[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 29 (Tuesday, February 14, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H1747]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                 THE NATIONAL SECURITY RESTORATION ACT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Tennessee [Mr. Bryant] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. BRYANT of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, this week, the House will take 
up the National Security Restoration Act.
  The goal of the Contract With America is to make sure that if 
aggressors threaten us, our Armed Forces will be strong enough to fight 
and win. The bill would keep our defenses prepared for a worst-case 
scenario of two major regional conflicts occurring at about the same 
time. It would keep us prepared for a variety of possible circumstances 
around the world. We saw how effective defensive systems such as the 
Patriot missile were in Desert Storm. This bill would provide for the 
development of systems to protect our country and our allies from 
attacks with weapons of mass destruction. We are committed to 
implementing this type of system at the earliest practical date.
  Despite reduction and shortfalls in defense funding, the President 
has deployed U.S. forces on more peacetime and humanitarian missions 
per year than ever before. At the end of last year, over 70,000 United 
States personnel were serving in places like Iraq, Bosnia, Macedonia, 
the Adriatic Sea, Rwanda, Haiti, and Cuba. And yet, the President has 
requested cutting defense spending to $10.6 billion below 1995 levels.
  Even though we still have the best armed forces in the world, we keep 
seeing readiness decline, because all the peacekeeping efforts are 
being funded with military readiness funds. As Senator John Warner 
noted, ``That's been the cookie jar into which the hand dips to get the 
needed dollars when we elect to send our troops here, there, everywhere 
in the cause of freedom or otherwise.''

                              {time}  1840

  We are not going to allow a return to the hollow forces of the Carter 
administration. One of the most egregious things that needs correction 
right now is military pay is nearly 13 percent lower than pay for 
comparable civilian jobs. Close to 17,000 junior enlisted men and women 
have to rely on food stamps.
  A real commitment to quality of life for military personnel is 
necessary for morale and is the right thing to do.
  The National Security Restoration Act has the following: It 
establishes an advisory commission to assess our military needs. It 
commits the United States to speed up the development and deployment of 
missile defense systems to protect U.S. territory and U.S. troops in 
battle. It restricts deployment of U.S. troops to missions in our 
national interest. It demands U.S. troops be commanded by U.S. 
commanders and not placed under foreign commanders. It reduces the cost 
to the United States of U.N. peacekeeping missions and demands the U.S. 
Mission to the U.N. press for reforms in the notorious U.N. management 
practices. It tightens controls and reporting requirements for the 
sharing of U.S. intelligence information with the United Nations. It 
expresses the sense of Congress that firewalls be restored between the 
defense and discretionary domestic spending for the upcoming budget 
years, and it reemphasizes the commitment of the United States to 
strong and viable NATO alliances, urging the emerging Eastern European 
democracies be assisted in the transition to full NATO membership.
  Mr. Speaker, we have been working hard to keep our Contract With 
America. In the contract we promised we would make sure no U.S. troops 
are forced to serve under foreign command, and that we restore the 
necessary part of our Armed Forces to keep our defenses strong and 
maintain our credibility around the world. We are keeping our promises.

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