[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 83 (Thursday, June 14, 2001)]
[House]
[Pages H3186-H3187]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   PRESIDENT PROPOSES TO CEASE LIVE COMBINED ARMS TRAINING ON VIEQUES

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Buyer) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. BUYER. Mr. Speaker, I am disappointed to come to the well today 
to learn that President Bush is proposing to cease live combined arms 
training on the Puerto Rican island of Vieques by 2003. In short, the 
President and his administration are ignoring the issue of military 
readiness and national security.
  In opinion editorials, congressional testimony and official DOD press 
releases, the Commandant of the Marine Corps, General James Jones, and 
the former Chief of Naval Operation, Jay Johnson, repeatedly stressed 
to the Clinton administration the importance of combined arms training 
at Vieques. Their simple and continued message has been very clear: 
``Without Vieques, the Second Fleet cannot train, evaluate, or certify 
Battle Group/Amphibious Ready Group teams for combat operations.''
  In fact, Admiral Johnson testified in a hearing in 1999 that 
``Vieques is not only the sole training facility on the East Coast that 
offers crucial combined live arms training, the range also serves as a 
model for the world because it offers the ability to conduct actual 
time synchronization of air, ground, surface, and subsurface components 
with live ordnance.''
  Even former President Clinton's special panel on military operations 
on Vieques concluded that ``the separation of certain aspects of 
current training into their component parts cannot replicate the ideal 
solution that has been available by the integration of all operational 
activities at Vieques.''
  Meanwhile, it appears that this decision will and could perhaps put 
American men and women at risk in the future. Why? Because it denies 
them the necessary combined arms training needed to succeed in combat 
operations. From World War II through our most recent crisis in Kosovo, 
our Nation's military has been able to meet our Nation's call to arms 
because of the preparation we afford them at training ranges all over 
the world but in particular here at Vieques. History has taught us the 
success or failure of our Nation's military and the risk of loss of 
life is a direct function of the preparation we afford them prior to 
combat. Closing the Vieques training range will result in a significant 
loss of critical combat training, which is essential to our Navy and 
Marine forces.
  Whether it was the Gulf War, that I participated in, or other 
military operations, we are beginning to dull our own Nation, as if we 
can place our men and women at risk and somehow, if we are able to 
conduct these operations with standoff weapons, that there will be no 
risk of life. We should fall upon our knees and thank the military 
leaders, those tough NCOs that are out there, those master sergeants, 
those lieutenants and company commanders who are doing the tough 
training, because that is what saves lives on the battlefield. And when 
they train on the ground, it has to be coordinated not only from the 
sea but also from the air for a combined operation.
  I was on the island of Vieques. They need to be able to land the 
Marines, and the Marines landing need to be able to call in; whether it 
is naval gunfire, whether it is artillery, or whether calling in from 
the ship to air, the air to land, but all coordinated on one point. 
Why? To increase the lethality. Now that sounds brutal, but what is 
fighting our Nation's wars about? It is bringing lethality to a 
particular point in time so we can win on the battlefield.
  So I am very disappointed that someone down at the White House or 
others have made judgments without being very good listeners to our 
military planners, and I appeal, I appeal to the administration to 
rethink what they have done here. There is absolutely no substitute for 
training with live ammunition. Do not succumb to the temptation that 
live fire combined with arms training on Vieques can be duplicated 
elsewhere or overemphasize simulation

[[Page H3187]]

technology. While simulation is valuable training, our servicemen and 
women will ultimately be playing Nintendo and think that that is war.
  Finally, Mr. Speaker, let me remind the President of the United 
States, this Congress, and the American people about the essence of 
combat operations. In short, combat is to close with and destroy the 
enemy by firepower and maneuver and/or close combat. This applies to 
all aspects of military operations, whether it is air, whether it is on 
land, or whether it is sea. It is dirty, it is ugly business, and war 
fighting requires the confidence and ability to handle live fire.

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