[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 57 (Thursday, May 11, 2006)]
[Daily Digest]
[Pages D473-D476]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]





                        House of Representatives


Chamber Action
Public Bills and Resolutions Introduced: 33 public bills, H.R. 5351-
5383; and 3 resolutions, H. Con. Res. 400-401; and H. Res. 813 were 
introduced.                                              
  Pages H2584-85
Additional Cosponsors:                                   
  Pages H2585-86
Reports Filed: Reports were filed today as follows: H.R. 4681 to 
promote the development of democratic institutions in areas under the 
administrative control of the Palestinian Authority, and for other 
purposes, with an amendment (H. Rept. 109-462).              
  Page H2584
Motion to Adjourn: Rejected the Snyder motion to adjourn by a yea-and-
nay vote of 31 yeas to 366 nays, Roll No. 137.           
  Pages H2507-08
  Later, the House rejected the Slaughter motion to adjourn by a 
recorded vote of 68 ayes to 336 noes with 1 voting ``present'', Roll 
No. 138.                                                 
Pages H2509-10
National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2007: The House 
passed H.R. 5122, amended, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 
2007 for military activities of the Department of Defense, to prescribe 
military personnel strengths for fiscal year 2007, by a recorded vote 
of 396 ayes to 31 noes, Roll No. 145. Consideration of the bill began 
yesterday, May 10th.                                     
  Pages H2508-51
  Rejected the Salazar motion to recommit the bill to the Committee on 
Armed Services with instructions to report it back to the House 
forthwith with an amendment, by a recorded vote of 202 ayes to 220 
noes, Roll No. 144.                                      
Pages H2549-51
  Pursuant to the rule, Representative Hunter requested that the 
following amendments printed in H. Rept. 109-461, following 
consideration of en bloc packages #1 and #2, be considered in the 
following order: Goode (#8), Millender-McDonald (#15), Rohrabacher 
(#16), Dent (#6), Gohmert (#7), Hooley (#9), McDermott (# 13), 
Hostettler (#10), Tierney (#22), Schakowsky (#18), Jindal (#11), Lewis 
of Kentucky (#12), Mica (#14), Weldon of Pennsylvania (#23), and Taylor 
of Mississippi (#21).                                    
Pages H2519-20
Agreed to:
  En bloc amendment consisting of the following amendments printed in 
H. Rept. 109-461: Baca (#1) requires DoD to study the scope of 
perchlorate contamination at Formerly Utilized Defense Sites (FUDS); 
Castle (#2) implements GAO's recommendations to cut-down on award and 
incentive fee spending waste by requiring the Department to develop a 
strategy for linking incentives to specific outcomes, such as meeting 
cost, schedule, and capability goals. It also establishes guidance for 
improving the effectiveness of award and incentive fees and ensures 
that appropriate approving officials are overseeing these decisions. 
The Department would be required to report to Congress on the status 
and effectiveness of these new standards; Davis of Virginia (#4) 
authorizes the Army to negotiate a ``design build'' to complete the 
Fairfax County Parkway. As a result of the construction mandated by 
BRAC on the Engineering Proving Ground (EPG), it would authorize the 
Army to enter into a special agreement with the state of Virginia. This 
agreement would authorize the state of Virginia to fund certain 
projects on the EPG while allowing the Army to maintain control of such 
projects; and Schiff (#19) directs the Secretary of Defense to submit 
to Congress a series of regular reports on the threat to American 
personnel posed by Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), as well as 
action being taken to interdict IEDs and to develop more effective 
active and passive countermeasures. First report would be due 30

[[Page D474]]

