[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 97 (Wednesday, July 17, 2002)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6931-S6934]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
MILITARY CONSTRUCTION APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2003
Mr. REID. Mr. President, on behalf of the majority leader, pursuant
to the unanimous consent agreement previously entered into, and after
having consulted with the Republican leader, I ask unanimous consent
that Calendar No. 486, H.R. 5011, the military construction bill, be
called before the Senate.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the bill by title.
The legislative clerk read as follows:
A bill (H.R. 5011) making appropriations for military
construction, family housing, and base realignment and
closure for the Department of Defense for the fiscal year
ending September 30, 2003, and for other purposes.
Mr. REID. Mr. President, before the Senators start discussing this
bill, Senator McCain has asked for 5 minutes in the morning rather than
having his 20 minutes now.
I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate resumes consideration of
H.R. 5011 on Thursday, there be 15 minutes of debate time with the time
divided as follows: 5 minutes each for Senators Feinstein, Hutchison,
and McCain; that upon the use of that time, without further intervening
action or debate, the Senate proceed to vote on passage of the bill,
with all other provisions of the previous order remaining in effect.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. REID. I thank the Chair.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, all after the
enacting clause is stricken and the text of S. 2709 is inserted in lieu
thereof.
The Senator from California is recognized.
Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, I am pleased to join with my ranking
member, Senator Hutchison of Texas, to bring the Fiscal Year 2003
Military Construction Appropriations bill to the Senate for
consideration. This is a balanced, bipartisan bill intended to meet
some of the most pressing infrastructure requirements of our military
forces.
This bill provides $10.6 billion in new budget authority. It
represents an increase of less than one tenth of one percent over last
year's $10.5 billion military construction bill. But it is nearly 10
percent more than the President's 2003 budget request.
The 2003 budget request submitted by the President severely
underfunded the Guard and Reserves. The request was 52 percent below
last year's request. Congress is left to make up the shortfall. As all
Members know, the Defense Emergency Response Fund funded all projects
identified by the President as necessary for the war on terror. While
it may be tempting to blame the decrease in military construction
funding on the costs of fighting a war on terror, the fact is that the
war on terror is fully funded through the Defense Emergency Response
Fund.
This bill was coordinated carefully with the Armed Services
Committee, and each project in this bill is included in the National
Defense Authorization Act passed by the Senate. All of the projects in
this bill meet the stringent standards for military construction
funding set by the Senate. Every project we funded is in the Services'
Future Years Defense Plans, and every project is a top priority of the
installation commanders.
Mr. President, the bill was unanimously reported out of the
Appropriations Committee on June 27. The package before the Senate
today includes technical and conforming changes in the bill and report,
as authorized by the full Committee. These changes include
clarification of report language as needed and, in one instance, a
correction in the tables to delete an unauthorized project that was
inadvertently included in the committee print.
The bill provides $5.6 billion--53 percent of the total--for military
construction for active and reserve components. Included in this
funding is $1.1 billion for barracks; $26 million for child development
centers; $137 million for hospital and medical facilities; $159 million
for the Chemical Demilitarization Program; and $610 million for the
Guard and Reserve components.
An additional $4.23 billion, or 40 percent of the total bill, goes to
family housing. This includes $1.33 billion for new family housing
units and improvements to existing units; and $2.9 billion for
operation and maintenance of existing units.
This bill also includes two new military construction initiatives.
The first is the Army and Air Force Transformation Initiative, which
sets aside funding for the Army and the Air Force to be used for
infrastructure requirements.
For the Army, the funding is allocated for construction related to
the Interim Brigade Combat Teams. The Interim Brigades, which were just
recently renamed Stryker Brigades, are essential to the Army's effort
to become a lighter, more mobile, more effective fighting force. Army
officials testified before the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee
earlier this year that current levels of military construction funding
are not adequate to meet the Army's time line for these brigades.
