[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 182 (Wednesday, November 30, 2011)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8060-S8062]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT OF 2012--Continued
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the Senate will
resume consideration of S. 1867.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Michigan.
Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, while the Senator from Minnesota is here,
let me add my voice of thanks and appreciation for what she continually
is fighting for in the area of sexual assault. Her amendment makes
great sense. We have cleared it on our side. We hope it gets cleared so
that we can get this into a package--and we hope we can get a package
that is adopted.
But I want to just commend the Senator for her intrepid effort that
is awe inspiring on behalf of people who need all of the fight and all
of the protection that we can give them, those are people who have been
assaulted sexually. I commend the Senator.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Arizona.
Amendment No. 1246, as Modified
Mr. McCAIN. I send an amendment to the desk, as modified, No. 1246,
and ask for its consideration.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The amendment is already pending.
Mr. McCAIN. Mr. President, the amendment is to require the Secretary
of Defense to consult with the Armed Services Committee in
commissioning an independent assessment of U.S. security interests in
East Asia and in the Pacific region. It has been cleared on both sides.
I urge adoption of the amendment.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, the amendment is modified.
Mr. LEVIN. Before the amendment is adopted, I just wanted to indicate
our support of the amendment. It is in a very significant area which
has to do with our force structure in the Pacific. Senator McCain has
been very active wanting to look at that because we have to look at it
in depth. He has agreed that this study, which will be done in
consultation with people who have knowledge, can be done independently
and in a prompt way with an independent study.
I think he has reached that conclusion. I think he is right. I
believe Senator Webb, if he were here, would want to indicate his
strong support because the three of us have worked together for this
kind of an effort.
With that, I would indicate my strong support.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is on agreeing to the amendment,
as modified.
The amendment (No. 1246), as modified, was agreed to, as follows:
On page 439, line 18, insert ``, in consultation with the
Chairman and Ranking Members of the Committees on Armed
Services of the Senate and the House of Representatives,''
after ``Secretary of Defense''.
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. McCAIN. Mr. President, I would ask my friend, the chairman, if
perhaps we could give our colleagues a brief update on where we are.
There are not that many amendments remaining. There are a couple of
rather serious amendments concerning detainees that are still
outstanding. But overall I think we can tell our colleagues that we are
pretty well moving along.
We still have a pending package of amendments that have been agreed
to by both sides that, unfortunately, we are unable to move forward.
But, hopefully, we will be able to do that.
Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, we indeed have been making progress, No. 1.
We made significant progress today both on the pending amendments that
needed to be addressed by the full Senate, as well as a major package
of amendments which has been cleared on both sides.
There is another package of amendments to which there has been no--
they have been cleared, which means they are available to everybody,
and
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there is no objection by anybody to the substance of those amendments.
If there is any objection, then they are not going to be cleared. They
would then have to be brought up to the whole body.
Tomorrow we have a number of significant amendments to address,
including the Feinstein amendments, the Menendez-Kirk amendment on Iran
sanctions, just being a few of them. But there are a number of other
ones as well. In a moment, what I am going to be asking for is
unanimous consent that when we come in tomorrow the first amendment
pending be my amendment, No. 1293, on high-speed ferries, which
apparently will require a rollcall vote.
So I just want to alert everybody that while we are preparing a
unanimous consent agreement laying out what the order will be for
tomorrow, what we will start with, that is our intention. I have talked
already, of course, to Senator McCain about that. He is agreeable that
we start with that amendment, No. 1293.
Mr. McCAIN. Mr. President, we think we can get wrapped up tomorrow.
But there are serious amendments remaining. The Menendez-Kirk amendment
is a very serious amendment and one that probably is going to deserve
some debate time as well as the Feinstein amendment. The Sessions
amendment also is one as well. So I think our colleagues should be
prepared for a pretty interesting day tomorrow.
Amendment No. 1185, as Modified
Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that my
amendment No. 1185 be modified with the changes at the desk.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Begich). Without objection, it is so
ordered.
