[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 42 (Tuesday, April 12, 2005)]
[House]
[Pages H1855-H1856]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         SOLEMN DUTY OF CONGRESS TO PROVIDE FOR MILITARY NEEDS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the order of the House of 
January 4, 2005, the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Butterfield) is 
recognized during morning hour debates for 5 minutes.
  Mr. BUTTERFIELD. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to join my colleague, the 
gentleman from Rhode Island (Mr. Langevin), to talk about the position 
of House Democrats, particularly those of us on the Committee on Armed 
Services, regarding an issue of importance to our national defense.
  As a new member of the Subcommittee on Readiness, I have been privy 
to briefings from our combatant commanders and from the Department of 
Defense. The testimonies provided by these great Americans have led me 
to the conclusion that our military equipment located in Iraq and 
Afghanistan has become severely worn and damaged.
  The Congress of the United States has a solemn constitutional duty to 
provide for our military, and the Democratic Members of the Congress 
take this responsibility very seriously. A sufficient part of our duty 
is to make sure that our troops have the equipment they need to be 
successful when they are engaged in war. Whether it is MREs or canteens 
or desert uniforms or personal protective vests or up-armored Humvees, 
our troops deserve to have enough equipment in good working condition 
to get the job done. Mr. Speaker, I am concerned that our troops are on 
the verge of not having the equipment they need to win these wars, and 
that is not good.
  Many of our briefings, Mr. Speaker, are top secret, and I would not 
dare to breach that confidence. But, Mr. Speaker, it is not classified 
that the pace of military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan is taking 
its toll on our equipment. We are simply wearing out the equipment at a 
fast pace.
  By the Army's own estimates, trucks are wearing out at three to five 
times the rate as they would during peacetime operations. The 
Congressional Budget Office estimates that the truck usage is as much 
as 10 times higher than average during the last 7 years. Our aircraft 
are aging and wearing out at twice the rate as in peacetime. The Marine 
Corps reports its CH-46 helicopters are being used at 230 percent of 
the peacetime rate.
  It is not just that our equipment is wearing out, Mr. Speaker; it is 
that so much of our equipment is wearing out.
  Forty percent of the Army's equipment has been deployed since the 
start of Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom. Thirty percent of the 
Marine Corps' equipment is deployed, and 2,300 items require depot 
maintenance. Twelve percent of the wheeled vehicles in Iraq are so 
broken down that they will have to be replaced.
  We have also depleted a high percentage of our prepositioned 
equipment.

[[Page H1856]]

The Army says that our stocks will not be reset for at least 3 years 
after the end of the conflicts.
  Equipment casualties are significant. During the war in Iraq, the 
Army has lost 503 pieces of major equipment, including 51 helicopters, 
76 heavy trucks, 217 Humvees, and 97 combat vehicle-like tanks, Bradley 
fighting vehicles and Strykers.
  The Marine Corps reports that 1,800 pieces of equipment valued at 
over $94 million have been destroyed.
  Why do I mention all of these statistics? I want my colleagues and 
the American people to understand that we are coming dangerously close 
to weakening our military, and we must understand the enormity of the 
problem. And it must be known that it is going to take a lot of money 
to fix the problem.
  The 2005 supplemental appropriation passed by the House earlier this 
year includes $554 million to replace 800 worn out or damaged pieces of 
equipment. The CBO estimates that the Department of Defense already 
needs between $13 billion and $18 billion to fund maintenance costs not 
covered in the budget. And the Army will require at least 2 years of 
supplemental appropriations after the end of the conflict in order to 
reset the force. I regret that the President's 2006 budget request does 
not include the money we need to replace and modernize our worn and 
lost equipment.
  Mr. Speaker, the Democratic Members of the Committee on Armed 
Services deeply care about our troops and about our military. We must 
fulfill our constitutional duty to ensure that our troops have what 
they need to succeed wherever they are deployed. They can only succeed 
and we can only carry out our duty if we provide them sufficient 
equipment to complete their mission. That is going to be a long and 
expensive process.
  Congress, therefore, needs to take prompt action, and I call on all 
of my colleagues to provide the needed support to make that happen.

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