[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 155 (Saturday, September 27, 2008)]
[Senate]
[Pages S9977-S9981]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2009

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask the Chair to lay before the Senate a 
message from the House with respect to S. 3001, the Department of 
Defense authorization bill.
  The Presiding Officer laid before the Senate the following message 
from the House of Representatives:

                                S. 3001

       Resolved, That the bill from the Senate (S. 3001) entitled 
     ``An Act to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2009 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'', do 
     pass with an amendment.

  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, I urge my colleagues to support the House 
amendment to S. 3001, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal 
Year 2009. This bill was voted out of the Senate Armed Services 
Committee by a unanimous vote back in April. Last week, the Senate 
passed the bill by a vote of 88-8.
  Over the last week, we have worked around the clock to reconcile the 
Senate and House versions of the Defense authorization bill. The 
compromise version of the bill--the House amendment to S. 3001--has now 
been approved by the House by on overwhelming bipartisan vote of 392-
39.
  The bill that we bring before the Senate today contains many 
provisions that will improve the quality of life for our men and women 
in uniform, give them the tools that they need to defend our nation, 
and provide critical reforms to improve the operations of the Pentagon.
  First and foremost, the bill would provide critical support to our 
men and women in uniform. For example, it would increase military pay 
by 3.9 percent--a half a percent more than the President requested; 
provide continued authority for the payment of enlistment and 
reenlistment bonuses, accession and retention bonuses for service 
members with critical skills or assigned to high-priority units, and 
other special bonuses and incentives needed to reward our troops and 
ensure that we can recruit and retain the people that we need in our 
military; authorize funds for military family housing and military 
construction projects needed to ensure that our troops have the housing 
that they deserve and our military has the facilities it needs for the 
national defense; and protect members of the military, family members 
and retirees from any increase in TRICARE fees, premiums, deductibles 
and copays.
  The bill would increase the end strength of the Army, the Marine 
Corps, and the Army National Guard, to help reduce the incredible 
stress on our troops. It would also establish and extend critical 
authorities needed by the Department of Defense in our current 
operations. For example, the bill would provide DOD the authority to 
use funds for quick-turnaround construction projects needed to support 
our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan; extend DOD's authority to provide 
``train and equip'' funds and ``stabilization and security assistance'' 
so essential to the well-being of our troops; provide $1.5 billion for 
the Commanders' Emergency Response Program, CERP, which commanders on 
the ground in Iraq and Afghanistan consider the highest priority for 
protecting U.S. forces; and provide funding for critical initiatives, 
including $2.2 billion for the Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat 
Organization's, JIEDDO's, ongoing efforts to defeat the threat of 
improvised explosive device, IEDs.
  At a time when thousands of our soldiers, sailors, airmen, and 
marines are deployed around the world and our all-volunteer military is 
straining to meet the requirements of two ongoing conflicts while 
remaining prepared for other contingencies, these are steps that we 
simply must take. When our men and women in uniform are in harm's way, 
there is nothing more important.
  The bill also includes a number of measures to ensure the proper 
stewardship of taxpayer dollars.
  It would also ensure that the Iraqis use their own oil revenues 
rather than U.S. tax dollars to pay for large infrastructure projects 
and for the training and equipping of the Iraqi military. At the 
beginning of the Iraq war, then-Deputy Secretary of Defense Wolfowitz 
testified that Iraq would be able to ``finance its own reconstruction'' 
through oil revenues. That has not proven to be true. To date, the U.S. 
taxpayers have paid approximately $48 billion for stabilization and 
reconstruction activities in Iraq. While the Iraqi government has 
generated more than $100 billion in oil revenues since the war began, 
it has spent only a small fraction of that amount on its own 
reconstruction. The Iraqi government now has $80 billion at its 
disposal to fund large scale reconstruction projects. Under these 
circumstances, it is inexcusable for U.S. taxpayers to continue to foot 
the bill for projects that Iraqis are fully capable of funding 
themselves.

