[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 70 (Tuesday, May 18, 2004)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5596-S5598]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION

  Mr. ALLARD. Mr. President, I rise today in support of the Defense 
authorization bill and ask that we proceed quickly to pass this 
legislation.
  I thank Chairman Warner for his leadership throughout this session. 
Clearly, the outcome of the bill reflects his commitment to our 
military men and women. We live in a very complicated world, and our 
national security depends on understanding that complexity, reacting to 
it appropriately when we must, and keeping ahead of it when we can. I 
commend Senator Warner for a job well done, both during the committee 
markup and with the full committee in responding to the recent prisoner 
abuses in Iraq.
  I also wish to take a moment to thank the ranking member of the 
Strategic Forces Subcommittee, Senator Bill Nelson, for his efforts on 
our portion of the bill. While we do not always see eye to eye, there 
is much on which we agree, and I appreciate the opportunity to work 
with Senator Nelson on important issues that confront us.
  I am also pleased by the work the Armed Services Committee has done 
on both sides of the aisle and fully support the passage of the Defense 
authorization bill.
  At the very beginning of his administration, President Bush made it a 
priority to rebuild and transform our military after 8 years of 
operation and maintenance funding shortfalls under the previous 
administration. Those of us in the Senate have heeded this call, and I 
am pleased that we are about to take the next step in maintaining a 
military fully capable of defending our Nation and meeting our foreign 
policy goals.
  I continue to support the President's plan to transform our military, 
and this authorization bill builds on the work we in the Congress have 
already accomplished toward that end.
  In fact, since 2001, President Bush and Congress have given the 
Department of Defense the tools to accomplish the following: Fight the 
war on terror on the offensive; remove threats to our security in 
Afghanistan and Iraq; liberate nearly 50 million people; provide a more 
than 21-percent pay raise to our service men and women; expand the use 
of targeted pay and bonuses; begin to transform our Nation's defenses; 
improve readiness rates; increase research and development funding by 
56 percent; improve the quality of housing for military personnel and 
their families through privatization and new construction; double 
investments in missile defense systems; and deploy the first ever land- 
and sea-based system this fall.
  Overall, the Committee tackled the difficult task of simultaneously 
maintaining the transformational efforts in the department, while 
ensuring enough resources are available to guarantee success for our 
deployed soldiers overseas. The defense authorization bill includes 
more than $422 billion in budget authority for Defense programs and 
represents an increase of 3.4 percent in spending over the last fiscal 
year. I believe that this bill helps to maintain the high state of 
readiness that is expected of our military, and also focuses the 
Department on the future in terms of research and development programs 
and technologies.
  Specifically, the more than $68 billion in research and development 
and the $11 billion directed toward science and technology programs 
will continue to ensure that our military is the best equipped and 
prepared force in the future. These increases over fiscal year 2004 
have supported a wide range of new systems including the F-22 and the 
Joint Strike Fighter, the destroyer DDX program, unmanned aerial 
vehicle programs, the Army's future combat system, satellites, 
communications equipment, and intelligence systems designed to 
accelerate the availability and capability of future weapons programs. 
We must continue to make these research and development investments in 
order to skip a generation of weapons and transform our military into 
the 21st century fighting force it must become. Investing 3 percent of 
the budget toward science and technology has long been our goal and 
with the bill before us, we move a step closer to that goal.
  While I am pleased at the focus on the weapons and technology 
available to our warfighters, it is heartening that the committee has 
not neglected our most valuable resource--the service members 
themselves.
  The authorization includes a 3.5 percent pay increase across the 
board, and also permanently authorizes family separation and imminent 
danger pay created originally for Operation Enduring Freedom and 
continuing to Operation Iraqi Freedom.
  The men and women in the military make great sacrifices for us all as 
do their dependents and families. The continued progress of improving 
their quality of life, compensation, and family housing programs should 
not be overshadowed by any weapons program. As I stated before, our 
most valuable resource is the personnel in the armed forces, and we 
must continue to provide the best possible environment for them.
