[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 180 (Monday, November 28, 2011)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7902-S7904]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2012--Continued

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The majority leader.
  Mr. REID. I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. REID. I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call 
be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. REID. Mr. President, there will be no more votes tonight. We hope 
the managers of the bill can process some amendments, but there will be 
no more rollcall votes tonight.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  Mr. McCAIN addressed the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Arizona.
  Mr. McCAIN. I wonder, if it is agreeable to the majority leader, 
rather than wait on the amendment concerning the National Guard, 
perhaps in anticipation of that eventuality the Senator from Vermont 
and the Senator from South Carolina would be allowed to speak on that 
amendment in the case that it is accepted. If not, then their words, as 
usual, would not be much.
  Mr. REID. That is fine. We would have debate only on this matter, 
with Senator Leahy recognized for up to 10 minutes and Senator McCain 
for up to 10 minutes.
  Mr. McCAIN. I thank the majority leader.
  Mr. REID. By then we hope to have a unanimous consent agreement that 
would be universal in nature.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The Senator from Vermont.


                           Amendment No. 1072

  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I will not use all my time, by any means. I 
spoke earlier about this. I appreciate the courtesy of the 
distinguished senior Senator from Arizona.
  Senator Graham and I, as cochairs of the National Guard Caucus, 
introduced amendment No. 1072. I spoke earlier this afternoon about it, 
so I will not speak longer on it, except to say the amendment is long 
overdue. The men and women of our Guard deserve the same recognition as 
everyone else in uniform. It is high time we made sure they receive it.
  Senator Graham has been a close and valued partner in helping us 
bring about this bipartisan piece of legislation. Republicans and 
Democrats across the political spectrum have cosponsored it.
  I will close with this. The Senator from Arizona has been in war 
zones probably more than I ever will in my lifetime. The Senator from 
South Carolina certainly has been in Iraq and Afghanistan more than 
most Members of this body. But I think every one of us who has been in 
a war zone knows this. We see soldiers going out to face battle. Nobody 
knows whether they are members of the Guard or the regular forces. 
Certainly those who would do harm to our men and women in uniform do 
not say we will do different harm to members of the Guard or members of 
the regular forces. I say this because they all put their lives on the 
line. They all go through training. And we could not field the forces 
our Department of Defense is called upon to field without our Guard and 
Reserve. So I do hope the Leahy-Graham amendment No. 1072 will pass.
  I yield to Senator Graham.
  Mr. GRAHAM. Mr. President, I want to thank both Senators McCain and 
Levin for organizing this debate on this amendment in a way that maybe

[[Page S7903]]

