[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 43 (Wednesday, March 28, 2001)]
[House]
[Pages H1278-H1280]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       BUDGET PASSED TODAY SUPPORTS OUR SOLDIERS AROUND THE WORLD

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 3, 2001, the gentleman from Iowa (Mr. Ganske) is recognized for 
60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader.
  Mr. GANSKE. Mr. Speaker, unfortunately it sometimes takes a tragedy 
such as the loss of our pilots in Europe this week, or the recent 
deaths of the National Guard members killed in Georgia to remind us of 
the risks associated with military service in our country. In time of 
war, we realize the individual sacrifices made for the common good. But 
we should also recognize the efforts made every day by our soldiers 
around the world.
  I believe the budget for our military forces which was passed by the 
House today is focused on our soldiers. The legislation would increase 
military pay by 4.6 percent and increases pay and other compensation by 
$1.4 billion in fiscal year 2002.
  It provides $3.9 billion for the first year of an expanded health 
care package for over-65 military retirees. It also allows for an 
additional $400 million to improve the quality of housing for military 
personnel and their families by providing new construction, renovation 
of existing housing, and measures to reduce out-of-pocket housing 
expenses.
  The budget also provides funds for research and development to help 
guarantee that U.S. forces will go into the field with the tools they 
need to ensure victory and minimize casualties. At

[[Page H1279]]

the completion of the current review, which is occurring on the scope 
and role of the U.S. Armed Forces, we will have a better idea what our 
needs are for the next decade, and I look forward to the results of 
that review.
  Mr. Speaker, I am from Iowa, and Iowans have a proud tradition of 
service in the Armed Forces. Back in the Civil War, Iowa had a 
population of 670,000, but we sent 78,000 soldiers to fight. Nearly 
13,000 never returned home; 28 were honored with the Medal of Honor for 
their service. The Medal of Honor for gallant service in our country's 
wars since then has been awarded to another 50 Iowans and to 36 men and 
women who have grown up in Iowa. Exemplary of Iowa sacrifice in the 
armed services were the five Sullivan brothers from Waterloo, Iowa, who 
served on the USS Juneau. George, Francis, Joseph, Madison and Albert 
Sullivan had a motto. They said, ``We stick together.'' And they all 
died together in the Battle of Guadalcanal.
  Mr. Speaker, since the Civil War, more than 1.1 million American men 
and women have given their lives for our Nation. I think most Americans 
recognize the debt that we owe those men and women throughout history. 
I also believe it is important to think about the daily sacrifices made 
in smaller measure by our soldiers. Every day they risk their lives. 
Every day many of them miss loved ones who are thousands of miles away. 
In today's volunteer service, every man and woman does it by choice. We 
should be proud of the service that they give to America every day.
  Mr. Speaker, we should think of our soldiers when we make decisions 
regarding our military and its force structure. They should be paid a 
fair wage. Benefits should be commensurate. They should be well 
equipped, well supplied, well trained and they should be deployed 
wisely.
  Their services must be used wisely and not overused. Our military is 
currently stretched pretty thin. This causes problems with the quality 
and supply of our equipment and with our personnel retention. Today our 
military is deployed in 138 countries around the world. Since 1990, we 
have dramatically reduced our military spending while we have asked our 
forces to do much more. This leads to an unhappy equation. Inadequate 
funding for training and material plus increased deployments equals 
problems with morale, equipment readiness, retention and recruitment.

