[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 164 (Wednesday, December 19, 2012)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8164-S8165]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE APPROPRIATIONS ACT

  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Under the previous order, the 
Senate will resume consideration of H.R. 1, which the clerk will report 
by title.
  The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       A bill (H.R. 1) making appropriations for the Department of 
     Defense and the other departments and agencies of the 
     Government for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2011, and 
     for other purposes.

  Pending:

       Leahy (for Inouye) amendment No. 3338, in the nature of a 
     substitute.
       Leahy (for Inouye) amendment No. 3339 (to amendment No. 
     3338), of a perfecting nature.
       Merkley amendment No. 3367 (to amendment No. 3338), to 
     extend certain supplemental agricultural disaster assistance 
     programs.
       McCain/Coburn amendment No. 3355 (to amendment No. 3338), 
     to strike funding for the Emergency Forest Restoration 
     Program.
       Tester amendment No. 3350 (to amendment No. 3338), to 
     provide additional funds for wild land fire management.
       Coburn/McCain amendment No. 3371 (to amendment No. 3338), 
     to ensure that Federal disaster assistance is available for 
     the most severe disasters.

  Mr. LEAHY. Madam President, I see the distinguished senior Senator 
from New Mexico on the Senate floor, and I yield to him.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from New Mexico.
  Mr. BINGAMAN. I thank my colleague Senator Leahy.
  Madam President, what is the pending business before the Senate now? 
Is it an amendment to this legislation?
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Amendment No. 3371 is the pending 
business.


                           Amendment No. 3344

  Mr. BINGAMAN. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the 
pending amendment be set aside and that I be permitted to call up 
amendment No. 3344 and ask for its immediate consideration.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.
  The clerk will report the amendment.
  The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       The Senator from New Mexico [Mr. Bingaman], for himself, 
     Mr. Webb, and Mr. Wyden, proposes an amendment numbered 3344.

  Mr. BINGAMAN. I ask unanimous consent that further reading of the 
amendment be dispensed with.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.
  The amendment is as follows:

   (Purpose: To provide for the approval of an agreement between the 
 United States and the Republic of Palau in response to Super Typhoon 
                                 Bopha)

       At the appropriate place, insert the following:

     SEC. __. APPROVAL OF THE 2010 U.S.-PALAU AGREEMENT IN 
                   RESPONSE TO SUPER TYPHOON BOPHA.

       (a) In General.--The agreement entitled ``The Agreement 
     Between the Government of the United States of America and 
     the Government of the Republic of Palau Following the Compact 
     of Free Association Section 432 Review'' signed on September 
     3, 2010 (including the appendices to the agreement) (referred 
     to in this section as the ``Agreement'') is approved (other 
     than Article 7 to the extent it extends Article X of the 
     Federal Programs and Services Agreement) and may only enter 
     into force after the Secretary of State, in coordination with 
     the Secretary of the Interior, enters into an implementing 
     arrangement with the Republic of Palau that makes the 
     adjustments to dates and amounts as set forth in Senate 
     Amendment 3331.
       (b) Amendment.--Section 105(f)(1)(B)(ix) of the Compact of 
     Free Association Amendments Act of 2003 (48 U.S. C. 
     1921d(f)(1)(B)(ix)) is amended by striking ``2009'' and 
     inserting ``2024''.
       (c) Funding.--
       (1) In general.--There are appropriated to the Secretary of 
     the Interior such sums as are specified to carry out sections 
     1, 2(a), 4(a), and 5 of the Agreement for each of fiscal 
     years 2014 through 2024.
       (2) Availability.--Amounts appropriated under paragraph (1) 
     shall remain available until expended.
       (3) Emergency designation.--Amounts appropriated under 
     paragraph (1) are designated by Congress as being for an 
     emergency requirement pursuant to section 4(g) of the 
     Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010 (Public Law 111-139; 2 
     U.S.C. 933(g)).

  Mr. BINGAMAN. Madam President, this is an amendment offered by myself

[[Page S8165]]

and cosponsored by Senators Webb and Wyden. It would provide for the 
approval of an agreement between the United States and the Republic of 
Palau in response to Supertyphoon Bopha.
  Few people are aware that as Hurricane Sandy was making its landfall 
in the northeastern part of our country, the United States, a 
supertyphoon known as Bopha was tracking a path of destruction across 
the western Pacific. The Republic of Palau, which is one of our closest 
allies and with which we are tied by a strategic alliance known as the 
Compact of Free Association, was struck by Bopha on December 2, causing 
extensive damage. The President of Palau declared a state of emergency, 
and the U.S. President, acting through the Department of State, issued 
a disaster declaration for Palau.
  This massive storm went on to kill over 1,000 people in the 
Philippines. Fortunately, there were no deaths in Palau, but high winds 
and storm surge and torrential rains caused widespread damage.
  A week ago the Ambassador from Palau, the Honorable Hersey Kyota, 
wrote to me as the chair of the Committee on Energy and Natural 
Resources, which has jurisdiction for assistance to nations that are in 
free association with the United States. The Ambassador asked for my 
help in responding to the disaster, but he did not ask for additional 
funding. Instead, the Ambassador asked that the agreement on future 
assistance that was signed between the United States and Palau in 2010 
be added to this emergency supplemental so the funding already agreed 
to by representatives of the United States would become available for 
disaster relief and recovery in Palau.
  I fully support the request by the Ambassador. I am glad to have the 
cosponsorship of my colleagues Senator Webb, who is chairman of the 
Asia-Pacific subcommittee, and Senator Wyden, who, of course, is the 
incoming chair of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, and I 
urge my colleagues' support of the amendment.
  The amendment tracks S. 343, which was introduced by me in February 
of 2011. At that time it was cosponsored by Senators Murkowski, Akaka, 
and Webb. The agreement to be approved would revise and update the 
Compact of Free Association that has governed U.S.-Palau relations 
since 1994 by extending and phasing out financial assistance over 11 
years.
  Palau is an island nation located strategically between the U.S. 
territory of Guam, the Philippines, and Indonesia. Captured in World 
War II, Palau became part of the U.S.-administered Trust Territory of 
the Pacific Islands. In 1994 Palau became a sovereign nation in free 
association with the United States under a 50-year compact that grants 
the U.S. military rights that the Department of State calls ``vital to 
our national security.''
  The compact also provided Palau with an initial 15-year term of 
assistance that ended in 2009. The agreement would extend and phase out 
U.S. assistance by 2024. Congress has provided stop-gap funding since 
2009, but the Department of Defense wrote to our committee--the 
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources--in April of 2011 stating:

       Failure to follow through on our commitments to Palau, as 
     reflected in the proposed [agreement], would jeopardize our 
     defense posture in the Western pacific.

  The agreement provides for the phaseout of financial assistance for 
operations, construction, and maintenance. The Congressional Budget 
Office's 10-year budget estimate for direct spending is $171 million. 
This U.S. commitment to future funding would make a crucial 
contribution to Palau's efforts to respond and recover from this 
present disaster.
  U.S. failure to respond to the needs of this strategic ally in its 
time of need by simply approving the already signed agreement would 
signal to Palau and to most other nations in the Pacific that the 
United States is an unreliable partner. So I urge the support of my 
colleagues for this amendment and for approving the agreed-to 
assistance to Palau so they may have the resources needed to respond to 
Supertyphoon Bopha.
  Madam President, I yield the floor, and I suggest the absence of a 
quorum.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mrs. HUTCHISON. 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.

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