  In addition to the resources available for personnel and their 
families, the authorization also provides the near-term readiness and 
protection equipment needed for the war on terror. Specifically, force 
protection measures for

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our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan were given considerable attention by 
committee members. No resource should be spared to ensure that our 
warfighters have the equipment and training in place to provide for 
their safety.
  To that end, $107 million was added for the rapid fielding 
initiative, $603 million was devoted toward protection gear and combat 
clothing, and $925 million was added for additional up-armored Humvees 
and add-on ballistic armor. Clearly this reflects the committee's 
concern that our soldiers have all the tools they need to be successful 
while they fight the war on terror.
  Turning to the Strategic Forces Subcommittee, which I have the 
pleasure of serving as chairman, we exercised oversight for the 
Department of Defense budget request for strategic, space, 
intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, and intelligence support 
activities. The DOD budget request in these areas included $8.9 billion 
in procurement, $28.2 billion in research and development, and $3.1 
billion in operations and maintenance. The administration budget 
request also included $15.4 billion for the Department of Energy 
nuclear weapons and environmental management programs and activities.
  The committee bill reflects a net increase of about $80 million in 
research and development and procurement, and the amount requested in 
operations and maintenance. It also reflects the requested level of 
funding for Department of Energy programs and activities. The program 
supports the development and fielding of transformational capabilities, 
enhanced readiness, and capabilities directly relevant to defending the 
homeland from current and anticipated forms of attack.
  The reductions reflect a thorough examination of the administration's 
budget request. A number of programs were identified in which excess 
funds were requested or the requested funds were not executable. Others 
were based on unrealistic schedules or showed unjustified program 
growth. The committee reduced these funding requests appropriately.
  As the chairman of the Strategic Forces Subcommittee, ensuring full 
support of missile defense is my most important priority. As I have 
stated on the floor many times before, it is abundantly clear how 
important missile defense is to our country. The development of this 
program is central to homeland defense and to the protection of our 
friends, allies and deployed forces against growing threats.
  Overall, $10.2 billion was requested, and the markup reduces that by 
a net of about $40 million. Significant funding actions in the markup 
include an increase of $75 million for the ground-based missile defense 
element to enhance the ability to operate and test concurrently; a $35 
million reduction for long lead items for some GMD interceptors; an 
increase of $90 million for additional PAC-3 missiles; and a reduction 
of $200 million for the ballistic missile defense system interceptor 
project, also known as the kinetic energy interceptor, or KEI.
  The markup includes two missile defense legislative provisions, 
including one identical to a provision last year that authorizes the 
use of this year's missile defense R&D funds to field an initial 
missile defense capability. The other provision of interest relates to 
the role of the director of the Missile Defense Agency in the Army's 
Patriot-MEADS program. The provision is intended to ensure that the 
Patriot MEADS program remains thoroughly integrated in the ballistic 
missile defense system.
  Concerning Department of Defense space programs, the markup sustains 
the amount requested, but does shift some of the funding. Significant 
reductions are recommended in the transformational communications 
satellite, or T-SAT, to try to put the program on a healthier 
development track; and to the EELV launch program because of a delay in 
one of the launches for which services were being procured in fiscal 
year 2005.
  Significant increases recommended include: $35 million in the 
advanced EHF program, $35 million in the space based infrared program, 
$25 million for a new operationally responsive satellite payload 
effort, $15 million for the wideband gapfiller satellite program, and 
$15 million for ballistic missile range safety technology.
  The markup includes three space-related provisions, including one 
that would establish a panel to examine the future of military space 
launch, and another establishing a new program element for 
operationally responsive satellite payloads.
  The markup includes minor adds for strategic forces and intelligence 
programs, and no significant legislative initiatives in these areas.