  Mr. Speaker, the mission of the Reserves has changed over the years. 
During the Cold War, reservists and guardsmen were considered on call 
to respond to World War III or some catastrophic event. During the 
1980s, they contributed less than 1 million manhours per year. Today 
reservists are called upon to perform day-to-day operations and to 
support various ongoing missions. For example, the Air National Guard 
and the Air Force Reserve combine to provide the U.S. Transportation 
Command with 52 percent of its total available aircraft, including 55 
percent of the tankers and 64 percent of the tactical airlift. Air 
Force Reserve flight crews average 110 days of active duty a year.
  Beginning last April 2000 and continuing for six rotations, the Army 
National Guard will be sent to Bosnia to provide combat troops and 
support division headquarters operations.
  Why is there such an increased reliance upon our Reserves and the 
Guard? Well, because our Active Forces have been reduced by 35 percent 
since 1990, but overseas deployments have increased by 300 percent. A 
total of 265,000 reservists and National Guardsmen participated in 
Operation Desert Storm. And in other operations, since 1995, 19,000 
reservists were called to duty in Bosnia, 5,600 were called to Kosovo, 
and 8,000 were called to Haiti.
  Mr. Speaker, in calendar year 1999, the Reserves and National Guard 
were called to fulfill nearly 750,000 manhours in foreign campaigns. If 
we break it down, we see reservists and guardsmen spent in Bosnia, 
334,000 hours; in Kosovo, 313,000 hours; and Iraq, 145,000 hours.
  The Reserves and Guard are accounting for more of our national 
defense needs than ever before. This comes with some positive and some 
negative consequences. On the positive side, it is a testament to their 
abilities. It means that the Reserve and the Guard are more respected 
and appreciated than ever before. An increased dependence also results 
in some increased funding within the defense appropriations, and it 
forces the Reserves to improve their abilities to respond to crises 
quickly and efficiently; and those are all good effects.
  However, increased reliance also means a lot of pressure is placed on 
Guard and Reserve personnel. An Air Force Reserve air crew member who 
works at his regular job 221 days a year and serves 110 days of active 
duty has only 34 days off to spend with his family, and that leads to 
many individuals leaving the Reserves. It also places a lot of pressure 
on employers who are a key element of Guard and Reserve service. Most 
employers patriotically accept an employee who serves 1 weekend a month 
and 2 weeks in the summer. They support a Desert Shield/Desert Storm 
type of deployment because this happens only once in a generation. But 
how many 6-month or 9-month peacetime rotations to Bosnia will 
employers put up with?
  For example, starting in 1995, Iowa reservists have been called on to 
serve in Bosnia. In September of last year, soldiers from the Iowa 
National Guard Company A, 1st Battalion, 133rd Infantry were ordered to 
active duty. They were deployed in Southwest Asia to support U.S. 
forces that are enforcing the Iraqi no-fly zones. About 100 Iowans were 
called to service, coming from Waterloo, Charles City, Dubuque, 
Oelwein, Hampton and Iowa Falls, to assist with security duties at 
Patriot missile sites. Currently Company C, 1st Battalion, 168th 
Infantry, with about 100 members from Denison and western Iowa, is 
deployed in to Saudi Arabia and Kuwait for similar duty.
  Mr. Speaker, the Iowa Air National Guard has been involved in 
deployments as well. The 132nd Fighter Wing was deployed to Incirlik 
Air Base in Turkey to support Operation Northern Watch no-fly zone 
operations over northern Iraq during fiscal year 1999 and fiscal year 
2000. They are scheduled to return to the Persian Gulf region this 
summer to support Operation Southern Watch.
  Each of these deployments involves approximately 200 pilots and crew 
members and 6 Iowa-based F-16C ``Fighting Falcon'' fighter aircraft. 
The deployments are approximately 6 weeks in duration. There is also a 
detachment of National Guard based in Davenport of Company F, 106th 
Aviation unit which has personnel in Paraguay. Over the last 2 years, 
Iowa National Guard units have deployed for active service and for 
training purposes in over 15 nations.
  Mr. Speaker, often such deployments involve 9-month rotations for the 
troops. Nine months is a long time to be away from your families. If 
any of my colleagues have children, you know that nine months makes a 
huge difference in a person's life. It is a long time to be away from 
your regular job. How does absence effect promotions on the job? How 
does a 9-month absence affect your family? The impact it has on the 
recruitment and retention to the Reserves in the Iowa National Guard is 
significant.
  Mr. Speaker, these concerns bring to mind a larger issue. If the 
Nation continues to accumulate missions around the world as it has over 
the last 10 years, we are going to have to reevaluate the size of our 
Active-Duty Force. The last administration's strategy of making the 
U.S. the guarantor of democracy around the world has involved the U.S. 
in a wide variety of peacekeeping missions that are of at least 
questionable national security, and that has had an adverse effect of 
our ability to fight two major theater wars simultaneously or to 
respond to a real national security threat. A Congressional Budget 
Office report in December 1999 found that, ``Peace missions could be 
taking a toll on the military's ability to pay for routine operations, 
maintain the combat skills for conventional wars and keep its equipment 
and personnel ready and available for such wars.''
  In May 1999, the GAO, which is the investigative arm of Congress, 
found that nonwar operations have adversely affected the military 
capability of units deployed in Bosnia and Southwest Asia.
  In addition, those units that stay in the U.S. have to pick up the 
work of the deployed units. These deployments