we can get closure on this amendment tonight. Both our ranking member 
and the chairman have been very helpful in pushing an amendment forward 
where we have 71 cosponsors.
  To Senator Leahy, I want to say it has been a real privilege and joy 
working with you on this. We had 71 Members of the Senate sign onto the 
legislation, and it is simple. It says the Chief of the National Guard 
Bureau will now be a member of the Joint Chiefs. What does that mean in 
the real world? It means the citizen soldier's voice will be heard at 
the highest levels of our government.
  After 1947, we reorganized the Defense Department. It became the 
modern Defense Department with the Joint Chiefs, where we have 
representatives from the Marine Corps, the Air Force, the Army, and the 
Navy, and now the citizen soldier. Why is that important? After 9/11, 
the Guard's role in defending this Nation changed substantially. The 
Guard and Reserves--but particularly the Guard, on the front lines of 
homeland security defense--have dual missions. They are the first to 
answer a natural disaster that hits America in uniform. They are the 
front-line troops. They have been integrated into the Army and Air 
Force in a fashion where they were deployed constantly to war zones.
  The citizen soldier fired the first shot to create this Republic, and 
now is the time to recognize the role they play post 9/11. The real 
reason we want this is because we want a line of communication that is 
uninterrupted. We want to make sure the Guard and Reserve component, 
but through the Guard particularly, are recognized as an integral part 
of our national security, State and Federal.
  The idea is that in the next war a Guard unit from Vermont, South 
Carolina, Connecticut--you name the State--would go to war without body 
armor to keep people safe, without the equipment they need to fight in 
the war is less likely to happen if we have the Chief of the National 
Guard Bureau in the tank with his colleagues talking about the needs of 
the National Guard. This doesn't change the legal structure. It doesn't 
provide command authority to the National Guard Chief. It simply puts 
him or her in the room, giving voice to the citizen soldier at a time 
we need it.
  I cannot thank Senator Leahy enough, and all those at the National 
Guard associations throughout the country, who called their Congressmen 
and their Senators. This bill passed the House, and now it will be 
adopted, hopefully by voice vote.
  I can tell you in the world in which we live, in the 21st century, 
having the guardsman's voice inside the Joint Chiefs is going to make 
us a safer Nation. It is a recognition and honor well deserved, long 
overdue, and I want to thank all my colleagues who have made this 
possible.
  And to the managers of this bill--the chairman and the ranking 
member--I want to thank you for accommodating us.
  To all my colleagues, come down here and work with Senators McCain 
and Levin on your amendments. Because we don't want to be the Congress 
for the first time in 51 years that failed to pass the Defense 
authorization bill.
  With that, I yield.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Vermont.
  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I would join the Senator from South 
Carolina in thanking Senator Levin, the chair of the Armed Services 
Committee, and Senator McCain, the ranking member, who worked closely 
with us. But I must say again, my good friend from South Carolina, I 
think even as late as a week ago, in the meeting we had with the 
Secretary of Defense, talked about this need.
  We have tried not to show any light between one Republican and one 
Democrat but to do what was best here. I want to see the Senate get 
back to the days when Republicans and Democrats work together like 
that. But I thank the distinguished Senators from Michigan and Arizona 
for their help.
  I yield the floor, and I suggest the absence of quorum.
  Mr. McCAIN. Will the Senator from South Carolina yield for a 
question?
  Mr. GRAHAM. Yes.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Arizona.
  Mr. McCAIN. Since, apparently, this amendment will be passed and 
signed by the President, is the Senator from South Carolina interested 
in being the head of the----
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Does the Senator from Vermont withdraw his 
request for a quorum call?
  Mr. LEAHY. For debate only.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. McCAIN. I don't seek recognition.
  Mr. GRAHAM. I think I know where the Senator was going, and the 
answer will be no. The Guard has enough challenges without promoting 
me.
  Mr. McCAIN. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. REID. I ask unanimous consent that the pending McConnell 
amendment No. 1084 and the pending Menendez amendment No. 1292 be 
withdrawn and it be in order for the majority leader or his designee to 
call up the Menendez-Kirk amendment No. 1414; that notwithstanding 
cloture being invoked, if invoked, that at a time to be determined by 
the majority leader, after consultation with the Republican leader, and 
prior to the vote on passage of the Defense authorization bill, there 
be up to 1 hour of debate equally divided in the usual form on the 
Menendez-Kirk amendment; that upon the use or yielding back of that 
time, the Senate proceed to vote in relation to the Menendez-Kirk 
amendment; further, that no amendments, motions, or points of order be 
in order to the amendment prior to the vote other than budget points of 
order and the applicable motions to waive.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The Senator from Arizona.
  Mr. McCAIN. Mr. President, I wish to thank the majority leader for 
working very hard to see that we could move forward with this 
legislation and reach an agreement on a very significant issue.
  Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.


                           Amendment No. 1414

 (Purpose: To require the imposition of sanctions with respect to the 
     financial sector of Iran, including the Central Bank of Iran)

  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, pursuant to that unanimous consent order 
that was just entered, I now would call up the Menendez-Kirk amendment 
No. 1414.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       The Senator from Michigan [Mr. Levin], for Mr. Menendez and 
     Mr. Kirk, proposes an amendment numbered 1414.

  (The text of the amendment is printed in today's Record under ``Text 
of Amendments.'')
  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, that amendment now I guess would return to 
the position that it has under the unanimous consent agreement that was 
just entered; is that correct?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The amendment the Senator just called up is 
pending at this time. Does the Senator wish to return to the regular 
order?
  Mr. LEVIN. What is the regular order now that we are going back to 
it?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The regular order is the Senator's amendment 
No. 1092.
  Mr. LEVIN. And that is the Levin-McCain amendment?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Correct.


                           Amendment No. 1092

  Mr. LEVIN. I ask unanimous consent that we proceed immediately to the 
Leahy-Graham amendment on the National Guard.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. If there is no further debate on the 
amendment,

[[Page S7904]]

without objection, the amendment is agreed to.
  The amendment (No. 1072) was agreed to.
  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, I move to reconsider the vote.
  Mr. McCAIN. I move to lay that motion on the table.
  The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.
  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, we now have an understanding with Senator 
Udall that he would be recognized first tomorrow morning to call up 
amendment No. 1107.
  I ask unanimous consent that when we come in tomorrow morning, 
Senator Udall be recognized after the leaders are recognized to call up 
that amendment.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection? Without objection, it is 
so ordered.
  The Senator from Arizona.
  Mr. McCAIN. It is my understanding that Senator Udall has also agreed 
to a half hour equally divided--debate, equally divided?
  Mr. LEVIN. That is my understanding.
  We will leave that issue for the closing statement, that he be 
recognized. First, I agree with the Senator from Arizona that we agree 
there be a half hour equally divided on the amendment. But let's leave 
the exact wording on that for the closing.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Merkley). The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Michigan.
  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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