[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 107 (Thursday, July 16, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7586-S7587]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT

  Mr. NELSON of Nebraska. Madam President, I wish to begin my comments 
on this year's national defense authorization by first thanking all the 
members of the Personnel Subcommittee. And I particularly would like to 
thank the subcommittee's ranking member, Senator Lindsey Graham. He and 
I have worked together for several years on this subcommittee, changing 
the chairmanship back and forth, and I have always found our time on 
the subcommittee is decidedly nonpartisan, bipartisan, regardless of 
who currently chairs it.
  All the Members of the Personnel Subcommittee strive to do what is 
right by servicemembers and their families, and any disagreements we 
have are minimal, and are always focused on how best to serve those who 
serve us.
  The annual National Defense Authorization Act is one of the most 
important pieces of legislation that Congress passes every year. It 
provides authority for everything the Department of Defense does, from 
the ships and planes it buys, to the pay and compensation of 
servicemembers, to retirement and disability benefits. So I look 
forward to this year, once again, passing a Defense Authorization Act 
for the 48th year in a row.
  As in past years, the committee has focused heavily on personnel 
issues, including taking care of the families of servicemembers. There 
is an old axiom in the military that you recruit the soldier but you 
retain the family. So providing support to those families is more 
important now than ever before. I am happy with the bill, and I 
recommend it to my fellow Senators. I wish to emphasize that the 
committee also voted this bill out of committee unanimously.
  The bill before us authorizes $135.6 billion for military personnel, 
including pay, allowances, bonuses, death benefits, and permanent 
change of station moves. The bill contains many important provisions 
that will improve the quality of life of our men and women in uniform 
and their families.
  First and foremost, the bill would authorize a 3.4-percent pay raise, 
which is half a percent higher than the increase in the Employment Cost 
Index and the administration's request and reauthorizes over 25 types 
of bonuses and special pays aimed at encouraging enlistment and 
reenlistment.
  The bill also addresses the administration's request to increase the 
permanent end strengths of all the services over last year's 
authorization. The bill authorizes fiscal year 2010 end strengths of 
547,400 for the Army; 202,100 for the Marine Corps; 331,700 for the Air 
Force; and 328,800 for the Navy. The Active Duty end strength of every 
service will increase over last year's levels. Moreover, the bill 
authorizes additional Army Active Duty end strength in fiscal years 
2011 and 2012, if needed.
  The bill also authorizes pay for travel and transportation expenses 
for Reserve component members to go home when training has been 
suspended at their temporary duty station. Operation Airlift, as we 
call it, came to my attention when members of the 110th Medical 
Battalion, based in Lincoln, NE, were stranded at Fort Lewis, WA, when 
training was suspended and the base was shut down for the holidays. 
Military rules prohibited using military funds to pay for their travel 
back to Nebraska until training resumed. This measure addresses this 
problem which has occurred in many other States and to many other 
reservists and guardsmen and demands that the military commands 
appropriately plan and schedule training exercises.
  The bill also supports the continued provision of world-class health 
care to our servicemembers and their families, authorizing $27.9 
billion for the Defense Health Program.
  The bill authorizes TRICARE standard coverage for National Guard and 
Reserve retirees previously in an uncovered so-called gray area. The 
TRICARE gray area retiree measure ensures nearly 225,226 eligible 
retirees nationwide will have the opportunity to purchase coverage 
under the military's TRICARE health care program.
  In support of our increasing number of wounded warriors, the bill 
authorizes special compensation for caregivers for the time and 
assistance they provide to servicemembers with combat-related 
catastrophic injuries or illnesses requiring assistance in everyday 
living. Additional support is provided through this bill which 
authorizes travel and transportation allowances for nonmedical 
attendants of very seriously wounded, ill or injured servicemembers.
  To ensure we continue to increase the care of our wounded warriors, 
this bill requires the establishment of a task force to assess the 
effectiveness of the policies and programs to assist and support the 
care, management, and transition of recovering wounded, ill, and 
injured servicemembers.
  To help resolve the dire shortage of physicians needed to care for 
the mental health of combat proven servicemembers, the bill authorizes 
the service Secretaries to add up to 25 officers each year as students 
at accredited schools of psychology for training leading to the degree 
of doctor of psychology in clinical psychology. In an effort to ensure 
our servicemembers get the mental health care they need and to help 
overcome the stigma associated with seeking mental health care, the 
bill requires person-to-person mental health assessments at designated 
intervals for servicemembers deployed in connection with contingency 
operations.
  The bill also requires initiatives to increase the number of military 
and civilian behavioral health personnel at the Department of Defense.
  Continuing our efforts to support wounded warriors and their 
families, the bill requires the Secretary of Defense to undertake a 
comprehensive assessment of the impacts of military deployment on 
dependent children of servicemembers, and a review of the mental health 
care and counseling services available to military children.
  Finally, the bill authorizes $45 million in impact aid to local 
school districts, including $5 million for educational services for 
severely disabled children, and $10 million for districts experiencing 
rapid increases in the number of students due to rebasing, activation 
of new military units or base realignment and closure.
  These are just some of the highlights. There were over 60 legislative 
provisions affecting personnel policy, pay, end strength, health care, 
and family support. It is paramount we take care of our servicemembers 
by ensuring their pay and compensation is what it should be, and needs 
to be, to sustain the All-Volunteer Force and enable them to fight and 
win the Nation's wars and to take care of them and their families when 
they return home injured and wounded.
  So, again, I would like to thank Senator Graham and all the members 
of the Personnel Subcommittee of the Armed Services Committee. I look 
forward to working with our colleagues to pass this extremely important 
legislation as we continue the process of authorization of the parent 
bill.

[[Page S7587]]

  With that, I conclude my remarks.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Ms. LANDRIEU. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.
  Ms. LANDRIEU. Madam President, I understand we have up to 10 minutes 
each?
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. That is correct.
  (The remarks of Ms. Landrieu pertaining to the introduction of S. 
1458 are printed in today's Record under ``Statements on Introduced 
Bills and Joint Resolutions.'')

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