  Other provisions of the bill would help improve the management of the 
Department of Defense and protect taxpayer dollars. For example, the 
bill would institute improved cost controls for the acquisition of 
major weapon systems; require program managers to incorporate energy 
efficiency requirements into the performance parameters for such 
systems; establish new ethics standards to prevent personal conflicts 
of interest by contractor employees who perform acquisition functions 
on behalf of the Department of Defense; and establish a new database of 
information regarding contractor integrity, ensuring that this 
information

[[Page S9978]]

is available to acquisition officials making key contracting decisions.
  I am disappointed that procedural obstacles in the Senate precluded 
us from considering a package of more than a hundred amendments, which 
would have taken further steps to support our troops and improve the 
management of the Department of Defense. Where it was possible within 
the scope of the House and Senate bills, we tried to include eleme nts 
of these amendments. Unfortunately, many of these important amendments 
were beyond the scope of the two bills and will have to be deferred 
until next year.
  I am also disappointed that we were unable to adopt provisions 
addressing the administration's excessive reliance on contractors to 
perform functions that should be performed by the uniformed military or 
by civilian federal employees. For example, both the Senate bill and 
the House bill included provisions that would have precluded the use of 
contractor employees to perform inherently governmental functions in an 
area of combat operations, or to conduct interrogations of detainees. 
Unfortunately, these provisions drew a veto threat, so we had to limit 
ourselves to a Sense of Congress expressing our views on the issue.
  When this bill was under consideration in the Senate, we spent a 
great deal of time and effort discussing how best to provide public 
visibility for our funding decisions, including earmarks of funds 
authorized in the bill. Historically, our funding tables have been 
included in report language, rather than in bill language. In Executive 
Order 13457, the President stated his view that such funding decisions 
should be ``included in the text of the bills voted upon by the 
Congress and presented to the President.''
  Unfortunately, the Government Printing Office informed us that 
incorporating our funding tables into bill language would have added 
three full days to the time required to prepare a bill for floor 
consideration in the Senate and the House--even if GPO did not have 
other high priority work to accomplish at the same time. This delay 
would have been in addition to the day and a half it would have 
required for the committee staff to prepare the funding tables in a 
form that could be processed by GPO, and to ensure the accuracy of 
GPO's work.
  With only a few days left for the House and the Senate to consider 
the bill before the end of this year's session of Congress, we 
determined that placing the funding tables into bill language was not 
an option that was available to us. Instead, we have incorporated the 
tables into the bill by reference--an action that has the same legal 
effect. To ensure public visibility of all of the funding decisions in 
the tables, the tables have been posted on the websites of both the 
Senate Armed Services Committee and the House Armed Services Committee. 
This is in addition to the posting on these websites of separate 
transparency tables which--as required by the Rules of the Senate and 
the House of Representatives--provide information about each funding 
item requested by a Senator or a Member of Congress.
  As of today, almost 200,000 U.S. soldiers, sailors, airmen, and 
marines are deployed far from home, in Iraq, Afghanistan, Kuwait and 
other theaters of operations around the world. After more than 6 years 
of war, our military, particularly our ground forces, are severely 
stressed. Too many of our troops are worn out, their families are tired 
of repeated deployments, and our equipment is being used up.
  We need to enact this bill to improve the quality of life of our men 
and women in uniform. We need to enact this bill to give them the tools 
that they need to remain the most effective fighting force in the 
world. Most important of all, we need to enact this bill to send an 
important message that we, as a nation, stand behind them and 
appreciate their service.
  At a time when our men and women in uniform are sacrificing so much 
for our country every day, it is surely not asking too much for our 
colleagues to agree to enact this bill so we can provide our troops the 
