[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 178 (Thursday, December 20, 2001)]
[House]
[Pages H10914-H10916]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    WAIVING POINTS OF ORDER AGAINST CONFERENCE REPORT ON H.R. 3338, 
             DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2002

  Mrs. MYRICK. Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I 
call up House Resolution 324 and ask for its immediate consideration.
  The Clerk read the resolution as follows:

                              H. Res. 324

       Resolved, That upon adoption of this resolution it shall be 
     in order to consider the conference report to accompany the 
     bill (H.R. 3338) making appropriations for the Department of 
     Defense for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2002, and 
     for other purposes. All points of order against the 
     conference report and against its consideration are waived. 
     The conference report shall be considered as read.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Camp). The gentlewoman from North 
Carolina (Mrs. Myrick) is recognized for 1 hour.
  Mrs. MYRICK. Mr. Speaker, for purposes of debate only, I yield the 
customary 30 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Frost), pending 
which I yield myself such time as I may consume. During consideration 
of this resolution, all time yielded is for the purpose of debate only.
  Mr. Speaker, yesterday, the Committee on Rules met and granted a 
normal conference report rule for H.R. 3338, the Fiscal Year 2002 
Department of Defense Appropriations Act.
  The rule waives all points of order against the conference report and 
against its consideration. In addition, the rule provides that the 
conference report shall be considered as read.
  Mr. Speaker, this should not be a controversial rule. It is the type 
of rule we grant for every conference report we consider in the House. 
The gentleman from Texas (Mr. Frost), who is managing this rule for the 
minority, understands the importance of a strong national defense, and 
I am sure I do not need to convince him or anyone else that this bill 
is important, now more than ever before.
  At a time when we are facing terrorism at home and engaged in combat 
abroad, we need to give our government the tools to defend us overseas 
and at home. This bill does just that. It provides our military with 
$317 billion in much-needed support, including a 4.6 percent pay raise; 
and the supplemental portion of the bill will bolster our fight against 
terrorism by providing much-needed funding for border patrols, port 
security, bioterrorism prevention, and the FBI.
  Lastly, Mr. Speaker, this bill contains our strong support for the 
people of New York by providing another $8.2 billion in disaster 
assistance, including $2 billion in community development block grants.
  Mr. Speaker, we are about to go home for the holidays and after the 
events of this fall, I cannot think of a better thing to do before we 
leave town than to provide for our armed forces, for our fight against 
terrorism, and for the victims of September 11.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. FROST. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, as we speak, the brave men and women of the U.S. 
military are halfway around the world waging and winning the war on 
terrorism. Their courage and professionalism are a fitting tribute to 
the strength and unity of the United States of America.
  Meanwhile, here at home, domestic security has become our top 
priority, and thanks to the funding priorities in this conference 
report, America will now be better prepared to prevent, defend against, 
and recover from any future terrorist attacks.
  I am very pleased that the conference report more closely reflects 
Democratic priorities on homeland defense than was provided in the 
House-passed bill. Specifically, it provides more funding for nuclear, 
border, port, aviation and bioterrorism priorities. On bioterrorism 
alone, Democrats were able to secure $2.5 billion, $1 billion more than 
the President requested. While additional funding will be necessary to 
fully address other domestic security needs, this conference report is 
a good start.
  Mr. Speaker, here in Congress, there has always been strong 
bipartisan support for America's armed forces. The history of this 
defense appropriations bill reflects that fact.
  Last month, the House Committee on Appropriations reported its 
original version of H.R. 3338, and the full House passed it by a vote 
of 406 to 20. I am confident that another large bipartisan majority 
will pass this conference report today. That is because Democrats and 
Republicans are strongly committed to America's national defense and to 
a first-rate military that carries it out. As the President said 
yesterday in addressing House Democrats, security of the United States 
is not a partisan issue.
  Mr. Speaker, this is a good conference report, and I support it. I 
would like to commend the gentleman from Florida (Chairman Young); the 
gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Obey), the ranking Democrat; the 
gentleman from California (Chairman Lewis); and the gentleman from 
Pennsylvania (Mr. Murtha), the ranking Democrat on the subcommittee, 
for the tremendous job they have done to support America's troops and 
to protect Americans here at home.
  This conference report provides $478 million to combat chemical and 
biological attacks against the military and $404 million for the Nunn-
Lugar nuclear nonproliferation program. It provides for a significant 
military pay raise and for substantial increases in critical readiness 
accounts; and it strengthens research for tomorrow's weapons and 
equipment while providing the weapons and equipment the U.S. military 
needs today.
  Mr. Speaker, I am especially pleased by the substantial quality-of-
life improvements funded by this conference report. It includes funding 
for a significant pay raise of between 5 and 10 percent for every 
member of the military. And to boost critical midlevel personnel 
retention, much of the pay raise will be directed towards junior 
officers. It also significantly increases funding for health benefits 
for service members and their families.
  I am also pleased that this conference report continues to fund the 
wide range of weapons programs that ensure our military's superiority 
throughout the world. For instance, it includes more than $2.6 billion 
for the initial production of 13 of the F-22 Raptor aircraft, the next-
generation air dominance fighter for the Air Force. The conference 
report also provides $882 million for research and development for this 
aircraft.
  Additionally, Mr. Speaker, the conference report provides $1.5 
billion for continued development of the Joint Strike Fighter, the 
high-technology multirole fighter of the future for the Air Force, the 
Navy, and the Marines. It also includes $1.04 billion for procurement 
of 11 MV-22 Osprey aircraft.
  Mr. Speaker, all of these aircraft are important components in our 
national arsenal, and moving forward on the research and production 
sends a clear signal that the United States has no intention of 
relinquishing our air superiority.
  The first duty of the Congress, Mr. Speaker, is to provide for the 
national defense and the men and women who protect it. This conference 
report does a great deal to improve military readiness and to improve 
the quality of life for our men and women in uniform as well as their 
families. It is a good first step at providing the needed funding to 
ensure that attacks like those that occurred on September 11 will never 
happen again.
  Mr. Speaker, I wish we could have done more, but Republican leaders 
insisted that many homeland security priorities wait until next year. I 
hope they will allow us to address the remaining priorities as soon as 
possible.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge the adoption of this rule and of this conference 
report.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mrs. MYRICK. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. FROST. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from 
Wisconsin (Mr. Obey), the ranking member of the Committee on 
Appropriations.