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are having a serious impact on our Nation's ability to defend itself. 
During Operation Allied Force in Kosovo, we came dangerously close to 
running out of certain types of cruise missiles. If North Korea had 
decided to attack South Korea during that period, we might not have 
been able to respond as effectively.
  And these overseas deployments are not cakewalks. Armed conflicts 
continue to erupt in the Balkans. Just this week there was open warfare 
in Macedonia: Ethnic tensions remain high in the region, and American 
soldiers are stuck in the middle.
  In Iraq, the situation for our Air Reserve and Air Guardsmen are 
equally dangerous.

                              {time}  1830

  The American public is not always aware of how often our pilots, 
active, Reserve, or Guard, are targeted by Iraqi air defense systems 
and forced to take evasive actions.
  Iraq is not a secure environment. The Balkans are not a secure 
environment. The longer we have soldiers deployed to these theaters, 
the greater the risk.
  So what can we do? Well, first of all, I have to commend our 
Reservists for their commitment and their devotion.
  Second, our allies should bear more of the responsibility. Last 
April, I voted for an amendment that would withhold 50 percent of the 
funding for Kosovo operations until the President certified that our 
allies were complying with at least 75 percent of their commitment to 
the operation. Unfortunately, the amendment was defeated, but we must 
do things like this to make sure that our allies are picking up their 
share of the burden.
  Third, we have to realistically understand that we cannot be 
everywhere at the same time. We have to regain control over the 
deployment of our military personnel.
  Fourth, we must ensure that our spending bills provide for our main 
priorities. We must ask ourselves, does funding provide for our 
military personnel? Are they adequately paid? Do they receive medical 
care? Are they provided appropriate living accommodations? Does funding 
provide for our current equipment and weapons needs?
  We just had a talk on that from the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. 
Skelton).
  Does funding provide for needed new weapons? The Quadrennial Defense 
Review is currently underway and the President has also ordered a top-
to-bottom department review directed by Andrew Marshall, head of the 
Pentagon's Office of Net Assessment. The review of our military must 
also focus on how America views its role in the world. We must make 
sure that we build an armed force that fits with the role our Nation 
chooses to play in the world arena.
  We must be prepared to fight the next war. Our forces have to be 
mobile. They have to be flexible, and they have to be well trained. 
They have to be able to respond to a world where the most serious 
threats may not always be armored divisions or fighter wings, which 
brings us to one threat that we must be willing and able to face.
  Terrorism is a horrible fact of life today. We need to be prepared to 
strike swiftly and strongly in response to acts of terror. We also need 
to take actions to prevent terrorist attacks that view innocent 
civilians as acceptable targets.
  Since the demise of the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact, the United 
States has been dealing in unfamiliar territory. With the fall of 
communism and the victory of democracy, America stands alone as the 
sole superpower of the world and that makes us a tempting target for 
terrorists and also causes the world to look to us to take a lead in 
dealing with terrorism.
  Our military and indeed our society must be willing to make tough 
choices when we face threats from state-sponsored terrorism and also 
from groups not associated with individual countries but with broader 
causes or ideologies such as radical fundamentalism.
  We need a clear, consistent policy, one that backs up diplomacy, 
international intelligence, international cooperation and clearly 
stated policies on reprisals, with the military readiness and forces to 
make them a sure and deadly deterrent.
  One thing should be absolutely clear. If we make the decision to 