Mr. SESSIONS. This amendment would simply require the Department of
Defense to include the discussion of the feasibility and advisability
of establishing a missile defense site on the east coast of the United
States in its Homeland Defense Hedging Strategy Review.
I hope my amendment can be accepted by voice vote. I thank Senator
Levin and Senator McCain for working with me to get language I believe
all can agree to.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Michigan.
Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, the Sessions amendment, as modified, has
been reviewed. I know it has cleared on this side. I am confident it
has been cleared by both sides of the aisle.
The amendment would require the Department of Defense to report to
Congress on the findings and conclusions of the Department's Homeland
Missile Defense Hedging Strategy Review, including a discussion of the
feasibility and advisability of establishing a missile defense site on
the east coast of the United States.
The administration officials have committed to providing Congress
with the results of its Hedging Strategy Review. This amendment would
make it clear that the Department is required to do exactly that, and I
just want to thank the Senator for his amendment, for modifying it, and
I hope now we can adopt it.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is on agreeing to the amendment,
as modified.
The amendment (No. 1185), as modified, was agreed to, as follows:
At the end of subtitle C of title II, add the following:
SEC. 234. REPORT ON THE UNITED STATES MISSILE DEFENSE HEDGING
STRATEGY.
(a) Report Required.--Not later than 180 days after the
date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense
shall submit to the congressional defense committees a report
setting forth the findings and conclusions of the homeland
missile defense hedging strategy review, including a
discussion of the feasibility and advisability of
establishing a missile defense site on the East Coast of the
United States.
(b) Form.--The report required by subsection (a) shall be
submitted in unclassified form, but may include a classified
annex.
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. Now I believe we have one other, Senator Inhofe's
amendment, which now I think is agreeable on both sides.
Amendment No. 1098, as Modified
Mr. INHOFE. Mr. President, I have amendment No. 1098, as modified. I
ask that it be considered.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, the amendment is modified.
The amendment (No. 1098), as modified, is as follows:
At the end of subtitle E of title VIII, add the following:
SEC. 889. REPORT ON IMPACT OF FOREIGN BOYCOTTS ON THE DEFENSE
INDUSTRIAL BASE.
(a) In General.--Not later than October 1, 2012, the
Department of Defense shall submit to the appropriate
congressional committees a report setting forth an assessment
of the impact of foreign boycotts on the defense industrial
base.
(b) Element.--The report required by subsection (a) shall
include a summary of foreign boycotts that posed a material
risk to the defense industrial base from January 2008 to the
date of the enactment of this Act.
(c) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Foreign boycott.--The term ``foreign boycott'' means
any policy or practice adopted by a foreign government or
foreign business enterprise intended to penalize,
disadvantage, or harm any contractor or subcontractor of the
Department of Defense on account of the provision by that
contractor or subcontractor of any product or service to the
Department.
(2) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term
``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
(A) the congressional defense committees; and
(B) the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate and
the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of
Representatives.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there further debate?
Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, I thank Senator Inhofe for the modification
of his amendment. It is agreeable on our side.
Mr. INHOFE. Mr. President, I appreciate that. First of all, I don't
recall seeing the majority and minority working so closely together and
in the right way for a while. Several of my amendments have been
accepted. I think they agreed to this one. It directs DOD to have a
report on the effect of boycotts against our domestic contractors. It
is modified, and I ask for its adoption.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there further debate? If not, the question
is on agreeing to the amendment, as modified.
The amendment (No. 1098), as modified, 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, I believe Senator Inhofe may wish to be
recognized to talk about another amendment or a couple amendments that
he has. We will not take any further action on those amendments now.
I think we are perhaps, hopefully, ready soon to offer a unanimous
consent on what I described a moment ago--how we will begin in the
morning. We will wait for that to be prepared.
I yield the floor.
Mr. INHOFE. Mr. President, I have two amendments that I believe are
very significant. However, I don't believe they will clear, and that is
the reason I will not be bringing them up. But it is important we do
address the problems. The Military Leasing Act prohibits military
installations from receiving any revenues from mineral exploration of
these lands. Exploration has taken place in Oklahoma and other places,
where we have, with the new horizontal drilling, been able to get at
some of these reserves. The problem is that this incurs an expense by
the military operations. The one I am talking about right now happens
to be the depot in McCallister, OK. Under the Mineral Leasing Act that
governs oil and gas leasing on Federal lands, it gives the
responsibility to the Bureau of Land Management.