Likewise, the Air Force is in need of additional funding to move
forward quickly with the beddown of aircraft associated with its Air
Mobility Modernization Program. The Air Force is facing a serious
shortfall in airlift capability. The Air Mobility Modernization
Program, which encompasses the acquisition and upgrading of C-17s, C-
5s, and C-130s, is urgently needed.
Simply put, the timetables for Army and Air Force transformation that
were in place prior to September 11 are no longer adequate. The war on
terror has placed pressing new demands, not only on personnel and
equipment, but also on infrastructure. The large increase in defense
funding that has occurred since September 11 reflects those demands.
Under the transformation initiative, the committee has made $100
million available each for the Army and Air Force to be used for
infrastructure requirements of the Stryker Brigades and C-17 Air
Mobility programs, as determined by the Services.
The second major initiative in this bill is the BRAC Environmental
Cleanup Acceleration Initiative. This initiative provides an extra $100
million above the fiscal year 2003 budget request to accelerate the
cleanup of dangerous contaminants at military bases that have been
closed or realigned as part of the BRAC process. Until the
environmental cleanup process is completed, these closed bases are the
equivalent of giant white elephants. The services no longer need them,
but the communities cannot complete the conversion of them to
productive use. In some cases, the lengthy cleanup process presents a
problem far worse than just an economic drain on the Services and the
communities--in some cases, the contaminants polluting the soil of
closed military bases present a serious hazard to human health and the
environment.
In my home state of California, for example, plutonium contamination
at McClellan Air Force Base continues to present a hazard to the
community and to impede progress towards profitable reuse of the
property. In Texas, toxic groundwater that has migrated to nearby
neighborhoods from the former Kelly Air Force Base has raised fears
among residents that the pollution could be causing health problems.
These are only two of many examples. The fact is, we have a
responsibility to the American people to clean up the buried ordnance
and hazardous wastes that contaminate many of our closed or realigned
military installations. And I believe that we have a responsibility to
act expeditiously. Although the President requested only $545 million
for BRAC environmental cleanup, the Services, at the request of the
Committee, identified another $237 million in environmental cleanup
requirements that could be executed in 2003 if funding were made
available. We could not provide the full $237 million needed, but the
extra $100 million we recommended will help to speed the cleanup
process. Simple common sense indicates that the military should finish
the cleanup from the first four rounds of BRAC before diverting scarce
resources and creating additional cleanup costs in another round of
base closures.
[[Page S6932]]
I want to point out that all the projects added to military
construction authorization and appropriations bills that are not part
of the President's budget request are carefully screened and vetted by
the Services. They are the priorities of the men and women who live and
work on military installations throughout the country, and sometimes
those priorities differ from the priorities of the Pentagon.
Installation commanders are uniquely attuned to the needs of their
bases, whereas the budget officers at the Pentagon and the Office of
Management and Budget are focused on the corporate needs of the Defense
Department as a whole. In some cases, a child care center or a barracks
may be essential to the well-being of a base, but may not score high
enough at the Pentagon to make it into the President's budget. In other
cases, a worthy project may be programmed for funding down the road
when it is urgently needed now.
Mr. President, this bill meets many military construction needs--all
of the projects are authorized, are in the military's Future Year's
Defense Plan, and are the base commander's priority. I urge my
colleagues to support it. I would like to thank my ranking member for
her support in developing this bill. It is a privilege and a pleasure
to work with Senator Hutchison. I also thank Chairman Byrd, Senator
Stevens, and Senator Inouye for their guidance and support in
developing this package. And I thank the staff of the subcommittee for
their dedication and hard work in putting this package together.
I thank my ranking member for her support in developing this bill. I
also thank Chairman Byrd, Senator Stevens, and Senator Inouye for their
guidance and support in developing this package.
I also thank the staff, specifically Christina Evans, B.G. Wright,
and Matt Miller on the Democratic side, and Sid Ashworth, Alycia
Farrell, and Michael Ralsky on the Republican side.
