[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 24 (Thursday, February 8, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1750-S1751]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      BASE REALIGNMENT AND CLOSURE

  Mrs. HUTCHISON. Mr. President, I have heard the remarks of the 
distinguished majority leader, the distinguished chairman of the 
Appropriations Committee, and the distinguished ranking member. All I 
have now is hope because the distinguished majority leader has said he 
will still work to get the BRAC amendment, which I am going to offer, 
or attempt to offer, this afternoon. I know there will be an objection. 
But I want it to be on the record what we are trying to do, with the 
hope, as the leader said, that perhaps we can adopt this amendment and 
still make the deadline.
  The deadline is actually over a week away, and I think if all of us 
want to fully fund our Base Closure Commission projects, we can do 
that.
  I also will say I am very hopeful from the chairman's remarks that we 
will have bipartisan bills. As has been noted on this floor already 
today, I have been chairman and ranking member of the Military 
Construction and Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies Subcommittee for 
some 6 years. I have never noticed a difference when I was chairman and 
when I was ranking member because Senator Feinstein and I were working 
together, trying to accommodate the needs of every State in our 
country. We worked so well together that when she was chairman, it 
wasn't any different from when I was chairman.
  I want that to be the case for our appropriations bills again. But I 
have to say, in all honesty, I don't feel I have had any input into 
this particular bill. I don't see the bipartisanship. I don't see the 
cooperation. We could have done what the Senate normally does, and that 
is allow some number of amendments--not a filibuster amendment tree, 
not an unreasonable number. But I think some of the issues that have 
been brought forward today and in recent days, since the H.J. Res. 20 
was made known, are legitimate. I believe we would agree on a 
bipartisan basis, if we had the ability to offer amendments and debate 
them, that we should be funding the Base Closure Commission 
recommendations that were ours, with a deadline that is ours so that we 
can meet our own standard.
  I believe we could work that out. We have already passed the exact 
same $3.1 billion--actually $5 billion--appropriation in this body, so 
I know we can do it. We have a week. I suggest it would be a wonderful 
gesture on the part of the majority to allow that to happen.
  In addition, what Senator Coburn talked about earlier today, the HIV/
AIDS testing of babies, I know there is not one Member on that side who 
wouldn't make it a priority to give babies a test that would allow them 
to be inoculated immediately and give those children a chance to have a 
life. But the funding for the Ryan White Act was cut back, so that is 
not going to be allowed to go forward.
  I don't think that is the intention. I ask, if that is not the 
intention, can we not sit down as responsible Members of the Senate and 
work out these few items, work with the House and do a preconference? 
Nobody wants to delay this legislation, but we would like to have a 
say.
  Where I have talked bipartisanship, that is what we do in the Senate. 
That is the way we act, in a bipartisan way, which, in the past, the 
Appropriations Committee has certainly done.
  I am disappointed in this resolution. I am disappointed especially in 
the process that does not allow for an amendment.
  Mr. President, is it in order to call up amendment No. 242, the 
Hutchison-Inhofe amendment to H.J. Res. 20?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senate is in morning business.
  Mrs. HUTCHISON. It is not in order then, Mr. President?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator is correct, it would not be in 
order to call up the amendment at this point.
  Mrs. HUTCHISON. I thank the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Texas.
  Mrs. HUTCHISON. Mr. President, the Hutchison-Inhofe amendment is 
cosponsored by 27 Members of our Senate. The cosponsors, besides myself 
and Senator Inhofe, are Senators Allard, Baucus, Bennett, Brownback, 
Bunning, Burr, Chambliss, Coburn, Cornyn, Crapo, DeMint, Dole, Enzi, 
Graham, Kyl, Lott, Martinez, McCain, Roberts, Sessions, Stevens, 
Thomas, Vitter, Voinovich, and Warner. That is a good number. That is 
almost a third of the Senate, and there are many who said they would 
like to cosponsor the amendment, but they were concerned about stopping 
the bill or going against the leadership on the Democratic side.
  It is clear we can work this out, that people want to have this 
amendment. The amendment is very simple. It restores $3.136 billion 
that was taken out of the Department of Defense base closure account, 
and it is paid for so that we keep the fiscal responsibility with a 
rescission of .73 percent--that is three-quarters of 1 percent--across 
the board of all of the accounts, except for defense, homeland 
security, and veterans.
  With a .73-cut, which I think any agency or program could take 
without any disruption whatsoever, I believe we could fully fund our 
military and the important operations they are doing, and that is what 
I think is essential.

