[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 166 (Friday, December 21, 2012)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1993-E1994]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




CONFERENCE REPORT ON H.R. 4310, NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR 
                            FISCAL YEAR 2013

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                         HON. CHRIS VAN HOLLEN

                              of maryland

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, December 20, 2012

  Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Mr. Speaker, it is with great regret that I rise to 
reluctantly oppose the Fiscal Year 2013 National Defense Authorization 
Conference Report.
  While the final version of the Defense Authorization bill makes many 
key improvements from the House-passed bill earlier this year, it 
unfortunately continues to fail the test of balance and funds billions 
of dollars of unnecessary programs within the Defense Department, while 
disregarding the caps set forth by the Budget Control Act. As Chairman 
of the Appropriations Committee, Mr. Rogers, said last year when we 
passed the BCA, ``Tough choices will have to be made, particularly when 
it comes to defense and national security priorities, but shared 
sacrifice will bring shared results.'' Unfortunately, the bill that is 
before us violates that bipartisan agreement.
  In developing its plan for FY2013, the Defense Department conducted a 
comprehensive review of force needs, capabilities and obligations. 
Difficult choices were made about which programs to keep and which to 
cut in order to maintain a fiscally responsible mission ready 
capability. However, the Conference Report authorizes funding levels 
above those requested by the president and above the BCA. The measure 
authorizes $552 billion in base national defense spending for the 
current year and $88.5 billion for the war in Afghanistan--$1.7 billion 
above the funding levels requested by the President in his February 
budget submission and $6.3 billion above the cap the BCA set last year.
  There are many programs contained in this bill that were not 
requested by the Defense Department. For example, the measure 
authorizes the establishment of a missile defense site on the East 
Coast that the DoD says threatens funding for the maintenance

[[Page E1994]]

and construction of other more urgent elements of the country's missile 
defense. The administration has not identified a requirement for a 
third U.S.-based missile defense site, and has yet to assess its 
feasibility or cost.
  The bill also includes provisions that block the administration's 
ability to retire aging and unnecessary military aircraft, including 
eighteen RQ-4 Global Hawk Block 30 drones. As a result, the Defense 
Department would be forced to operate, sustain, and maintain aircraft 
that are in excess of national requirements and are not affordable in 
this budget environment. At the same time, I was disappointed that the 
Conference Report ended funding for the Medium Extended Air Defense 
System, or MEADS, a $3.4 billion missile defense system. The President 
asked Congress to restore funding for the system, which is being 
developed in a partnership with Germany and Italy and is viewed as a 
symbol of transatlantic cooperation.
  I remain concerned about potential arbitrary cuts to the civilian 
workforce at DoD. In particular, there is a provision in the bill that 
requires a percentage reduction in the civilian and service contractor 
employee workforces that is proportional to the reduction in military 
end strength over a five-year period. While I am encouraged that the 
Conference Report made some changes that will give the Department of 
Defense more flexibility than existed in the original bill, the final 
version could continue to compromise the Department's ability to 
appropriately size its workforce to meet the mission workload 
requirements and its readiness and management needs. As the Defense 
Department stated, ``.  . . even during these periods of constrained 
defense budgets, we must ensure that we have the sufficient number of 
federal civilian personnel to meet the support needs of our military 
forces.
  I am also disappointed that an amendment was stripped from the 
Conference Report which would have banned the indefinite military 
detention without charge or trial of Americans and lawful U.S. 
residents on domestic soil. Americans and permanent residents of the 
U.S. who are detained in the United States should be granted the right 
to be tried in the civilian justice system. We can and must protect our 
national security without jeopardizing our fundamental rights and 
freedoms.
  I do, however, support several measures included in the final version 
of the NDAA. I was pleased that nearly $480 million was allocated for 
U.S.-Israel missile defense cooperation, including $211 million for 
Iron Dome, reaffirming the U.S.-Israel ties on missile defense. I also 
support the inclusion of an amendment offered by Senator Shaheen, which 
allows Department of Defense funds to be used to allow female service 
members to choose to terminate a pregnancy in cases of rape.
  In addition, I was encouraged that the Conference Report proposed to 
enhance protections for contractor-employee whistleblowers who blow the 
whistle on waste, fraud, and abuse on DOD contracts and the contracts 
of civilian agencies. Furthermore, I support the bill's critical human 
rights provisions, including new requirements to monitor overseas 
subcontractors for human trafficking.
  Despite the inclusion of these important measures, the fact remains 
that the FY2013 Defense Authorization Bill departs significantly from 
the spending levels set forth in the BCA last year. It is in violation 
of a bipartisan agreement and understanding that in order to get our 
fiscal house in order we have to make tough decisions on defense and 
non-defense spending alike. For those reasons, I cannot support this 
legislation.

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