support that they need and deserve. I urge my colleagues to support the 
House amendment to S. 3001--the National Defense Authorization Act for 
Fiscal Year 2009.
 Mr. McCAIN. Mr. President, I rise to offer my sincere 
congratulations to Chairman Levin, Senator Warner, the members of our 
committee, and our House colleagues for their work on the fiscal year 
2009 National Defense Authorization Act. With provisions that authorize 
a considerable pay raise for all military personnel, increase Army and 
Marine end-strength, improve the system that serves wounded veterans, 
and help prevent waste, fraud, and abuse in defense contracting and 
procurement, this bill contains many important provisions that will 
help support our national defense and, in particular, our servicemen 
and women. However, this bill also contains other provisions that are 
very problematic.
  Before explaining my concerns with this bill, let me take a moment to 
express my sincere gratitude to Senator Warner for his many years of 
service to this Nation, not the least of which are 30 well-spent years 
in the Senate where he has been a consistent and steadfast champion of 
our men and women in uniform. Senator Warner has been instrumental in 
providing needed oversight of the Department of Defense, and in 
ensuring that our soldiers are well trained, well equipped, and that 
they and their families are well provided for. I am particularly 
grateful for his contributions during this Congress when he so 
frequently stepped in on my behalf. Let me be clear that my concerns 
with this year's bill reflect in no way on Senator Warner outstanding 
efforts: He deserves much credit for the many exemplary provisions 
contained in this bill.
  Nonetheless, in this year's bill, and the accompanying report, there 
are $5 billion in earmarks. Of that total amount, $2.1 billion arises 
from a single provision that authorizes the procurement of six C-17 
Globemaster aircraft that the Defense Department states we neither need 
nor can afford. In my view, the massive pork spending in this bill 
renders it a frontal assault on this body's purported commitment to 
ethics and earmark reform and, in my view, results in a failure in our 
obligation to the taxpayer.
  Among the most egregious items in this bill are:
  The Defense bill provides more than $2.1 billion for 6 C-17 cargo 
aircraft. The Secretary of Defense wants to end production of C-17 
aircraft for the U.S. Air Force. These aircraft are neither requested 
nor required by the Department of Defense. In the fiscal year 2008 
Defense supplemental appropriations, the Congress added another 15 C-17 
aircraft that also were not requested nor required by DOD. Congress has 
earmarked 31 C-17s above the mount that is necessary in various 
Pentagon requirements studies over the last 2 years. C-17 aircraft cost 
more than $300 million per plane. With this bill, the total number of 
C-17s procured will rise to 211 total aircraft. This is a thinly veiled 
effort to keep the C-17 production line open using taxpayer's dollars 
to fund what is essentially a more than $2.1 billion corporate earmark 
for the Boeing Corporation.
  The Defense bill provides $140 million in advance procurement for 
additional F-22s. The Air Force and contractors say that prohibiting 
spending in this bill would cause second tier suppliers to shut down 
and make it more expensive to restart the line if the next 
administration wants to continue production, even though the Secretary 
of Defense's position is that 183 F-22s is the full military 
requirement. Advanced procurement funding for additional F-22 aircraft 
is neither requested nor required. This earmark is being pursued by 
Lockheed Martin and its supporters.
  The Defense bill includes funding of $88 million for a VIP aircraft 
to fly Air Force general officers. Scott AFB has served as headquarters 
for numerous Air Force commands. Today, two 4-star Air Force generals 
from the Air Mobility Command and the U.S. Transportation Command call 
Scott AFB, home. Just as senior leadership in-transit comfort capsules, 
SLICCs, created a stir several months ago when it was learned from Air 
Force documents that Air Force Generals were trying to use GWOT money 
to purchase ``first class'' seats and beds in ``flying pods'' so that 
generals could travel in luxury when they fly overseas, it is egregious 
to think that while the military--mostly privates, sergeants, and petty 
officers--is engaged in the global war on terrorism in Iraq and 
Afghanistan, we would be spending scarce defense dollars on VIP 
aircraft for generals.
  The Defense bill continues to fund the Presidential helicopter 
program for