days after enactment, with subsequent reports every 90 days thereafter. 
Reports would be unclassified, with a classified annex if necessary; 
                                                         Pages H2520-22
  En bloc amendment consisting of the following amendments printed in 
H. Rept. 109-461: Chabot (#3) expresses the Sense of Congress that the 
spouses of Armed Forces members who have died between October 7, 2001 
and November 23, 2003 should be permitted to have the option of 
assigning their SBP payments to their children; Davis of Virginia (#5) 
would allow DoD to consider transit projects as part of DAR; Ryan of 
Ohio (#17) authorizes $5 million for the High Altitude Airship (HAA) 
Program. The HAA is designed to be an uninhabited, long-endurance, 
platform for carrying forward based sensors and a wide range of other 
BMD payloads that will enable continuous over-horizon communication. 
The HAA will also provide wide area surveillance and protection without 
interruption or the risk associated with manned aircraft. Offsets $5 
million from the Space Based Space Surveillance (SBSS); and Slaughter 
(#20) requires the Department of Defense to include the number of 
disciplinary actions as part of the annual report on sexual assault in 
the military;                                            
Pages H2522-25
  Dent amendment (No. 6 printed in H. Rept. 109-461) amends Title XIV 
to ensure that the Departments of Defense and Homeland Security work 
together as a part of a Homeland Defense-Homeland Security Technology 
Transfer Consortium to accelerate the transfer of viable DoD 
technologies to enhance the homeland security capabilities of Federal, 
State, and local first responders;                       
Pages H2525-26
  Millender-McDonald amendment (No. 15 printed in H. Rept. 109-461) 
that calls for the Secretary of Defense to include as part of the 2006 
update to the Mobility Capability Study a comprehensive analysis of 
future airlift and sealift mobility requirements. The study will 
examine both the strategic and intra-theater mobility requirements with 
full consideration of all aspects of the National Security Strategy, 
and will analyze low, medium, and high risk alternatives. The new 
analysis must be delivered to Congress by February 1, 2007; 
                                                         Pages H2528-29
  Gohmert amendment (No. 7 printed in H. Rept. 109-461) expresses the 
sense of Congress that the Secretary of the Army should consider 
conveying the U.S. Army Reserve Center in Marshall, Texas to the 
Marshall-Harrison County Veterans Association for the purpose of 
erecting a veterans memorial, creating a park, and converting the 
present building to veterans museum to recognize and honor the 
accomplishments of our Armed Forces;                     
Pages H2529-30
  Hooley amendment (No. 9 printed in H. Rept. 109-461) modified, 
authorizes the Army and the National Guard Bureau to contract with a 
United States contractor to perform the RESET of the CH-47 helicopters 
assigned to the Nevada and Oregon National Guard in order to reduce the 
non-operational rate of their CH-47 fleet;               
Pages H2530-31
  McDermott amendment (No. 13 printed in H. Rept. 109-461) directs the 
Secretary of Defense, in consultation with the Secretary of Veterans 
Affairs and the Secretary of Health and Human Services, to conduct a 
comprehensive study of the health effects of exposure to depleted 
uranium munitions;                                       
Pages H2531-32
  Hostettler amendment (No. 10 printed in H. Rept. 109-461) authorizes 
the Commander of the U.S. Special Operations Command to prescribe 
regulations under which the commander may award a fellowship to 
eligible persons;                                            
Page H2537
  En bloc amendment consisting of the following amendments printed in 
H. Rept. 109-461: Schakowsky (#18) provides for additional oversight 
and accountability of Department of Defense contractors deployed in 
Iraq and Afghanistan. It would make retroactive DoD regulations for 
contractors issued in October 2005, on previously issued contracts, 
upon any option extension. It would implement a policy for conducting 
comprehensive background checks on foreign nationals hired by 
contractors operating outside the United States. It would also require 
a DoD Inspector General report on contractor overcharges, and require 
that there are sufficient contracting officers assigned to oversee and 
monitor contacts in Iraq and Afghanistan; Jindal (#11) requires the 
Secretary of Defense, in coordination with the Secretary of Homeland 
Security and State governments to develop detailed operational plans 
regarding the use of the Armed Forces to support activities of civil 
authorities, known as Defense Support to Civil Authorities missions; 
Lewis of Kentucky (#12) would provide that no more than 20% of a 
uniformed service member's paycheck can be garnished in a single pay 
period to recover overpayments that have occurred through no fault of 
the service member. It would also provide a 90-day grace period before 
overpayment recovery can begin from service members who are wounded or 
injured, or who incur an illness, in a combat operation or combat zone; 
and Mica (#14) expresses the sense of Congress that the Department of 
Defense should provide compensation to American veterans who were 
captured while in service to the United States Armed Forces on the 
peninsula of Bataan or the island of Corregidor, survived the Bataan 
Death March during World War II, and have not received previous 
compensation provided to other prisoners of war;         
Pages H2537-40
  Weldon of Pennsylvania amendment (No. 23 printed in H. Rept. 109-461) 
expresses the sense of

[[Page D475]]

