[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 82 (Thursday, June 22, 2006)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6405-S6406]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
G.V. ``SONNY'' MONTGOMERY NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR FISCAL
YEAR 2007
Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, with respect to H.R. 5122, Calendar Order
No. 431, the House-passed version of the National Defense Authorization
Act for fiscal year 2007, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate turn
to its immediate consideration, that all after the enacting clause be
stricken and the text of S. 2766, as passed, be submitted in lieu
thereof, that the bill be advanced to third reading and passed, and
that the Senate insist on its amendment to the bill and agree to or
request a conference, as appropriate, with the House on the disagreeing
votes of the two Houses and the Chair be authorized to appoint
conferees; that the motion to reconsider the above-mentioned votes be
laid upon the table; and that the foregoing occur without intervening
action or debate.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
The amendment was ordered to be engrossed and the bill to be read a
third time.
The bill (H.R. 5122), as amended, was read the third time and passed.
The PRESIDING OFFICER appointed Senators Warner, McCain, Inhofe,
Roberts, Sessions, Collins, Ensign, Talent, Chambliss, Graham, Dole,
Cornyn, Thune, Levin, Kennedy, Byrd, Lieberman, Reed of Rhode Island,
Akaka, Nelson of Florida, Nelson of Nebraska, Dayton, Bayh, and Clinton
conferees on the part of the Senate.
Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent, with respect to
S. 2766 and 2767, 2768, and 2769, just passed by the Senate, that if
the Senate receives a message with respect to any of these bills from
the House of Representatives, the Senate disagree with the House on its
amendment or amendments to the Senate-passed bill and agree to or
request a conference, as appropriate, with the House on the disagreeing
votes of the two Houses, that the Chair be authorized to appoint
conferees; and that the foregoing occur without intervening action or
debate.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I again thank all of our colleagues in the
Chamber, the floor staff, and so many others, indeed our new group of
pages, indeed, the distinguished professional staff who are at the dais
this moment, none of them looking at me or paying any attention to what
I say, may I express my profound appreciation to them and to the many
reporters who come silently, do their work and disappear with equal
silence, unnoticed, but who provide this great body with a flawless
record of accuracy. I thank each and every one.
If there is no other Senator seeking recognition, I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Washington.
Ms. CANTWELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to speak for 5
minutes, followed by Senator Talent and following that, as much time as
Senator Byrd might consume.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Ms. CANTWELL. Mr. President, I rise today to thank the distinguished
Senator from Virginia, Mr. Warner, and Senator Levin of Michigan for
their leadership in getting this legislation passed and for accepting
language from legislation that I have sponsored, the National Guard
Equipment Accountability Act, and making it part of the Defense
authorization bill we just passed. They have done an outstanding job
managing this legislation on the floor.
I also thank the Senator from Delaware, Mr. Biden, the Senator from
Connecticut, Mr. Dodd, and the cochair of the Senate National Guard
Caucus, Mr. Leahy, who also cosponsored this important legislation.
As a nation, we have a solemn duty to honor, prepare and properly
equip all the men and women in uniform. The National Guard and Reserve
are an essential part of our national defense, and confronting our
enemies in distant lands is one of their obligations. Responding to
threats here at home is another. In Washington State, the threats of
volcanos, tsunamis, and other natural disasters are never far from our
minds. We are aware of our porous northern border and the threat that
poses to our safety and security. We know that the National Guard is
not only the first line of response but also the first line of defense.
Whether it is Mount St. Helens or floods or a variety of issues, we
know the National Guard in Washington State has been there when we need
them most.
They do more than just preserve our security at home. Thousands of
National Guard members are currently deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan--
in fact, there are about 500 members of the Washington National Guard
deployed overseas. All of those serving in the National Guard make
great sacrifices. They accept enormous responsibilities to help us. We
owe it to them to make sure their missions are successful and that
National Guard members have the resources they need to execute their
missions.