[[Page S9979]]

next year at $1.1 billion. The VH-71A program is intended to provide 
the replacement helicopter for the transportation of the President and 
Vice President. The current program which would build 23 aircraft has 
had excessive delays and cost overruns of more than 70 percent. This 
level is well in excess of the percentages--in fact five times as 
much--that would trigger a breach of the Nunn-McCurdy limits for major 
acquisition programs. Several program managers have been dismissed or 
reassigned in an effort to restructure this ailing program. This 
program should be cancelled. In the meantime the $1.1 billion to 
continue next year's development of the Presidential helicopter should 
be halted and the money withheld until the Navy and the contractor 
demonstrate more transparency and accountability on this failing 
program.
  The Defense bill includes a provision directing the Secretary of the 
Navy to sell the ``yard floating drydock'', AFDL-23, to Gulf Copper 
Ship Repair in Aransas Pass, TX. This provision would authorize the 
Secretary of the Navy to sell the drydock; however, the provision 
restricts the Secretary from recouping the full costs, approximately 
$120-$190 million, because the Secretary is directed to consider the 
amounts paid by, or due and owing from, the lessee--Gulf Copper Ship 
Repair. This would essentially allow the rent paid by Gulf Copper Ship 
Repair to be deducted from the total price of the drydock.
  The Navy does not support this provision. The Navy is in the process 
of determining whether the dock is excess to future Navy needs and, if 
so, whether it would be required by other U.S. Government agencies or 
activities when the current lease to Gulf Copper expires. Subsequent to 
a determination that there are no additional U.S. Government needs, the 
vessel would be struck from the Naval Vessel Register and designated 
for disposal. This provision is an end-run of the normal process for 
disposal or sale of government equipment and is not in the best 
interest of the taxpayer.
  The Defense bill includes a provision which is highly objectionable 
and is strongly opposed by the administration which purports to 
incorporate by reference into the bill most of the earmarks included in 
the accompanying report--totaling more than $5 billion. The provision 
is meant to thwart President Bush's Executive Order 13457 ``Protecting 
American Taxpayers from Government Spending on Wasteful Earmarks.''
  I had advocated a better approach of putting all the spending tables 
into the actual bill language. By hiding/shielding the tables in the 
report, the taxpayer does not have full transparency of Congress' 
actions in adding corporate and Member earmarks which are not requested 
or needed by the military services.
  Again, while there is much in this year's Defense authorization bill 
that is very worthwhile and helpful to providing for the national 
defense, the provisions contained within it that move in the wrong 
direction are too numerous, too large, and too costly for this Member 
to ignore.
  Mr. AKAKA. Mr. President, as a senior member of the Senate Armed 
Services Committee, I was pleased the Senate passed the House Amendment 
to S. 3001, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 
2009, today by unanimous consent. This bill follows through on the 
commitment that this Congress has made to our troops and their families 
to provide them with the support that they need and deserve. This 
includes a 3.9-percent across-the-board pay raise for all uniformed 
personnel--a half a percent more than the President's request--and a 
prohibition on increasing TRICARE beneficiary cost shares and pharmacy 
copays. It also includes a number of provisions designed to improve the 
readiness of our troops. For example, the bill fully funds Army and 
Marine Corps readiness and depot maintenance programs which will help 
ensure that the men and women in our armed services have the equipment 
necessary for them to fulfill their mission requirements. It also adds 
$15 million for the readiness and environmental protection initiative 
to fund priority projects that benefit critical mission training sites 
and directs the Secretary of Defense to conduct a comprehensive 
technical and operational risk assessment for DOD installations, 
facilities, and activities.
  As the chairman of the Armed Services Committee's Subcommittee on 
Readiness and Management Support, I was pleased to work toward the 
inclusion of a number of critically important management and 
acquisition policy provisions which were included in this bill. These 
include a provision to establish steering boards to review new 
requirements that could increase the costs of major weapons systems, 
language requiring business transformation offices for each military 
department and a provision requiring the DOD to establish ethics 
standards to prevent personal conflicts of interest by contractor 
employees who perform acquisition functions on behalf of the DOD. I 
applaud the inclusion of language that expresses the view of Congress 
that private security contractors should not perform inherently 
governmental functions in an area of combat operations and that 
contractor employees should not conduct interrogations of detainees 
during the aftermath of hostilities. However, I am disappointed that 
due to a large extent to the Administration's objections and the 
absolute need to pass this bill in an expeditious manner, we were not 
able to incorporate this sense of the Congress into provisions that 
have the force of law.
  As chairman of the Veteran's Affairs Committee, I was very pleased to 
have worked toward the inclusion of a number of provisions related to 
the treatment of wounded warriors. This includes a clarification of the 
requirement that DOD utilize the VA criteria in establishing 
eligibility of retirement and disability. It also requires the 
Secretaries of Defense and the VA to jointly establish a center of 
excellence in the mitigation, treatment and rehabilitation of traumatic 
extremity injuries and amputations as well as a center of excellence in 
the prevention, diagnosis, mitigation, treatment, and rehabilitation of 
hearing loss. In addition, this bill includes a provision derived from 
legislation that I introduced to extend senior-level oversight of 
cooperative efforts between the Departments of Defense and Veterans 
Affairs. The Senior Oversight Committee, SOC, was formed in the wake of 
last year's Walter Reed scandal, to improve the efforts of DOD and VA 
in managing the transition from military service to veteran status for 
wounded servicemembers. The Senior Oversight Committee's 
responsibilities are not complete as long as wounded warriors are still 
returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, therefore, I was pleased to be 
able to include this language for the SOC to be able to continue its 
important function.
  Once again, I would like to thank Chairman Levin for his strong 
leadership and dedication to ensuring that this bill was passed. I also 
want to take this last opportunity to extend my warmest aloha to my 
friend and colleague Senator Warner who managed this bill on the 
minority side. In my many years of serving with Senator Warner on the 
Armed Services Committee, I have never failed to be impressed by his 
character, graciousness, and collegiality. Mahalo Nui Loa for your 
friendship and for all that you have done for our nation and the 
members of our armed services in particular.
  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate 
concur in the House amendment to the Senate bill, and that the motion 
to reconsider be laid upon the table.
  Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I am very pleased to say there is no 
objection on this side.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The Senator from Virginia.
  Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I am overjoyed this has been done.
  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I have said on many occasions--and I say it 
again--this bill is a great piece of work.
  Has the bill passed?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The request was agreed to. The bill has 
passed.
  Mr. REID. OK. Now, I said it before, and I will say it again: I so 
admire and respect the two managers of this bill who have worked 
together on this bill for 30 years. There was a time this year when we 
thought this would be the first year in those 30 years that my friends 
have worked on this bill that it would not pass. And it did. It is 
done.

