[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 83 (Friday, May 28, 2010)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E993]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2011

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                               speech of

                        HON. PETER J. VISCLOSKY

                               of indiana

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 27, 2010

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 5136) to 
     authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2011 for military 
     activities of the Department of Defense, to prescribe 
     military personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for 
     other purposes:

  Mr. VISCLOSKY. Mr. Chair, it is with great appreciation that I rise 
in support of provisions contained within H.R. 5136, the Defense 
Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2011, relating to the procurement of 
steel armor plate and the definition of the term ``produced.''
  Recently, the Department of Defense has implemented a regulation that 
allows the use of steel armor plate that is melted in foreign countries 
to be used in various defense applications, and I want to thank 
Chairman Skelton and Ranking Member McKeon for including language that 
specifies that this type of steel must be melted in the United States.
  I was informed of the urgency of this issue during a Steel Caucus 
hearing in March of this year, when we discussed that a Department of 
Defense regulation now merely requires the finishing processes of armor 
plate manufacturing to take place domestically, which is contrary to 
over thirty-five years of precedent requiring melting processes to 
occur in the United States. After this hearing, Rep. Tim Murphy and I 
spearheaded a Steel Caucus letter to Secretary of Defense Gates, with 
35 other Members of the Caucus signing the letter, which urged him to 
fully examine the implications of this regulation.
  Steel armor plate plays a vital role in the protection of our troops 
and the defense of our nation, and the Specialty Metals Amendment, as 
originally included under the Berry Amendment in 1973, aims to ensure 
that American steel is used to protect our troops. The regulation 
amends the definition of produced under the Specialty Metals Amendment, 
and I am thoroughly concerned that this threatens the safety of our 
troops and the defense of our nation. Steel armor plate is used in Mine 
Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles and MRAP All-Terrain 
Vehicles, and we must do everything possible to ensure that American 
made material is used in the production of these vehicles.
  I understand that the House Armed Services Committee has closely 
followed this situation and has included report language in the past 
cautioning the Department of Defense on the implications of this 
regulation, and I applaud your continued efforts today on remedying 
this situation and protecting our national security and the American 
industrial base.

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