Right now, I want to make sure we are upholding our part of the
bargain. When our Reserves and National Guard are deployed on
operations overseas, they are deployed with equipment from their unit.
They go to their mission with the tools that they have trained with--
familiar humvees, radios, trucks, whatever it takes to make them
successful. While they serve abroad, their equipment actually becomes
part of the greater mission. As a result, when these men and women
return home to places like Camp Murray, their equipment often does not
return with them. It is left behind, helping other Guard units complete
their portion of the mission and to fill in where there are gaps in
supplies. The problem is that we have no plan to help the National
Guard and Reserve units deal with the loss of that equipment. These
returning units are left underequipped and lacking the equipment
necessary for continued training for their next deployments.
That is why I offered this language to make sure that we are taking
care of this shortfall. According to the Department of Defense, the
Army National Guard has left more than 75,000 items valued at $1.7
billion overseas in ongoing operations. So that is why this language
was so important to add to the Defense bill.
Last October, the Government Accountability Office found that at the
time the Army, in leaving this equipment and resources behind, did not
have a replacement plan. So specifically my amendment codifies language
telling the Department of Defense to provide our men and women in
uniform with the protection and resources they deserve. The language
requires a tracking system of all this equipment and for a replacement
plan to make sure that these men and women get the equipment they need
in the theaters of operation, when they return home--enabling them to
plan ahead for their next mission.
Finally, my amendment would also require a memorandum of
understanding, specifying exactly how equipment will be tracked and
when it will be returned. This will help our National Guard and Reserve
units plan ahead for future obligations and missions. Given the current
equipment situation and aggressive use of our National Guard, I believe
it is critical that we have them fully equipped for both their missions
at home and abroad.
Again, I thank the Senators for helping to get this language into the
Defense authorization bill. Our soldiers, our Active Duty, our Reserve
units, and the men and women of the Guard have chosen to stand and
serve our country with pride and to sacrifice and accept enormous
responsibility. We, too, have the responsibility of giving them the
resources they need to fulfill their mission. I know this legislation
will help them do so.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Missouri.
Mr. TALENT. Mr. President, I thank the Senator from West Virginia for
allowing me to go ahead of him for a moment or two. I do want to take a
few minutes to talk about an amendment which I cosponsored with Senator
Nelson of Florida that passed the Senate in the Defense bill and that
addresses a problem which has been growing and
[[Page S6406]]
which is affecting the readiness of our Armed Forces.
The fact is, predatory payday lenders are targeting American troops
and are trying to make a buck off of their service to our country. We
rely on the military to protect us, and we have just taken a
significant step to protect them from predatory lenders. The Nelson-
Talent amendment limits the annual percentage rate that payday lenders
can charge soldiers and their spouses to 36 percent or about 1\1/2\ to
2 times what credit cards typically charge. I recognize that payday
lending can be a risky business, but a triple-digit interest rate,
which is commonly charged today, is simply too much.
Some estimate that the average APR on a payday loan today is over 400
percent, and there have been reports of payday loans with more than 800
percent interest rates. This is a national problem. Predatory payday
lenders set up shop near our military bases throughout the country and
prey on our servicemembers. We know about this problem in Missouri. We
have the unfortunate distinction of having a relatively large number
and high density of payday lenders around our largest military base,
Fort Leonard Wood, in Pulaski County. It is a great base with a lot of
service men and women in it. As a result, there are a lot of payday
lenders around. St. Robert, which is a small gateway town near the
base, only has 5,200 residents but has eight payday lenders. Examples
such as St. Robert led professors at the University of Florida and
California State University to say that ``irrefutable geographic
evidence demonstrates that payday lenders are actively and aggressively
targeting U.S. military personnel.'' Military families pay an estimated
$80 million annually in payday loan fees.
The problem not only affects military families' financial well-being,
it directly impacts troop readiness because these young men and women,
many of whom are just out of high school, are not financially
sophisticated and fall way behind in these payments. They have to go
bankrupt, and then that affects their ability to get security
clearances.