[[Page S9980]]

  It is a great day for America. It is a great day for our troops. As I 
have said to my two friends, I appreciate so much being able to work 
with you. It is a great honor for me that the two distinguished senior 
Senators, whom I have so much respect and admiration for, would allow 
me to, being a part of the Senate, come and offer this consent 
agreement. I am going to talk on Monday about my friend from Virginia 
who is leaving. So I will save those words for him. He already knows 
the knowledge I have of our friendship.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Virginia.
  Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I thank the distinguished leader. I say to 
him, as you referred to: Two Senators who worked on this, 
coincidentally, it is the Presiding Officer, the Senator from Michigan, 
Mr. Levin, who is in the chair to whom you were referring. We both 
thank you, and we thank Senator McConnell and all Members of the Senate 
for their support in passing this key piece of legislation.
  Sometimes people are concerned that this institution does not quite 
work in a manner in which is easily comprehensible. But this is an 
effort that has been one that you and I and all the members of our 
committee and the distinguished staff whom we have on the committee 
have worked on throughout this year.
  I say to the Presiding Officer, you are the chairman. I am now the 
senior serving Republican on it, the former chairman, having served 
with you. Senator McCain is the ranking member. By reason of necessity, 
he is absent; otherwise, he would be standing here today in terms of 
the bill.
  This bill is not about us, though. It is about the men and women of 
the Armed Forces and their families and their loved ones and their 
friends. The Constitution provides very explicitly that the President 
is the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces. To the legislative 
branch--the Congress of the United States--is entrusted the care and 
welfare and safety and, indeed, protection of the men and women of the 
Armed Forces.
  Now, I commend the distinguished Presiding Officer, the chairman of 
the Armed Services Committee, Senator Carl Levin of Michigan, with whom 
I have worked these 30 years, side by side, on this committee. This is 
a good bill. There were times when I think we could have made it 
stronger. But given the rules of the Senate, which I respect, as does 
the Presiding Officer, and all other Senators, we were not able to 
quite achieve those goals. But that is the nature of the Senate. The 
minority has a very respected and powerful voice in this Senate, and it 
is right and just that it be heard.
  So despite the fact this bill may not have all the features and 
important provisions I and the Senator from Michigan and other members 
of our committee and other Senators might have had incorporated in this 
bill, it is still a very fine bill. It adequately--most adequately--
cares for the men and women of the Armed Forces.
  Again, I commend the distinguished chairman, the Senator from 
Michigan, my friend of these 30 years.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Ms. Landrieu. The Senator from Michigan.
  Mr. LEVIN. Madam President, first, let me thank the Presiding 
Officer.
  This is a bittersweet moment for me. This will be the last time the 
Senator from Virginia and I will be standing here and celebrating the 
passage of a Defense authorization bill. We stood together in support 
of these bills and the men and women of our Armed Forces for 30 years. 
In this particular case--there have been previous examples of this, but 
this is perhaps the most dramatic one--we would not be standing here 
with a bill in hand now going to the White House but for the courage of 
the Senator from Virginia.
  I will not go into all the details as to how that came about, but it 
is because of his commitment to the men and women in uniform that we 
have a bill. We would not have a bill this year except that he took the 
steps which he was determined to take as a Senator of this Nation--not 
just of Virginia--to support the men and women in uniform.
  So on behalf of 25 committee members, 45 committee staff members, 2.3 
million Active Duty and Reserve members of the military and their 
families, I offer a heartfelt thanks for them for a job always well 
done by the Senator from Virginia.
  I will have more to say about the Senator from Virginia also next 
week. But for the time being, let me say this: In the future, when we 
cannot seem to find our way out of the difficult situations that a bill 
of this magnitude and complexity get us into, people will say: Well, 
what would John Warner have done? That will be the question we will 
ask. When we ask that question, the right answers will follow. I thank 
my dear friend.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Virginia.
  Mr. WARNER. Madam President, I thank my dear friend. If I could take 
a moment. I wish to join the Senator in thanking our respective 
leaders, Senator Reid, Senator McConnell and the members of the 
committee and the staff, once again, and indeed the members of the 
leadership staff and the floor staff who made possible this bill.
  But I wish to tell a short personal story since this is my last bill.
  I just walked through Senator Reid's office. He asked me to come in 
and visit with him privately a minute. As I passed by, I looked up on 
the wall, and there was a portrait of Harry Truman. I had the privilege 
of serving in the Navy in World War II--the closing year of World War 
II--as a young 17-year-old, 18-year-old sailor, and never dreaming I 
would ever be a Senator--that was the furthest thing from my mind--a 
17-year-old, 18-year-old sailor.
  It was one of the darkest hours of the United States. Roosevelt was 
then President. Truman was Vice President. It was the winter of 1945. 
I, similar to so many young men at that time--and those women who 
joined the military also--signed up and volunteered. We wanted to be a 
part of this. The war had gone unexpectedly the wrong way in Europe for 
a while when Hitler trapped our divisions and Allied divisions in the 
Battle of the Bulge. Iwo Jima was underway. Okinawa, a terrific battle, 
was on the horizon.
  America was all together, and we were determined to establish our 
freedom in the world. But I remember my first night--I had been on a 
steam train for about 2 days, working its way up to the Great Lakes 
Naval Training Station. It would stop at the station, and 17-, 18-year-
old guys would get on the train, and they would be in those old cars, 
cold, shivering, with no food that I can remember to speak of. We 
arrived at the Great Lakes at about 4 o'clock in the morning. We all 
were herded off the train into a great big gymnasium. A fellow, a chief 
petty officer--he was as big around as he was tall; I remember a very 
big fellow--got up, and he had a bullhorn, and shouted at us. I 
remember the words--here it was 65 years ago, 66 years ago--as if it 
were this minute. He said: All you guys who can't read and write, raise 
your hand.

