[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 141 (Thursday, October 18, 2001)]
[Senate]
[Pages S10807-S10810]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
MILITARY CONSTRUCTION APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2002--CONFERENCE REPORT
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Under the previous order, the
Senate will now proceed to consideration of the conference report to
accompany H.R. 2904, which the clerk will report.
The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:
The committee of conference on the disagreeing votes of the
two Houses on the amendment of the Senate to the bill (H.R.
2904) ``making appropriations for military construction,
family housing, and base realignment and closure for the
Department of Defense for the fiscal year ending September
30, 2002, and for other purposes,'' having met have agreed
that the House recede from its disagreement to the amendment
of the Senate, and agree to the same with an amendment, and
the Senate agree to the same, signed by all of the conferees
on the part of both Houses.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senate will proceed to the
consideration of the conference report.
(The report is printed in the House proceedings of the Record of
October 16, 2001.)
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Under the previous order, there
will now be 30 minutes for debate to be equally divided and controlled
between the Senator from California, Mrs. Feinstein, and the Senator
from Texas, Mrs. Hutchison, or their designees.
Who yields time?
Mrs. HUTCHISON. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mrs. HUTCHISON. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order
for the quorum call be rescinded.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so
ordered.
Mrs. HUTCHISON. Mr. President, as my distinguished chairman, the
Senator from California, is preparing to speak about the conference
report accompanying the military construction appropriations bill, I
want to make a few comments about what is going on today.
I am very pleased to say the Senate is open for business, and we are
preparing to take up very important legislation as it relates to the
U.S. war on terrorism. Before we talk about that, I want to say that
what we are doing is important as an example to our country. We have
had severe threats to the people who work in the U.S. Capitol. The
Capitol is the symbol of freedom and democracy for the whole world. It
represents the United States.
Our people made the decision that we would close the office buildings
so our staff would be protected. We are checking the office buildings
to see what kind of anthrax might be present. We are doing the prudent
thing. We are trying to take care of our people.
On the other hand, we are also keeping the Capitol open as the symbol
that the business of Government is going on, and many of us are working
out of our Capitol offices. We have our staffs with us. They are very
happy to be here. There is a spirit of comradeship up and down the
halls of the Capitol where people are spilling out from the various
small offices to make room in the tiny little offices from where we are
now operating. But everybody is happy to do it because we know this is
important for our country. It is our way of saying to those who are in
the field representing us in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Uzbekistan that
we are here, too, and we are taking care of your needs.
I am very proud we are in session. Our staffs are happy to be here,
and we are doing our duty for our country. The people of America should
know we are going to do everything that is on our agenda for this
week--business as
[[Page S10808]]
usual--and the House did the same thing. They passed the bills
yesterday. We passed them yesterday, and we will pass them today.
With that, I welcome the chairman of the Military Construction
Subcommittee and thank her in advance for the leadership she has
provided to this very important committee.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from California.
Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, I thank the Senator from Texas for her
comments.
Today I am very pleased to bring before the Senate the conference
agreement on the fiscal year 2002 military construction appropriations
bill.
Given the circumstances, this is a particularly timely and time-
sensitive conference report. I am very pleased that the Senate has
demonstrated a willingness to move quickly on it.
The military construction conference agreement provides $10.5 billion
of new budget authority. That is a 17.5-percent increase over last
year's military construction funding, and it is a 5.3-percent increase
over the President's budget request. This statistic alone sends a
strong message of support to America's men and women in uniform.
This is a good package. It meets the most pressing needs of the
military, both in terms of readiness and quality-of-life issues. It is
not, of course, a perfect package. The conference report does not
include everything the Senate wanted, nor does it include everything
the House wanted. It does, however, address the priorities of the
Department of Defense, which I think is most important, as well as both
Houses of Congress. It is a carefully crafted compromise. It is both
balanced and bipartisan.
I am particularly pleased to see such quick action on this measure at
a time when we as a nation are asking for so much from our men and
women in uniform and from their families. The conference agreement
provides $4.8 billion for the Active components of the military. That
is a 35-percent increase over fiscal year 2001. So the military
components are up 35.8 percent. It provides $953 million for the
Reserve components. That is a 357-percent increase over last year. For
family housing, the conference agreement provides $4.1 billion. That is
a 12-percent increase over last year.
These are important increases. They signal a commitment to upgrading
and rebuilding the infrastructure that is truly the backbone of our
Nation's military.