In this month's issue of Seapower magazine, Admiral Mike Mullen,
Chief of Naval Operations, U.S. Navy, said, ``A sailor's financial
readiness directly impacts unit readiness and the navy's ability to
accomplish its mission . . . I am concerned with the number of sailors
who are taken advantage of by predatory lending practices, the most
common of which is the payday loan.''
The Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Military Community and
Family Policy, John Molino, has also said this problem ``affects unit
readiness.''
Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy, Terry Scott, has said ``the
No. 1 reason our sailors are forced from one job to another is because
they lose their security clearance . . . and the No. 1 reason they lose
their security clearance is because of financial difficulties.''
The number of security clearances of sailors and Marines that were
revoked or denied due to financial problems have soared from 124 in FY
2000 to 1,999 in 2005. The total for the 6-year period is 5,482. And,
that's just for one of the departments.
The impact on readiness is one of the serious ramifications of this
problem. But, another consequence is that some servicemembers have
ruined their financial lives by taking out payday loans--that
automatically rollover--at exorbitant rates they can never payoff.
Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Jason Withrow, stationed on a nuclear
submarine at Kings Bay Naval Submarine Base in Georgia, took a $300
payday loan in summer 2003. He borrowed more to service the fee, and by
February 2004, he'd paid about $5,000 in interest on $1,800 in payday
loans at four different lenders.
Army Specialist Myron Hicks, stationed at Fort Stewart, GA, borrowed
$1,500 for a car repair. He paid back $3,000--twice what he borrowed. I
could give a hundred stories like that.
Cristie Worrow, a 29-year-old petty officer second class at the Naval
Air Reserve in Jacksonville, FL, took out a $500 payday loan in 1998.
Over 3 years she had two more loans and was paying fees that sometimes
reached $200 per month. Eventually, she had paid $2,400 in fees.
Our troops deserve uniform, national protection against abusive
financial practices that target them. This is clearly a step in the
right direction.
An impressive list of military and veteran service organizations,
with over 5.5 million members, support the legislation. The Military
Coalition includes the Association of the United States Army (AUSA),
Military Officers Association of America (MOAA), Veterans of Foreign
Wars (VFW), Navy League of the United States (NLUS), Air Force
Association (AFA), and Marine Corps League (MCL).
The Undersecretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness, Dr. David
Chu, has expressed his support for the legislation. He has said the
legislation ``provides reasonable and appropriate limits.''
Numerous consumer groups like the Center for Responsible Lending,
Consumer Federation of America, and Institute of Consumer Financial
Education also support the bipartisan amendment.
Mr. President, I feel strongly that we can hold this amendment in
conference. I thank the chairman and ranking member. They know how bad
this problem is. I am grateful for their help in getting this in the
bill. Chairmen Craig and Shelby of the Veterans' and Banking Committees
were cooperative in getting this on the bill. I trust our colleagues
and friends in the House will understand the importance of holding this
amendment.
This abuse of payday lending is compromising the readiness of the
U.S. military. The problem has become that big. It is ruining the
financial lives of thousands of our service men and women who
unknowingly, because of their lack of sophistication, get into debts
from these abusive lenders, far greater than they are able to pay.
We have put a stop to that with this amendment. We need to hold it in
conference committee. I am confident we will be able to do that. I look
forward to working with the Senate and the House to pass this provision
into law on behalf of our troops.
I yield the floor.
Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I thank our colleague from Missouri. He
worked very diligently on this amendment. It is another example of how
we must reach down from time to time and provide a caring hand for
particularly those young men and women in uniform today who,
unfortunately, can be victimized because of their individual needs and
requirements at a special time. I believe this amendment will go a long
way to remedy that situation. I congratulate the Senator for his hard
work.
Mr. TALENT. Mr. President, I thank the chairman and appreciate his
and Senator Levin's work on this amendment.
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