  Well, I had been in a wonderful home. My father provided well as a 
medical doctor, with the best of schools, even though I left school to 
join the Navy. I did not know people who did not know how to read and 
write. Some of the other guys' hands were raised, and the fellow said, 
through the bullhorn: All right, you smart guys, fill out the forms for 
the others. So I and others went over to help those people fill out 
their forms--put their X on it. The next day, we were in the training 
camps side by side, all training.
  Those men went on to different tasks in the military but important 
tasks. There were many jobs in our military that did not require an 
education, but they were as important a part of the force as those of 
us, I guess, who felt we were a little smarter.
  But why do I tell that story? I later served in the Marines. So I 
look back over these 60 years. I have spent a great deal of my life 
associated with the men and women of the Armed Forces. My Active 
service is of no great consequence.
  But the thing I have always remembered is that you and I, as a team, 
I say to the Senator--all these years we have been working here, we 
have been working to improve and make possible that the current 
generation of young men going into the uniform, and women, have the 
same advantages my generation had: The GI bill--working with Senator 
Webb recently to get that through.
  I always feel I am a Senator today because of all the military men 
and women whom I have served with, who

[[Page S9981]]

have trained me, who have disciplined me, who have inspired me. They 
performed the same duty I did that cold night in 1945. They have helped 
me fill out the forms. I have learned from them, have had the wisdom to 
work with you and others to put together these legislative measures for 
their benefit.
  So I close my last words thanking all those in uniform who have so 
generously given to me their wisdom, their friendship, their 
inspiration, and their courage to do what little I have been able to do 
as a Senator to help me fill out the forms and put my X on this my last 
bill.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Michigan.
  Mr. LEVIN. Well, Madam President, the men and women of this Nation 
would be grateful to John Warner if they knew him, had that honor of 
knowing him. They have been benefited by him even though they will 
never know him. Maybe as a 17-year-old sailor back in 1945, the last 
thing in his mind was that he would ever be a Senator. There is 
something about this Nation that makes it possible for men and women--
in this case a man such as John Warner--to rise to the very top of the 
respect of his country men and women. It has been a true pleasure and 
honor to serve with him.
  I, again, will have more to say about that next week. But I, again, 
wish to thank the Presiding Officer.
  I yield the floor.
  Mr. WARNER. I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Ms. LANDRIEU. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. LEVIN). Without objection, it is so 
ordered.
  (The remarks of Ms. LANDRIEU pertaining to the introduction of S. 
3647 are printed in today's Record under ``Statements on Introduced 
Bills and Joint Resolutions.'')

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