I reserve the remainder of my time and yield to the ranking member,
Senator Hutchison from Texas.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Miller). The Senator from Texas.
Mrs. HUTCHISON. I thank the Chair.
Mr. President, I thank the Senator from California, the chairman of
the committee. We certainly have worked together on this bill, and
Senator Feinstein outlined some of the problems we faced in trying to
make up for some of the shortfalls in the budget that we had before,
particularly in the environmental cleanup and Guard and Reserve
accounts.
We have been able to address the major issues for the Department of
Defense and also try to stay on the course that we set to improve the
quality of life for our military personnel.
In 2001, when President Bush took the oath of office, he made a
promise to America that we would see a transformation of our military.
He wanted to take a 25-year look at what our military needs would be,
and he appointed Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, who has the most
experience of any Secretary of Defense, having been Secretary of
Defense before, to do that very job.
After 9/11, of course, our priorities immediately changed because we
then became immediately involved in a crisis, a war on terrorism. Now
we are prosecuting a war on terrorism at the same time that we still
are trying to look to the future needs of our national defense.
Our bill for military construction attempts to address the top
priorities of the Department of Defense. It is a balanced bill and is
quite bipartisan.
I am particularly pleased to see that we are going to put a large
part of this bill, $1.17 billion, in barracks and dormitories for our
military quality of life; $4.23 billion for family housing. We are
asking so much of our military today. Our military personnel on active
duty know that they may well be deployed overseas and perhaps on
dangerous missions. So we want them to have a quality of life for
themselves and for their families that will allow them to serve,
knowing that their families will be taken care of in good housing and
with good health care. Our part is housing, and we are fully funding
the new barracks, dormitories, and family housing.
In recent years, we have made real progress in improving housing for
single servicemembers and for families. We are also trying to improve
workplaces. We have funding in this bill for the upgrading of the work
facilities, the battalion headquarters, and the units where they are
working. It is my hope that in future budgets we will see sufficient
resources to continue this effort to modernize, renovate, and improve
our aging defense facilities and infrastructure.
The effects of sustained inattention by the Department and the
military services to basic infrastructure are certainly apparent on
nearly every military installation in our country. This will continue
to have long-term implications as facilities continue to age
disproportionately without sustained investment in maintenance and
repair.
This bill also provides $599 million for the Reserve components,
which is a substantial increase over the President's budget request
primarily because of the increased use of the Guard and Reserve since
September 11. These are important increases that signal a renewed
commitment to upgrading and rebuilding the infrastructure that is truly
the backbone of our Nation's military, which has so long been
neglected.
Guard and Reserve members have stepped up to the plate for our
country, even before 9/11, but more so after. These are men and women
with full-time civilian jobs. They answer the call when our country
asks, and their employers sacrifice, too. We are asking a lot, and they
always come through. That is why we are trying to upgrade the
facilities and the equipment they need to do their jobs well.
The bill also addresses several key Department of Defense
initiatives. First are the Army and Air Force transformation
initiatives. We have provided $100 million for critical infrastructure
needed to support the Army's interim brigade combat teams and $100
million for the Air Force's aircraft mobility programs.
Senator Feinstein discussed those programs earlier. These programs
are essential to ensuring that the Army and Air Force have the
infrastructure in place to move forward with the transformation efforts
over the next several years. Without this assistance, they would not be
able to meet their established milestones.
The committee report also includes a $100 million increase over the
President's budget request for environmental cleanup at military
installations that have been closed as a part of the base realignment
and closure effort. This additional funding is necessary to enable the
military to accelerate the cleanup of dangerous contaminants at closed
and realigned bases throughout the Nation.
Senator Feinstein mentioned my home State of Texas where Kelly Air
Force Base is one of those that were closed and where there are very
significant reported health problems that many believe--and there is
evidence to support--are caused by environmental contaminants at that
closed base. Certainly California is experiencing similar problems. We
are going to try to do what we said we would do for the people in the
communities where we have closed bases.