commit our troops overseas to an armed conflict, we must give them the 
means and support to win.
  Flying over our soldiers is the American flag. Hundreds of thousands 
of Americans have died in battle under the Stars and Stripes. The flag 
is a symbol of freedom and democracy. It should be protected from 
desecration. I favor a constitutional amendment that would protect it 
from being defiled and degraded. Surely it is not too much to ask that 
the symbol under which so many men and women have proudly given their 
lives be afforded basic respect.
  I was never in combat. I am a retired lieutenant colonel in the 
United States Army Reserve Medical Corps, but I was proud to wear the 
uniform and the flag is something special to me. That is why I think we 
should pass an amendment to protect the flag.
  Let me close by saying something about our veterans. Congress today 
recognized their sacrifices. Today the House passed a budget which 
includes a 12 percent increase for the Department of Veterans Affairs. 
The budget calls for a $5.6 billion increase over last year's budget 
for the VA, including an additional $1 billion above that which was 
proposed by the administration. The funding increase is needed due to 
underfunding by the past administration.
  I believe the increase will allow the Veterans Administration to 
begin to address a backlog in cases and to provide funding to cover 
unmet services for our Nation's veterans.
  I also recently cosponsored legislation to improve outreach programs 
carried out by the Department of Veterans Affairs by more fully 
informing veterans of benefits available to them. The legislation would 
direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to prepare an annual plan for 
the conduct of outreach activities to provide veterans and dependents 
information concerning eligibility for Department benefits, health care 
services, and application requirements when they first apply for any 
such benefit.
  It is very important that we make our veterans aware of the 
assistance that is available to them.
  The bill is appropriately called the Veterans Right To Know Act, and 
I call upon my colleagues to support it.
  Just this week the House passed the Veterans Opportunities Act of 
2001. The legislation also seeks to inform service members of the 
benefits that are available. The bill requires that before an 
individual leaves the service, they are counseled and educated 
regarding the programs available to assist veterans. This program will 
help make servicemen and women more aware of the opportunities which 
are available to them in civilian life.
  The legislation also expands the Veterans Administration's current 
work-study program and increases the maximum allowable annual ROTC 
award for benefits under the Montgomery GI bill. For the first time, 
veterans will be given financial support in pursuing education in the 
private sector. In today's world, the best technological training is 
not always in the traditional college setting.
  I have also joined more than 70 of my colleagues in cosponsoring the 
Retired Pay Restoration Act of 2001. This is legislation that would 
allow retired individuals who suffer from a service-connected 
disability to receive their disability compensation without having it 
deducted from their military retirement pay. The legislation is 
supported by the American Legion, the Disabled American Veterans, the 
Veterans of Foreign Wars, the Retired Officers Association, the Retired 
Enlisted Association, the Uniformed Service Disabled Retirees and the 
Military Order of Purple Heart; also the Noncommissioned Officers 
Association, the Jewish War Veterans, the National Association of 
Uniformed Services, AMVETS, and the Military Family Association.
  For heaven's sakes, let us pass this, too. It is essential to the 
vitality of American democracy, the most successful experiment in self-
government in the world's history, that we remain vigilant of our 
freedoms and that we have the proper respect for our fellow citizens in 
the armed services. So I take this opportunity to offer my thanks to 
the men and women in uniform.




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