[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 30 (Monday, March 4, 2013)]
[Senate]
[Page S1093]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Ms. COLLINS (for herself and Mr. King):
  S. 444. A bill making appropriations for the Department of Defense 
for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2013, and for other purposes; 
to the Committee on Appropriations.
  Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, I rise today to discuss two separate 
problems facing our Nation--the first is sequestration, which is 
underway now and indiscriminately affecting a wide range of programs. 
The second is the prospect of a long-term Continuing Resolution to fund 
the Federal government for the remainder of the fiscal year, also not 
the way we should be doing business. Both will result in damage to our 
military readiness.
  In order to tackle these two separate but equally devastating 
problems, I am introducing two measures today.
  The first bill, which I am pleased to join my colleague, Senator 
Udall, in sponsoring, will help mitigate the consequences of 
sequestration by providing Department and agency heads additional 
flexibility in implementing the cuts. The second bill, which I am 
introducing with my colleague from my home state of Maine, Senator 
King, will fund the Department of Defense for the remainder of the 
fiscal year at levels approved by the Senate Appropriations Committee 
in the funding bill that was reported unanimously by the Committee on 
August 2, 2012.
  As Deputy Secretary of Defense Ash Carter has repeatedly warned, 
failing to pass an annual defense appropriations bill and requiring the 
Pentagon to operate under last year's law will continue to lead to 
dangerous absurdities that have ramifications that last far beyond the 
six months left in this fiscal year.
  Military readiness will suffer. A hollow force will be created. The 
Pentagon will be unable to increase production rates for existing 
weapons, start new programs, or sign multiyear procurement contracts 
that would provide significant savings for taxpayers.
  When I questioned Deputy Secretary Carter on February 14, at a Senate 
Appropriations Committee hearing about what the continuing resolution 
means for the Navy and our domestic shipbuilding capability, he 
testified that:

       We're in the absurd position where we're five months into 
     the fiscal year and we have the authority to build the ships 
     that we built last year and no authority to build the ships 
     that we plan to build this year. That's crazy . . . and that 
     has nothing to do with sequester, by the way, that's the CR.

  I have long argued that we need to bring the annual appropriations 
bills to the floor to be considered individually on their merits. I 
believe that CRs represent an abdication of our responsibility and 
should be avoided altogether. But given where we find ourselves today, 
at the very least we should be able to come together to pass the full-
year Department of Defense funding bill and the Military Construction/
Veterans Affairs appropriations.
  With regard to sequestration, we have known this day could arrive for 
a year and a half now. Yet, instead of working together to avert 
sequestration and replace it with a more rational alternative, the time 
has been spent jockeying for partisan advantage and engaging in a blame 
game. Last week, the Senate spent time voting against proceeding to 
debate on two partisan proposals that both sides knew beforehand were 
doomed.
  The bill Senator Udall and I are introducing today is a bipartisan 
effort to mitigate the harmful effects of sequestration. As a result of 
sequestration, vital priorities such as defense, education, 
transportation, and biomedical research, all face indiscriminate, meat-
ax cuts. No distinction is made between high-performing programs and 
poorly performing ones.
  The legislation we introduce today seeks to fix that. Instead of 
mindless across-the-board budget cuts, this legislation provides the 
heads of Federal agencies and departments with the flexibility to 
implement the savings targets required by the Budget Control Act until 
such time as a bipartisan agreement is reached to replace the sequester 
cuts or until Congress passes new appropriations bills for fiscal year 
2013 that meet the sequester levels.
  The bill requires these agency and Department heads to submit their 
proposals to the Appropriations committees of both the House and the 
Senate for approval.
  This approval is an important step in the process because these 
Committees know the budget of each agency and can provide oversight of 
agency plans. This provides a strong incentive for each agency to put 
forth serious plans in order to avoid the across-the-board 
sequestration cuts that would otherwise take effect.
  Let me emphasize that while our proposal is intended to mitigate the 
harmful and mindless across-the-board approach of sequestration, a 
comprehensive, bipartisan approach to put our fiscal house in order 
must remain a top priority.
  I urge my colleagues to support both bills that we are introducing 
today.

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