I support this bill. It is exactly what we need to address the
infrastructure problems that will support our military and Department
of Defense budget.
I thank the chairman of the subcommittee, Senator Feinstein, for her
leadership in crafting this bill. She and her staff--Christina Evans
and B.G. Wright--have done an excellent job in putting together a
bipartisan bill.
I also thank my staff--Sid Ashworth, Alycia Farrell and Michael
Ralsky--for their invaluable work on our Committee on Appropriations
every year. Michael Ralsky has done a wonderful job for me and will
soon be going over to the Pentagon where we know he will contribute his
expertise, gained from working in the Senate for so many years.
Their support has been really terrific, and we appreciate that. I
appreciate that Senator Feinstein also thanked Senator Inouye and
Senator Stevens for their work. They do the Department of Defense
budgets, and we certainly dovetail with them in our military
construction budgets. I cannot think of any two people who are more
committed to our strong military than Ted Stevens and Danny Inouye,
[[Page S6933]]
two veterans who have served our country in the military and who would
never, ever walk away from our responsibility to take care of our
military personnel. They have been so supportive of this military
construction effort that Senator Feinstein and I have put together.
I support the bill and urge my colleagues to support it when we vote
tomorrow.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from California is recognized.
Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Again, I thank my ranking member. It was great to
work with her, and I think she knows that. I think we have a very good
bill.
Amendment No. 4306
Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, I have an amendment at the desk.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the amendment.
The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:
The Senator from California [Mrs. FEINSTEIN], for herself, Mrs.
Hutchison, Mr. Thurmond, Mr. Domenici, Mr. Bingaman, Mr. Biden, Mr.
Carper, Mr. Wyden, Mr. Smith of Oregon, Mr. Frist, and Mr. Thompson
proposes an amendment numbered 4306.
Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the
reading of the amendment be dispensed with.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
The amendment is as follows:
At the appropriate place, insert the following:
Sec. Of the amount appropriated in this Act under the
heading ``Military Construction, Army'', $8,000,000 may be
provided for a parking garage at Walter Reed Army Medical
Center, District of Columbia.
Sec. Of the amount appropriated in this Act under the
heading ``Military Construction, Army'', $3,000,000 may be
provided for a Anechoic Chamber at White Sands Missile Range,
New Mexico.
Sec. Of the amount appropriated in this Act under the
heading ``Military Construction, Air Force'', $7,500,000 may
be provided for a control tower at Dover Air Force Base,
Delaware.
Sec. Of the amount appropriated in this Act under the
heading ``Military Construction, Army National Guard'',
$9,000,000 may be provided for a Joint Readiness Center at
Eugene, Oregon.
Sec. Of the amount appropriated in this Act under the
heading ``Military Construction, Air National Guard'',
$8,400,000 may be provided for a Composite Maintenance
Complex, Phase II in Nashville, Tennessee.
Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, Senator Hutchison and I authored this
amendment on behalf of Senators Thurmond, Domenici, Bingaman, Biden,
Carper, Wyden, Gordon Smith, Frist, and Thompson. The amendment would
include in the military construction bill five projects that were
authorized by the Senate during consideration of the National Defense
Authorization Act. These projects include a parking garage at Walter
Reed Medical Center in the District of Columbia; an Anechoic testing
chamber at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico; a control tower at
Dover Air Force base in Delaware; a Joint Readiness Center at Eugene,
OR; and a composite maintenance complex in Nashville, TN.
All of these projects have been authorized. They meet all the
requirements of the military construction program, and I urge my
colleagues to adopt the amendment.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there further debate on the amendment?
If not, the question is on agreeing to amendment No. 4306.
The amendment (No. 4306) was agreed to.
Mrs. FEINSTEIN. 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.
Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I would like to take a moment to thank
Senator Feinstein for her stewardship of the Military Construction
Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2003. Her work on this bill will
provide billions of dollars in funding to support our Nation's defense
efforts, and I support those efforts wholeheartedly.
My colleague from New York, Senator Clinton, and I would like to take
a moment to engage our colleague in a colloquy.
Mrs. FEINSTEIN. I thank my colleague for his kind words and would be
happy to engage in a colloquy with the Senators from New York.
Mr. SCHUMER. Last month, Senator Clinton and I had the special honor
of joining in the welcome-home celebration of the men and women of the
10th Mountain Division at Fort Drum. From fighting in Afghanistan to
peacekeeping in Kosovo, our troops help make the world safe for people
who cherish freedom. These soldiers were prepared for whatever
obstacles came their way in Afghanistan precisely because of the
training they received at Fort Drum. As we look to transform our
nation's military to fit the needs of 21st century warfare, Fort Drum-
trained soldiers are exactly the kind of troops we need.
Mr. CLINTON. In April, I had the privilege of visiting the Walter
Reed Army Medical Center, where other soldiers from the 10th Mountain
Division were recuperating from wounds suffered in battle in
Afghanistan. I know that all American feel the same pride for these
distinguished service men and women as Senator Schumer and myself. It
is no coincidence that when the initial troops were called into
Afghanistan, soldiers from the 10th Mountain Division were among the
first ones in. As one of the most frequently deployed missions in the
U.S. Army, these flexible, mobile forces are a powerful weapon.
Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, it is my under standing that contained in
the House version of the Military Construction Appropriations Act for
fiscal year 2003 is an additional $18.3 million in military
construction funding that will support the construction of two projects
vital to the continued functioning of Fort Drum, located in upstate New
York.
Mrs. CLINTON. The first of the two projects is a parallel taxiway at
Wheeler-Sack Army Airfield, WSAAF at Fort Drum. This project will
construct a new concrete taxiway parallel to the main runway to support
operations at the airfield. The taxiway is required to enhance the
capability, safety, and efficiency in the deployment of troops and
equipment for the 10th Mountain Division, LI, and other fully
functional units ready for combat from the installation. Fort Drum has
experienced an increase in the number of air training missions and
deployment operations in support of training, contingency, and NATO
support missions. This construction project is necessary to keep the
fort operating.
Mr. SCHUMER. The second project is the one- plus-one DIVARTY barracks
expansion. This project consists of construction of a two-story
barracks building with a 100-room unaccompanied enlisted personnel
housing facility to include a built-in soldier community building. The
project will upgrade the current barracks to meet the new Department of
Defense enlisted personnel housing standards. The project is required
to support the DIVARTY housing facilities for personnel in grades E1
through E6 to meet the one-plus standard. My colleague and I feel that
this project is vital to New York as well as a number of States in the
Northeast.
Mrs. CLINTON. Now more than ever, we must remain resolute in our
defense of America's values, interests and security. Our safety at
home, as well as abroad rests on the strength of our military response,
and Fort Drum is an absolutely essential component. Senator Schumer and
I plan to work with my colleagues to ensure that Fort Drum and the 10th
Mountain Division continue to play a large role in defending our
Nation.
Mr. SCHUMER. We are aware that there are many priorities that the
Senate is considering, but would just like to bring to our
distinguished colleague's attention that these projects would not be
included in the Senate Bill because they were not authorized in
accordance with Senate authorization criteria. This same criteria is
not applicable in the House. We trust that the chairman looks favorably
upon these construction projects and is willing to take the steps
necessary to support the House's appropriation allocation.
Mrs. FEINSTEIN. I appreciate the remarks of the Senators of New York
and assure them that we will do our best to retain these projects in
conference.
Mr. CONRAD. Mr. President, I rise to offer for the Record the Budget
Committee's official scoring for S. 2709, the Military Construction
Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2003.