The conference report also includes a $100 million increase over the
President's budget request for environmental cleanup at military
installations that have been closed as part of the base realignment and
closure effort. This is most significant. We need to clean up these
bases so they can be transitioned into civilian use. This additional
funding is necessary. It enables the military to honor its commitments
to the people and the communities that have been affected by the
economic upheaval caused by base closures.
I point out that this is a great deal of money, yet much more is
going to be needed before the environmental cleanup of BRAC sites
across the Nation is complete. This is certainly something we should
consider before we embark on any future rounds of base closings. I
believe this most strongly.
One other item I want to mention today is the issue of defense access
roads. The events of September 11 have made us all the more aware of
the potential vulnerability of sensitive civilian and military
installations to the threat of terrorist attack, and a number of our
colleagues have expressed concern about the need for upgrading access
roads serving military installations, particularly around chemical
demilitarization facilities.
These roads are generally Federal or State highways that provide
access to defense installations but are not owned by the Defense
Department. Therefore, funding to construct access roads has to go
through the Department of Transportation. The military construction
bill includes a standing provision authorizing the Secretary of Defense
to provide funds to the Transportation Department for access roads but
only--only--when the Secretary of Defense has certified that these
roads are important for national defense.
In other words, these are not projects that can easily be added to
the MILCON bill if the President does not request them. However,
because of the current sensitivity of chemical demilitarization
facilities, we included a provision in our conference agreement that
will enable the Defense Department to conduct a feasibility study on
the requirements for Defense roads at chemical demilitarization sites
in the United States to support emergency preparedness requirements.
I might also mention the Senate MILCON bill and the House MILCON bill
had about a $600 million difference between the two bills. There were
about 173 adds from Members. Only 3 of them were the same in both the
House and the Senate bills. So truly the Senate staffers on both sides
have done a wonderful job in putting together the conference report.
I am very pleased to say it was a unanimous vote in the conference
committee. So it was a reconciling of interests.
I very much thank Chairman Byrd. I thank Senator Stevens and
particularly my ranking member on the subcommittee, Senator Hutchison,
for their unflagging support and assistance in bringing this conference
report to the Senate. Again, I particularly thank the subcommittee
staff for their hard work on this measure.
I am very pleased the military construction bill will be one of the
first appropriations conference agreements sent to the President, and I
hope he will sign it without delay.
I turn this over to the ranking member for her comments, and I
reserve the remainder of my time.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Texas.
Mrs. HUTCHISON. Mr. President, I fully endorse the comments made by
our subcommittee chairman, Senator Feinstein. I am pleased to recommend
the military construction conference report for fiscal year 2002 to the
Senate. We have worked very hard, Senator Feinstein and myself, with
our House colleagues, to bring this conference report to a successful
conclusion.
I thank our colleagues from the House side, the chairman, David
Hobson from Ohio, and John Olver from Massachusetts, the ranking
member, for working with us in such a collegial way.
As Senator Feinstein said, there were many disagreements and,
frankly, some different priorities when our two bills passed
respectively in the House and the Senate, but we worked hard and in a
very productive way to resolve those differences and keep the
priorities of each House but within a responsible budget. Everybody
gave a little, but I think everyone did the right thing, and I am very
pleased with the product.
We sought a balanced bill, one that provides funding for planning,
design, construction, alteration, and improvement of military
facilities worldwide, both for Active-Duty and Reserve Forces. I think
this is a very important point because we know our Reserve Forces are
stepping up to the plate as we speak.
Our President has called 40,000 of them to service, and there could
be more. So we are very cognizant of the need for our Reserves to be
supported and, in fact, there is a total of almost $1 billion for Guard
and Reserve facilities in this military construction bill.
Additionally, we have focused on military housing. This has been a
priority for all of us. Quality of life for our men and women in the
services is very important to us, and we are making a transition in our
military, frankly, from a force that used to be mostly single men, some
single women, to now families of men and women. For that reason, we
have had to adjust military construction priorities in recent years. We
have $1.2 billion for barracks improvements; $44 million for child care
centers; $199 million for hospitals and medical facilities and $4
billion for family housing.
This intensifies the effort to improve the quality of military
housing and accelerate the elimination of substandard housing. I am
very pleased with those priorities.
I also concur with the comments of Senator Feinstein on the issue of
access roads. A number of colleagues expressed to me their concern
about the need for upgrading access roads near chemical
demilitarization sites. A defense access road must be appropriately
certified by the Department of
[[Page S10809]]
Defense, legislatively authorized, and then it is eligible for funding
in the military construction appropriations bill.
As Senator Feinstein said, we have provided the Department of Defense
the ability to conduct a feasibility study on requirements for Defense
roads at chemical demilitarization sites. We think this is the right
and responsible approach to determine what the needs are of the
Department of Defense and also determine what the responsibilities of
the State or local governments should be in that regard.