[[Page H10915]]

  (Mr. OBEY asked and was given permission to revise and extend his 
remarks, and include extraneous material.)
  Mr. OBEY. Mr. Speaker, there are two provisions in this bill which I 
think are of note. One is a bad provision which is here because of OMB, 
and the other is a good provision in the bill which is here despite 
OMB.
  This country has a serious need to purchase additional tankers. This 
bill does that. It meets our national responsibility in doing so. But 
because OMB would prefer to keep a pretty set of books, rather than 
saving the taxpayers money, it will cost us significantly more to lease 
those tankers than it would to buy them. That is unfortunate, but it 
was the only choice the committee was left with because OMB appears to 
be more concerned with accounting niceties than it is with fiscal 
realities or cost realities. And I think people need to understand that 
that regretful result is not the fault of the committee.
  I would hope that OMB in the future would recognize the need to allow 
reality to occasionally interfere with their philosophical biases.
  Second, as was indicated by the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Frost), we 
do have $2.8 billion in this bill above the House bill for homeland 
security items. After the tragic events of September 11, on a 
bipartisan basis the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Young) and I tried to 
put together a list of the actions that both sides of the aisle thought 
were necessary in order to improve the homeland security of the United 
States.
  That process was rudely interrupted, to say the least, by OMB, who 
informed us in rather blunt terms that they had all the wisdom, that 
they did not need to provide any additional funding, and that we could 
put a ``Wait 'Til Next Year'' sign on our homeland security needs.
  Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to say that despite that resistance, the 
conferees brought back to this House a bill which contains crucial 
items that will increase the security of this country at home. I want 
to congratulate Senators Byrd and Stevens and the gentleman from 
Florida (Chairman Young) and the gentleman from California (Chairman 
Lewis) for helping to see to it that rationality prevailed over 
stubbornness. As a result, we have $664 million in this bill that was 
not contained in the House bill to protect the country against 
bioterrorist attacks; we have $50 million more in this bill to provide 
for cockpit security; we have law enforcement additions to the bill of 
over $407 million, including $208 million for the FBI so that they will 
be able to modernize their computer system by this coming summer, 
rather than having to wait until the year 2004.
  Right now the FBI has a large number of computers that cannot even 
send pictures of potential terrorists to other FBI terminals because 
they do not have the adequate computer capacity. This bill fixes that.
  The most crucial item of all is keeping weapons of mass destruction 
away from terrorists. We wound up with $382 million in additional 
funding in this bill above the amount that was originally in the House 
bill. We have $120 million of additional funding to secure nuclear 
material in the former Soviet Union so it does not fall into 
terrorists' hands.
  The bill provides $383 million for increased security for our 
Nation's ports and for our border, especially the Canadian border. For 
food safety, it increases the percentage of imported food subject to 
inspection from the present 1 percent to 10 percent, as we have been 
asking all along.
  It contains a number of other items which I will insert in the 
record.
  Mr. Speaker, I insert the table in the Record at this point.

