[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 137 (Saturday, September 28, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Page S11764]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  EXPLANATION OF VOTES ON THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION BILL

 Mr. ABRAHAM. Mr. President, I wish to explain a number of my 
votes on amendments to the Department of Defense Authorization Bill (S. 
1745) passed out of this chamber on July 10, 1996. Specifically, I wish 
to address my votes on Senator Exon's amendment regarding a general cut 
in defense spending, Senator Wellstone's amendment regarding a shift of 
defense funds to other budget priorities, and Senator Kyl's amendment 
regarding nuclear weapon testing.
  Senator Exon proposed cutting the Defense budget across the board by 
$4 billion. I opposed this because I believe such a blanket approach is 
not a responsible way to contain defense spending. Moreover, the 
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Shalikashvili, has 
stated the he needs $60 billion more than the President requested to 
modernize weapon systems. America's superior military equipment is 
aging quickly compared to that of our potential adversaries, and I 
believe our men and women in uniform should not be placed in harms way 
without the best equipment possible. By the year 2010, our average 
fighter will have aged by 218 percent, and will only have 1 year left 
in its service life limit. Tanks will be almost four times as old as 
they are today because we are not buying new tanks, and the current 
stock of tanks will have, on average, passed their designed service 
life. This is unacceptable. To cut these funds when our fighting men 
and women need them most is unconscionable, and therefore, I voted 
against the Exon amendment.
  Mr. President, I would also like to address my vote regarding Senator 
Wellstone's amendment on shifting $1.3 billion from defense spending to 
education programs. I have pledged to support those Federal education 
programs that work. However, this body has long respected the 
``firewall'' between defense spending and other discretionary spending 
because we realize the common defense is indeed our first priority, and 
therefore funding for the military should be determined independent of 
other programs. Thus I voted to table this amendment.
  The manner in which we provide for that common defense, however, 
sometimes is guaranteed as much by the policies we establish as by the 
money we spend. Although all of us pray that nuclear weapons are never 
again used, we still find ourselves in a world where we must maintain 
an effective nuclear deterrent to defend our country and our national 
security. As an aside, this requirement for nuclear weapons would be 
drastically reduced if we were to develop an effective ballistic 
missile defense system for the territory of the United States. Due to 
the Clinton administration's opposition, however, we remain much more 
vulnerable to enemy nuclear attack. This requires us to maintain more 
nuclear weapons than we would otherwise need as a deterrent force. 
Therefore, as long as we have nuclear weapons, we must also ensure that 
they are stable and effective to maintain the deterrent influence.
  To that end, we must also preserve the ability, at least in the short 
term, to test these weapons for stability and effectiveness. We may 
soon have the capability to conduct these tests by computer simulation, 
but I do not believe we are there yet. The data presented leads me to 
believe we must maintain the ability to test these weapons, at least 
for a few more years. As our technological capabilities progress, this 
may very well change, and I will be willing to reexamine this position. 
However, for now, I believe it was necessary for our national defense 
to oppose the motion to table the Kyl amendment allowing continued and 
limited nuclear testing.
  Mr. President, as Members of the Congress, our first constitutional 
duty is to pass legislation for the raising and support of our Armed 
Forces, just as the Federal Government's first duty is to provide for 
the common defense. My votes, I believe, serve that duty and further 
our national security goals.

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