the Congress that the United States should cooperate with Russia on 
missile defense. It also cites two specific examples of possible 
avenues of cooperation: (1) testing specific elements of the Missile 
Defense Agency's detection and tracking equipment through the use of 
Russian target missiles; and (2) providing early warning radar to the 
Missile Defense Agency by using Russian radar data (agreed to extend 
time for debate on the amendment);                       
Pages H2540-41
  Taylor of Mississippi amendment (No. 21 printed in H. Rept. 109-461) 
modified, requires the Department of Defense to equip 100% of U.S. 
military vehicles operated in Iraq and Afghanistan outside of military 
compounds with IED jammers by the end of FY07. Funding would be 
authorized from funds contained in title XV (bridge fund). It also 
requires the Department of Defense to submit a report to the 
Congressional defense committees no later than December 15, 2006 with 
the plan and cost to achieve this;                       
Pages H2541-42
  Goode amendment (No. 8 printed in H. Rept. 109-461) authorizes the 
Secretary of Defense to assign members of the Army, Navy, Air Force, 
and Marine Corps, under certain circumstances and subject to certain 
conditions, to assist the Department of Homeland Security (upon its 
request) in the performance of border protection functions (by a 
recorded vote of 252 ayes to 171 noes, Roll No. 141); and 
                                               Pages H2526-28, H2542-43
  Jackson-Lee of Texas amendment (No. 4 printed in H. Rept. 109-459) 
that clarifies the factors that must be taken into consideration when 
recalling a reservist to service to include the frequency of assignment 
over the duration of a reservist's career (by a recorded vote of 415 
ayes to 9 noes, Roll No. 143), which was offered and debated on 
Wednesday, May 10th.                                         
Page H2544
Rejected:
  Tierney amendment (No. 22 printed in H. Rept. 109-461) that sought to 
restructure the missile defense program to be consistent with a 
Congressional Budget Office (CBO) alternative proposal. It also 
prohibits the deployment of: (1) Ground-Based Midcourse Defense beyond 
the authorized systems; and (2) any space-based interceptors; and 
reduces the Missile Defense Agency's (MDA's) $9.3 billion budget by 
$4.747 billion so as to still enable the MDA to focus on research and 
development as well as testing and upgrades to current systems (by a 
recorded vote of 124 ayes to 301 noes, Roll No. 142). 
                                               Pages H2532-37, H2543-44
  Agreed to amend the title so as to read ``To authorize appropriations 
for fiscal year 2007 for military activities of the Department of 
Defense, for military construction, and for defense activities of the 
Department of Energy, to prescribe military personnel strengths for 
such fiscal year, and for other purposes.''                  
Page H2551
  Agreed that the Clerk be authorized to make technical corrections and 
conforming changes in the engrossment of the bill.       
Pages H2551-52
  H. Res. 811, the rule providing for further consideration of the bill 
was agreed to by a recorded vote of 226 ayes to 195 noes, Roll No. 140, 
after agreeing to order the previous question by a yea-and-nay vote of 
223 yeas to 192 nays, Roll No. 139.                      
Pages H2518-19
Suspensions--Proceedings Resumed: The House agreed to suspend the rules 
and pass the following measures which were debated on Wednesday, May 
10th:
  Encouraging all eligible Medicare beneficiaries who have not yet 
elected to enroll in the new Medicare Part D benefit to review the 
available options and to determine whether enrollment in a Medicare 
prescription drug plan best meets their current and future needs for 
prescription drug coverage: H.R. 802, amended, encouraging all eligible 
Medicare beneficiaries who have not yet elected enroll in the new 
Medicare Part D benefit to review the available options and to 
determine whether enrollment in a Medicare prescription drug plan best 
meets their current and future needs for prescription drug coverage, by 
a yea-and-nay vote of 406 yeas with none voting ``nay'' and 4 voting 
``present'', Roll No. 146.                                   
  Page H2552
  Agreed to amend the title to read as follows: ``Encouraging all 
eligible Medicare beneficiaries who have not yet elected enroll in the 
new Medicare Part D benefit to review the available options and to 
determine whether enrollment in a Medicare prescription drug plan best 
meets their current and future needs for prescription drug coverage''. 
                                                             Page H2552
Calendar Wednesday: Agreed to dispense with the Calendar Wednesday 
business of Wednesday, May 17.                               
  Page H2553
Meeting Hour: Agreed that when the House adjourns today, it adjourn to 
meet at 2 p.m. tomorrow; that when the House adjourns on that day, it 
adjourn to meet at 2 p.m. on Monday, May 15th , and further, when the 
House adjourns on that day, it adjourn to meet at 12:30 p.m. on 
Tuesday, May 16, 2006, for Morning Hour debate.              
  Page H2553
Speaker Pro Tempore: Read a letter from the Speaker wherein he 
appointed Representative Mac Thornberry and Representative John 
Campbell to act as Speaker pro tempore to sign enrolled bills and joint 
resolutions through Tuesday, May 16th.                       
  Page H2554

[[Page D476]]

Senate Message: Message received from the Senate today appears on pages 
H2505 and H2560 .
Quorum Calls--Votes: Three yea-and-nay votes and seven recorded votes 
developed during the proceedings of today and appear on pages H2507-08, 
H2509-10, H2518-19, H2519, H2543, H2543-44, H2544, H2550-51, H2551 and 
H2552. There were no quorum calls.
Adjournment: The House met at 10 a.m. and adjourned at 9:35 p.m.