  Related to the Department of Energy, the markup includes $15.4 
billion for the Department of Energy Atomic Energy Act programs for 
fiscal year 2005, the amount requested by the administration. Of this 
amount, $7.8 billion is for the National Nuclear Security 
Administration, NNSA, a $117.9 million increase above the budget 
request.
  Key NSSA increases in the subcommittee mark include:
  $62.9 million for the Readiness in Technical Base and Facilities, 
RTBF, program, which will help NNSA continue to reduce the amount of 
deferred maintenance and repair;
  $20.0 million for the Facilities and Infrastructure Recapitalization 
Program, FIRP, to help revitalize the infrastructure of the nuclear 
weapons complex. This additional funding will reduce the cost and 
accelerate the completion of the FIRP program;
  $35 million for safeguards and security. After the attacks of 
September 11, 2001, the Secretary of Energy developed and issued a new 
design basis threat, which added security requirements across the 
nuclear weapons complex. This additional funding is to help address the 
increased needs for safeguards and security, including force 
multiplying technologies.
  The subcommittee mark provides adequate funding for the National 
Nuclear Security Administration to advance directed stockpile work, 
science-based campaigns, and naval reactors programs. These efforts 
have been funded at the budget request for fiscal year 2005, a $367.0 
million increase over the fiscal year 2004 appropriated levels.
  The subcommittee mark includes authorization at the budget request 
for several of the continuing nuclear weapons initiatives, including 
the feasibility study on the robust nuclear earth penetrator, RNEP, the 
advanced concepts initiative, ACI, the NEPA study on the modern pit 
facility, and test readiness enhancements. No funding was requested nor 
authorized for the engineering development, production or deployment of 
a new or modified nuclear weapon. As was enacted in the National 
Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2004, there can be no 
engineering development, or subsequent phase of development, of a low-
yield nuclear weapon nor a robust nuclear earth penetrator without a 
specific authorization from Congress. No such authorization was 
requested in the fiscal year 2005 budget request and no authorization 
is included in the subcommittee mark.
  Turning to the Environmental Management, EM, program, the 
subcommittee mark includes $7 billion for these activities. This will 
be the last full fiscal year of funding for the first three major 
closure sites, including the Rocky Flats Site, the Fernald Closure 
Project, and the Mound Closure Project. The planned 2006 closure of the 
these three sites is very good news for DOE and for the United States. 
The early closure of these sites is expected to result in a cost 
savings of over $12 billion.
  Now that DOE will begin shifting the oversight of the closure sites 
from the Environmental Management program to the Office of Legacy 
Management, LM, new challenges emerge. Environmental stewardship 
responsibilities, pension and health care needs, and community concerns 
will all require a high level of attention to ensure a smooth 
transition.
  The subcommittee mark includes a provision that would authorize the 
Secretary of Energy to exclude from treatment as high-level radioactive 
waste, that which is stored Department of Energy, DOE, radioactive 
material resulting from the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel as long 
as the waste can be appropriately characterized as low-level or 
transuranic waste.
  The subcommittee mark also includes $566.6 million for other defense 
activities, a reduction of $97 million

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below the budget request for fiscal year 2005, and $108 million for the 
defense nuclear waste disposal, a reduction of $23 million below the 
budget request for fiscal year 2005. These amounts authorized include a 
$92.4 million reduction to the defense related administrative support 
account. The committee has consistently rejected funding for this 
account because the funding is for non-defense activities.
  Once again, I thank my chairman for his superb leadership. I believe 
that the defense authorization bill is a good one, and that programs 
that fall under the purview of the Strategic Forces Subcommittee have 
been dealt with in a measured and responsible way. The Armed Service 
Committee and its staff have worked diligently and in a bipartisan 
manner to ensure our military remains the best equipped and best 
trained fighting force in the world. I would ask my colleagues that we 
proceed quickly with the Defense authorization, and urge support of the 
bill.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor and my remaining time.

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