  I have a much longer set of remarks, but at this point, I will yield 
for a question from the Senator from Alabama, who I know is on a 
timetable.
  Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. President, I thank Senator Hutchison so much for 
her leadership on this important matter. While she is here, I wish to 
ask the Senator a few questions about the situation in which we find 
ourselves.
  I believe it was the year before last that we voted, after much 
anguish and concern and fear by local communities, to go forward with 
the BRAC, which is the Base Realignment and Closure Commission. Nobody 
was sure how that would come out and whether some of our bases would be 
closed. When the dust settled and the long process concluded, a number 
of bases were closed. At the same time, we are also closing facilities 
around the world and bringing back more of our troops that are deployed 
around the world. Isn't it true that the continuing resolution that is 
proposed would take 55 percent, or $3.1 billion, out of a little over 
$5 billion that was set aside to carry this forward? Isn't that 
correct?
  Mrs. HUTCHISON. Mr. President, the distinguished Senator from Alabama 
is right. Actually, he may be a little under because the original need 
was $5.6 billion, and we are cutting it by $3.1 billion. We are cutting 
it by $3.1 billion. I think that it is a huge cut. It is going to 
affect the whole synchronization.
  We gave the Defense Department 6 years in which to accomplish what 
the Base Closure Commission recommended, passed and then was adopted by 
Congress and signed by the President. We have given them a deadline, 
and yet as the Senator points out, of the $5.6 billion that was in the 
budget that has been approved by the Senate before, we only have $2.5 
billion.
  Mr. SESSIONS. In other words, the only way to have a savings under 
the BRAC is to consolidate facilities and avoid waste. To go halfway 
with this

[[Page S1751]]

project seems to me, clearly, will cause all kinds of backlogs and make 
it very difficult for our military people to plan. It could actually 
drive up costs significantly, could it not?
  Mrs. HUTCHISON. Yes, and I point out the cost savings projection is 
$20 billion over the period we would be closing and then gearing up the 
bases that are being consolidated.
  In addition to that, it has been said the majority intends to bring 
this $3.1 billion back in the supplemental, but the supplemental is 
outside the budget process; therefore, it is going to be $3.1 billion 
added to the deficit, which will have to be subtracted from the $20 
billion savings we were envisioning from the BRAC.
  I have to say to the distinguished Senator from Alabama, I didn't 
like some of the recommendations of BRAC, but we passed it, the 
President signed it, and Congress has mandated the Department of 
Defense to go through with it. We certainly cannot do it halfway if we 
are going to be responsible stewards of the security of our country, as 
well as its tax dollars.
  Mr. SESSIONS. I agree. I don't think there is anyone here who is more 
committed to frugality and trying to manage our dollars well in this 
Senate. I certainly believe in that strongly. We knew upfront we were 
going to have to have some initial moneys to make these moves and 
consolidations to save money for years and years to come.
  This has the potential to eliminate the whole process, to eviscerate 
the process and actually run our costs up over the long run; wouldn't 
the Senator agree?
  Mrs. HUTCHISON. I am very concerned about it. I think we are going to 
cut back on the savings. We are thwarting the mandate we set down by 
not going forward.
  We should have governed last October 1. We should have gone forward 
in November and December, but for a variety of reasons, including some 
on our own side, we didn't do that. Now we have an opportunity to do 
it, and do it right. I am just hoping, and I haven't given up hope, 
that we will do this the right way; that we will pay for it so that we 
achieve the objective of staying within that budget because we can do 
that. It has been planned for, it has been in the budget, and we 
shouldn't have to add it to a supplemental and increase the deficit for 
these particular projects.
  Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. President, I thank the excellent Senator from Texas 
for her work, and I believe she is doing it the right way. She is doing 
it by staying within our budget.
  This funding of BRAC was put in at $5.5 or $6 billion. It was within 
the budget. What has happened is that money was spent on other 
programs, and now it looks as though if we are to fund it, we are going 
to have to add it to the supplemental, which is extra spending and 
extra debt, more than we should have.
  I thank Senator Hutchison for her leadership.
  Mr. BUNNING. Mr. President, will the Senator yield for a question?
  Mrs. HUTCHISON. I will be happy to yield to the Senator from 
Kentucky.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The gentlewoman yields to the Senator from 
Kentucky.
  Mrs. HUTCHISON. Mr. President, I still control the floor. I am 
yielding for a question.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator is yielding for a question.
  Mr. BUNNING. Mr. President, I also rise to express my complete dismay 
at the events that have unfolded on the floor of the Senate this week 
concerning not only debate on Iraq but the BRAC itself. I hope the 
American people are watching this debate.
  Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, will the very distinguished Senator just 
allow me 1 minute to make a response to the discussions that have been 
going on here? Just for 1 minute.
  Mrs. HUTCHISON. Mr. President, I will be happy to yield to the 
Senator from West Virginia for a response for 1 minute.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from West Virginia is recognized.
  Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, I thank the Chair, and I thank the Senator.
  I want to assure all Senators that this resolution does not reduce 
funding for AIDS. In fact, it has significant increases with regard to 
funding for base closures. This resolution has a $1 billion increase 
above the levels available under the current continuing resolution. The 
remaining $3.1 billion that the Senator from Texas is seeking can be 
addressed--and I assure her can be addressed--in the war supplemental 
that the Senate will consider next month. There is no need to cut 
funding for the FBI, the NIH, for NASA, or for our Nation's highways.
  I thank the Senator, and I thank the Chair.
  Mrs. HUTCHISON. Mr. President, I yield to the Senator from Kentucky 
for a question.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Kentucky is recognized.

                          ____________________