I also want to make the point this bill will soon be going to the
President of the United States for signature. This bill includes some
very important upgrades of facilities in support of the Operation
Enduring Freedom effort in which we are now engaged. Operation Enduring
Freedom, of course, is our war on terrorism. In support of these
operations this bill includes an upgrade for a runway in Oman and a
base supply warehouse in Turkey, one of our strongest allies. I am very
proud that Turkey stepped up to the plate early and said: Whatever you
need to protect freedom and democracy is going to be our cause as well.
Further, we included a special operations training range in Okinawa.
Japan also stepped up to the plate--the Japanese Prime Minister was one
of the first to say: We are with you to protect democracy in this part
of the world. And lastly, we included a war reserve storage facility in
Guam. We are very pleased to provide these projects that will directly
support our ability to stage this war on terrorism.
I thank my chairman, Senator Feinstein, for working with me to assure
even though we had the bill on the drawing boards before September 11,
nevertheless we could react to the immediate needs of the Department of
Defense in these areas.
This bill is on its way to the President, and it will provide the
support to our men and women in the military who have pledged their
lives to protect our freedom. They have pledged their lives to protect
freedom throughout the world. This is the test of our generation, and
our young men and women are stepping up to the challenge. They deserve
the support we are giving them in this bill. We are doing our duty and
fulfilling our responsibilities here today. I am proud to say, once
again, the prowess of our military is going to shine through and we are
going to show the military of a freedom-loving country is the strongest
in the world, with the full support of the Congress.
I yield the floor.
Mr. McCAIN. Mr. President, I appreciate the opportunity to address
the Senate once again on the subject of military construction projects
added to an appropriations bill that were not requested by the
Department of Defense. This bill contains $900 million in unrequested
military construction projects.
Every year, I come to the Senate floor for the express purpose of
highlighting programs and projects added to spending bills for
primarily parochial reasons. While I recognize that many of the
projects added to this bill may be worthwhile, the process by which
they were selected violates at least one, if not several, of the
criteria set out several years ago to limit just this sort of wasteful
spending.
I find particularly offensive the usual Buy America restrictions
included in this bill. Rather than providing the best value to our
service members by buying the best products at the best prices, these
restrictions require DOD procurement decisions to be driven by
protectionist impulses that frequently provide inferior value to our
troops. ``Buy America'' restrictions cost the Department of Defense and
the U.S. taxpayer $5 billion annually, money that is spent not on our
good people in uniform but to line the pockets of American producers of
goods that could otherwise be purchased at the same value for lower
prices overseas.
I am also at a loss as to the rationale for including in this bill
certain site-specific earmarks and directive language, including a
provision urging the Department of Defense to make the consolidation of
four Guard and Reserve facility renovation projects in northeastern
Pennsylvania a priority, and to program this requirement in the Future
Years Defense Plan; a provision directing the Navy to accelerate design
of the Kingsville Naval Air Station Airfield Lighting project, and to
include construction funding for it in the budget request for fiscal
year 2003; a provision directing the Air Force to accelerate design of
Offutt Air Force Base's Fire/Crash Rescue Station, and to include
funding for it in next year's budget request; and similar language
inappropriately directing scarce resources on a non-competitive basis
to Warren Air Force Base, Fort Worth Joint Reserve Base, and Selfridge
Air National Guard Base.
In addition, sections of this bill designed to preserve depots, and
to funnel work in their direction irrespective of cost, are examples of
the old philosophy of protecting home-town jobs at the expense of
greater efficiencies. And calling plants and depots ``Centers of
Excellence'' does not constitute an appropriate approach to depot
maintenance and manufacturing activities. Consequently, neither the
Center of Industrial and Technical Excellence nor the Center of
Excellence in Service Contracting provide adequate cloaks for the kind
of protectionist and parochial budgeting endemic in the legislative
process.
Last year, the Defense appropriations bill included a provision
statutorily renaming National Guard armories as ``Readiness Centers,''
a particularly Orwellian use of language. By legally relabeling
``depot-level activities'' as ``operations at Centers of Industrial and
Technical Excellence,'' we further institutionalize this dubious
practice, the implications of which are to deny the American public the
most cost-effective use of their tax dollars. When will it end?
There are 28 members of the Appropriations Committee. Only six do not
have projects added to the appropriations bill. Those numbers, needless
to say, go well beyond the realm of mere coincidence. Of 96 projects
added to this bill, 53 are in the States represented by the Senators on
the Appropriations committees, totaling over $503 million.