      CONFERENCE ADDITIONS TO THE HOUSE BILL FOR DOMESTIC SECURITY
                        [in millions of dollars]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                              Conference
                                      House      Conference   over House
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Protecting Against Bioterrorism
Upgrading State & Local Health             593        1,000          407
 Departments & Hospitals.........
Expanding CDC Support of State              50          100           50
 and Local Health Departments....
Accelerating Research on                   100           93           -7
 Biohazards, Detection and
 Treatment.......................
Bio Safety Laboratories at NIH               0           71           71
 and Fort Detrick, MD............
Vaccine and Drug stockpiles......        1,103        1,105            2
Other Bioterrorism Requirements..          110           56          -54
                                  --------------------------------------
    Total........................        1,956        2,425          469
 
Securing the Mail
Procurement of Sanitation                    0          500          500
 Equipment for Postal Service....
Airport and Airline Safety
Federal Assistance for Mandated              0          175          175
 Security Upgrades at Airports...
Increased Sky Marshals and Sky             288          155         -133
 Marshal Training................
Cockpit Door Security & Explosive          159          209           50
 Detection Equipment.............
Innovations in Airport Security..           90           50          -40
                                  --------------------------------------
    Total........................          537          589           52
 
Law Enforcement
FBI Case Management Computer               105          237          132
 System (Trilogy)................
FBI Data Backup and Warehousing..            0           56           56
FBI Cybersecurity, Transportation          434          452           18
 and Other.......................
Other Justice Department Law               106           80          -26
 Enforcement.....................
Law Enforcement Assistance                  17           17            0
 (Olympics)......................
Law Enforcement Assistance                  25          234          209
 (National Capital Area).........
Federal Law Enforcement Training            14           32           18
 Center..........................
Secret Service, IRS etc..........          236          236            0
                                  --------------------------------------
    Total........................          937        1,344          407
 
Keeping Weapons of Mass
 Destruction Away from Terrorists
Improved Security at 4 DoD Sites            35           35            0
 Storing Tons of Chemical Weapons
Improved Security for Nuclear               88          131           43
 Weapons Activities..............
Improved Security for U.S.                   0           36           36
 commercial/research nuclear
 reactors (NRC)..................
Nuclear Non Proliferation                    0          148          148
 Assistance for Russia...........
Security of Russian Nuclear and              0            0            0
 Biological Scientists...........
Nuclear, Chemical and Biological            18           78           60
 Detection.......................
Improved Security at Nuclear                 8            8            0
 Cleanup Sites...................
Energy Intelligence..............            4            4            0
CDC Oversight and Training for               0           10           10
 Labs Handling Dangerous
 Pathogens.......................
Improved Security at Fort                    9            9            0
 Detrick, MD.....................
Improved Security at CDC, NIH,              58          143           85
 FDA and USDA Research Facilities
                                  --------------------------------------
    Total........................          220          602          382
 
Immigration, Port and Border
 Security
Additional Customs Agents for              160          246           86
 Canadian Border and seaports....
Machine Readable Visa Machines at            0            0            0
 All U.S. Consulates.............
Immigration Inspectors, Border             410          450           40
 Patrol & Related Equipment......
Adequate INS Detention & Admin.              0          100          100
 Facilities at U.S. Border
 Crossings.......................
Full Annual Cost of Expanding              145          209           64
 Coast Guard by 640 positions....
Federal Grants for Port Security             0           93           93
 Assessments and Enhancements....
                                  --------------------------------------
    Total........................          715        1,098          383
 
Train and Bus Security
Federal Grants for Enhancing                 0          100          100
 Security of Rail and Bus Travel.
Food and Water Safety
Expand FDA Inspections to Cover             61           97           36
 10% of All Food Imports.........

[[Page H10916]]

 
Increase in FDA Emergency                    0            0            0
 Operations and Investigations
 Staff...........................
Assessment and Enhancement of              115           80          -35
 Security for Drinking Water.....
                                  --------------------------------------
    Total........................          176          177            1
 
Security of Government Buildings
 and Facilities
Security Upgrades for Supreme               32           93           61
 Court and Other Federal
 Courthouses.....................
Security Upgrades for Federal              182          248           66
 Buildings and Facilities........
Increased Security for Federal              81           81            0
 Museums, Parks and Monuments....
Security Upgrades for National             169          169            0
 Water Infrastructure............
Security Measures for White House          306          306            0
 and Congress....................
Security Upgrades for U.S.                 105          104           -1
 Military Facilities.............
                                  --------------------------------------
    Total........................          875        1,001          126
 
Security for Schools and Colleges
Grants for Assessments and                   0            0            0
 Emergency Response Planning.....
Other Security
Counterterrorism Assistance for            400          400            0
 State and Local First Responders
Grants for Firefighters..........            0          210          210
------------------------------------------------------------------------

  Mr. OBEY. Mr. Speaker, I simply want to say that I think what this 
bill demonstrates is that when committees are allowed to work in a 
substantive way, casting aside ideology or political views, the result 
is good for the country, and it is good for this institution, and I 
congratulate all of those involved.
  Mrs. MYRICK. Mr. Speaker, I would inquire of the gentleman from Texas 
(Mr. Frost) if he has any other speakers.
  Mr. FROST. Mr. Speaker, we have no more speakers.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge adoption of the rule, and I yield back the 
balance of my time.
  Mrs. MYRICK. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time, and I 
move the previous question on the resolution.
  The previous question was ordered.
  The resolution was agreed to.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

                          ____________________