The problem is, we want to explore it and accommodate others who are
going after these tremendous reserves and not just in Oklahoma but
elsewhere. But there is not a mechanism by which they can be paid for
expenses incurred by the local installation. We are going to be working
on this and coming up with some kind of a solution. I will not be
offering this as an amendment.
The second one I will not be offering is one that is very
significant, which is treating what we refer to as the sub-S, or
subpart-S carriers, nonscheduled carriers, that are currently taking
materiel and personnel into areas such as Afghanistan. We have crew
rest responsibilities, saying they cannot be--a
[[Page S8062]]
crew cannot be working for more than 15 hours. The problem is this: 95
percent of the military personnel going into Afghanistan and some of
these other areas go in by subpart-S operators. They are exempt from
the crew rest. Right now, there is legislation that is pending that
would make them fall under the crew rest requirements.
Military can take them in, but military doesn't have the capacity.
That is why 40 percent of all materiel and 95 percent of personnel are
being brought into these zones. As an example, if they are going from
the logical place, which would be in Germany to go into Afghanistan,
they would carry it in, but they would not be able to offload whatever
cargo or personnel and then get back and go to Stuttgart or whatever
location it is in Germany because that would exceed crew rest.
On the other hand, they are precluded from having civilian aircraft
staying in places such as Afghanistan. So there is no solution to it.
We want to address this. We are going to try to do it. We feel this
will not clear as it is now. So I will not be offering it tonight, but
it is one I think is very significant.
With that, I yield the floor.
Amendments Nos. 1094, 1095, 1096, and 1101 Withdrawn
Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, I wonder if while the Senator from Oklahoma
is here--we are trying to get a current list of amendments. Is it his
intent to withdraw amendment No. 1101 on C-12 aircraft?
Mr. INHOFE. I don't have that one with me. I would rather wait until
I get the amendment. There is one other I will want to have passed--
several amendments are on Guantanamo Bay detention. This is on long-
term, high-value detainees. It is my intention to offer that tomorrow.
I have currently four amendments that I will withdraw at this time so
we can unclog some of this.
I ask unanimous consent to withdraw amendments Nos. 1094, 1095, 1096
and 1101.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection? Without objection, it is
so ordered.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Michigan.
Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, I thank the Senator from Oklahoma for
helping us to get our list of amendments whittled down to where we can
hopefully have a manageable group for tomorrow. We are going to have a
very busy day tomorrow. We have a lot of amendments to address and
dispose of. It is doable because we have had the cooperation of
Senators. It is our goal--we must finish this by 6 o'clock.
Everybody has a right to a vote if their amendment is germane. We
hope we will have a chance to debate all these amendments as well as
vote on them. I believe we will be coming in at 9:30. That is the
current plan, and we will be back on the bill at 11. We have to start
off immediately. I hope we will vote on my amendment within a few
minutes after it is offered. There will be some debate in opposition to
my amendment, I understand.
Hopefully, the Senators who oppose it will be notified tonight that
my amendment is first up and we are going to be prepared to debate this
at 11 o'clock.
Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate resumes
consideration of S. 1867, the Defense authorization bill, tomorrow,
December 1, 2011, the pending amendment be the Levin amendment No.
1293, relative to high-speed ferries.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
Mr. McCAIN. Reserving the right to object, and I will not object, I
thank the chairman for the progress we have made and also again point
out that we have some very serious issues that deserve debate and
discussion. But when cloture expires--the 30 hours--there will be an
automatic vote triggered at that time. We look forward to working with
our colleagues to make sure they have sufficient time to debate the
amendments.
It would be regrettable, as important as some of these amendments
are, that we back up to the expiration of the cloture time and that
would trigger an automatic vote. I am sure we will get the cooperation
of all our colleagues.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
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