We are waging war against a new enemy with global operations and the
messianic aspirations to match; we are undertaking a long-term process
to transform our military from its cold war structure to a force ready
for the challenges of a new day. A lack of political will had
previously hamstrung the transformation process, but the President and
his team have pledged to revolutionize our military structure and
operations to meet future threats.
The reorganization of our armed services was, of course, an extremely
important subject before September 11, and it is all the more so now.
The threats to the security of the United States, to the very lives and
property of Americans, have changed in the last decade. The attacks of
September 11 have made more urgent the already urgent task of
reorganizing our military to make sure that we have the people, weapons
and planning necessary to ensure not only the success of our world
leadership, international peace and stability and the global progress
of our values, but to safeguard the survival of the American way of
life.
In the months ahead, no task before the administration and the
Congress will be more important or require greater care and
deliberation than making the changes necessary to strengthen our
national defense in this new, uncertain era of world history. Needless
to say, this transformation process will require enlightened,
thoughtful leadership, not pork-barrelling of military funds, if we are
to best serve America in this time of rapid change in the global
security environment.
I believe I have made my point. As usual, I labor under no illusions
regarding the impact my comments will have on the way we do business
here. I have in the past attempted legislative recourse to pork-barrel
spending, and I will do so again.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from California.
Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, as I mentioned, this bill took a good
deal of good staff work. I am very proud that good staff work has
occurred on both sides of the aisle. It is not easy to remedy 170
differences between a House and Senate bill, and yet this happened.
I particularly commend the appropriations staff, Christina Evans,
B.G. Wright, on the Republican side; Sid Ashworth, John Kem, and also
Matt
[[Page S10810]]
Miller of my staff. They worked long and hard on this bill, and I think
that it will get, if not a unanimous vote of this body, certainly a
near unanimous vote. It is a job well done, and I am very pleased on
behalf of Senator Hutchison and myself to recognize that.
I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the order for
the quorum call be dispensed with.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so
ordered.
All time has expired. The question is on the adoption of the
conference report.
The yeas and nays were previously ordered. The clerk will call the
roll.
The legislative clerk called the roll.
Mr. NICKLES. I announce that the Senator from Montana (Mr. Burns),
the Senator from Nevada (Mr. Ensign), and the Senator from Utah (Mr.
Bennett) are necessarily absent.
I further announce that if present and voting the Senator from
Montana (Mr. Burns) would vote ``yea.''
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Nelson of Nebraska). Are there any other
Senators in the Chamber desiring to vote?
The result was announced--yeas 96, nays 1, as follows:
[Rollcall Vote No. 305 Leg.]
YEAS--96
Akaka
Allard
Allen
Baucus
Bayh
Biden
Bingaman
Bond
Boxer
Breaux
Brownback
Bunning
Byrd
Campbell
Cantwell
Carnahan
Carper
Chafee
Cleland
Clinton
Cochran
Collins
Conrad
Corzine
Craig
Crapo
Daschle
Dayton
DeWine
Dodd
Domenici
Dorgan
Durbin
Edwards
Enzi
Feingold
Feinstein
Fitzgerald
Frist
Graham
Gramm
Grassley
Gregg
Hagel
Harkin
Hatch
Helms
Hollings
Hutchinson
Hutchison
Inhofe
Inouye
Jeffords
Johnson
Kennedy
Kerry
Kohl
Kyl
Landrieu
Leahy
Levin
Lieberman
Lincoln
Lott
Lugar
McConnell
Mikulski
Miller
Murkowski
Murray
Nelson (FL)
Nelson (NE)
Nickles
Reed
Reid
Roberts
Rockefeller
Santorum
Sarbanes
Schumer
Sessions
Shelby
Smith (NH)
Smith (OR)
Snowe
Specter
Stabenow
Stevens
Thomas
Thompson
Thurmond
Torricelli
Voinovich
Warner
Wellstone
Wyden
NAYS--1
McCain
NOT VOTING--3
Bennett
Burns
Ensign
The conference report was agreed to.
Mrs. HUTCHISON. Mr. President, I move to reconsider the vote, and I
move to lay that motion on the table.
The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Texas.
Mrs. HUTCHISON. Mr. President, I thank all Senators who supported
this very important legislation. Senator Feinstein and I are very
appreciative of the support of Congress.
This bill is now on its way to the President. It will provide support
to our men and women in the field in their quality of life, quality of
their equipment, and in the quality of their training. We can do no
less. I appreciate the support of the Senate.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from North Dakota.
____________________