The Senate bill provides $10.622 billion in discretionary budget
authority,
[[Page S6934]]
all classified as defense spending, which will result in new outlays in
2003 of $2.771 billion. When outlays from prior-year budget authority
are taken into account, discretionary outlays for the Senate bill total
$10.12 billion in 2003.
Despite the bipartisan support of 59 Senators, the Senate was blocked
on procedural grounds last month from approving a 302(a) allocation for
the Appropriations Committee. Consequently, the Appropriations
Committee voted 20-0 on June 27 to adopt a set of non-binding sub-
allocations for its 13 subcommittees totaling $768.1 billion in budget
authority and $793.1 billion in outlays. While the committee's
subcommittee's allocations are consistent with both the amendment
supported by 59 Senators last month and with the President's request
for total discretionary budget authority for fiscal year 2003, they are
not enforceable under either Senate budget rules or the Balanced Budget
and Emergency Deficit Control Act.
For the Military Construction subcommittee, the full committee
allocated $10.622 billion in budget authority and $10.122 billion in
total outlays for 2003. The bill reported by the full committee on June
27 is fully consistent with that allocation. In addition, S. 2709 does
not include any emergency designations or advance appropriations.
I ask unanimous consent that a table displaying the budget committee
scoring of this bill be printed in the Record.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in
the Record, as follows:
S. 2709, MILITARY CONSTRUCTION APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2003
[Spending comparisons--Senate-reported bill (in millions of dollars)]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Defense Mandatory Total
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Senate-reported bill:
Budget Authority..................... 10,622 ......... 10,622
Outlays.............................. 10,120 ......... 10,120
Senate committee allocation: \1\
Budget Authority..................... 10,622 ......... 10,622
Outlays.............................. 10,122 ......... 10,122
House-passed: \2\
Budget Authority..................... 10,083 ......... 10,083
Outlays.............................. 10,052 ......... 10,052
President's request: \2\
Budget Authority..................... 9,663 ......... 9,663
Outlays.............................. 9,996 ......... 9,996
SENATE-REPORTED BILL COMPARED TO:
Senate committee allocation: \1\
Budget Authority..................... ......... ......... .........
Outlays.............................. (2) ......... (2)
House-passed:
Budget Authority..................... 539 ......... 539
Outlays.............................. 68 ......... 68
President's request:
Budget Authority..................... 959 ......... 959
Outlays.............................. 124 ......... 124
------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ The Senate has not adopted a 302(a) allocation for the
Appropriations Committee. The committee has set non-enforceable sub-
allocations to its 13 subcomittees. The table compares the committee-
reported bill with the committee's allocation to the Military
Construction Subcommittee for informational purposes only.
\2\ The cost of the House-reported bill does not include $6 million in
2003 outlays estimated by CBO to occur as a result of the House-passed
2002 supplemental. Outlays from the 2002 supplemental will be added
after completion of the conference on that bill.
\3\ The President requested total discretionary budget authority for
2003 of $768.1 billion, including a proposal to change how the budget
records the accrual cost of future pension and health retiree benefits
earned by current federal employees. Because the Congress has not
acted on that proposal, for comparability, the numbers of the table
exclude the effects of the President's accrual proposal.
Notes: Details may not add to totals due to rounding. Totals adjusted
for consistency with scorekeeping conventions. Prepared by SBC
Majority Staff, 7-16-01.
Mrs. FEINSTEIN. I believe that completes the military construction
bill.
Mr. President, I yield back all my time. It is my understanding the
vote will be tomorrow at 10:30.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the substitute
amendment, as amended, is agreed to.
The amendment in the nature of a substitute, as amended, was agreed
to.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is on the engrossment of the
amendments and third reading of the bill.
The amendments were ordered to be engrossed and the bill to be read a
third time.
The bill was read the third time.
Mrs. FEINSTEIN. I ask for the yeas and nays.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
There appears to be a sufficient second.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Ohio.
____________________