
legislation.

                          ____________________