[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 84 (Thursday, June 13, 2013)]
[House]
[Pages H3372-H3382]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
PROVIDING FOR FURTHER CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 1960, NATIONAL DEFENSE
AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2014
Mr. NUGENT. Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I
call up House Resolution 260 and ask for its immediate consideration.
The Clerk read the resolution, as follows:
H. Res. 260
Resolved, That at any time after the adoption of this
resolution the Speaker may, pursuant to clause 2(b) of rule
XVIII, declare the House resolved into the Committee of the
Whole House on the state of the Union for further
consideration of the bill (H.R. 1960) to authorize
appropriations for fiscal year 2014 for military activities
of the Department of Defense and for military construction,
to prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal
year, and for other purposes. No further general debate shall
be in order.
Sec. 2. (a) In lieu of the amendment in the nature of a
substitute recommended by the Committee on Armed Services now
printed in the bill, it shall be in order to consider as an
original bill for the purpose of amendment under the five-
minute rule an amendment in the nature of a substitute
consisting of the text of Rules Committee Print 113-13,
modified by the amendment printed in part A of the report of
the Committee on Rules accompanying this resolution. That
amendment in the nature of a substitute shall be considered
as read. All points of order against that amendment in the
nature of a substitute are waived.
(b) No amendment to the amendment in the nature of a
substitute made in order as original text shall be in order
except those printed in part B of the report of the Committee
on Rules and amendments en bloc described in section 3 of
this resolution.
(c) Each amendment printed in part B of the report of the
Committee on Rules shall be considered only in the order
printed in the report, may be offered only by a Member
designated in the report, shall be considered as read, shall
be debatable for the time specified in the report equally
divided and controlled by the proponent and an opponent,
shall not be subject to amendment, and shall not be subject
to a demand for division of the question in the House or in
the Committee of the Whole.
(d) All points of order against amendments printed in part
B of the report of the Committee on Rules or against
amendments en bloc described in section 3 of this resolution
are waived.
Sec. 3. It shall be in order at any time for the chair of
the Committee on Armed Services or his designee to offer
amendments en bloc consisting of amendments printed in part B
of the report of the Committee on Rules accompanying this
resolution not earlier disposed of. Amendments en bloc
offered pursuant to this section shall be considered as read,
shall be debatable for 20 minutes equally divided and
controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the
Committee on Armed Services or their designees, shall not be
subject to amendment, and shall not be subject to a demand
for division of the question in the House or in the Committee
of the Whole. The original proponent of an amendment included
in such amendments en bloc may insert a statement in the
Congressional Record immediately before the disposition of
the amendments en bloc.
Sec. 4. At the conclusion of consideration of the bill for
amendment the Committee shall rise and report the bill to the
House with such amendments as may have been adopted. Any
Member may demand a separate vote in the House on any
amendment adopted in the Committee of the Whole to the bill
or to the amendment in the nature of a substitute made in
order as original text. The previous question shall be
considered as ordered on the bill and amendments thereto to
final passage without intervening motion except one motion to
recommit with or without instructions.
{time} 1250
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Florida is recognized for
1 hour.
Mr. NUGENT. Mr. Speaker, for the purpose of debate only, I yield the
customary 30 minutes to the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr.
McGovern), pending which I yield myself such time as I may consume.
During consideration of this resolution, all time yielded is for the
purpose of debate only.
General Leave
Mr. NUGENT. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members
have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Florida?
There was no objection.
Mr. NUGENT. Mr. Speaker, House Resolution 260 is a structured rule
that provides House consideration of amendments to this year's National
Defense Authorization Act.
As I explained when I was down here yesterday, the Rules Committee
receives hundreds of amendments to the NDAA every single year. This
time we had 299 amendments to make our way through.
While the volume of amendments was massive, the Rules Committee
evaluated each and every one in developing this rule. We were not able
to make every amendment in order, but I believe this rule will allow
for the exhaustive debate of a vast majority of the issues presented in
committee.
Yesterday's rule provided for 1 hour of general debate on the
underlying bill, H.R. 1960. Today, we're considering a structured rule
that provides Members of the House with the opportunity to have copious
and free-flowing debate on many of the issues contained in the
underlying legislation.
As a member of both the Rules Committee and the Armed Services
Committee, I know how complicated and far-reaching the National Defense
Authorization Act can be. I've sat through multiple subcommittee marks
on this legislation. We had a nearly 16-hour-long full committee markup
on this bill, a meeting that started early Wednesday and lasted into
Thursday morning. And now we've had two Rules Committee hearings on
this bill, including yesterday's hearing, which took almost 10 hours
from start to finish.
Having spent as much time with this legislation as I have, I can
promise you this: the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal
year 2014 is a good bill. That's why the Armed Services Committee
passed it with an overwhelming vote of 59-2. And we need to acknowledge
Chairman McKeon and Ranking Member Smith for fostering such a
bipartisan and collaborative approach. This rule is the next step in
that transparent and cooperative process.
Of the 299 amendments that we received in the Rules Committee, H.
Res. 260 makes 172 of them in order. To use a technical term, that's a
lot of amendments. Despite that, my colleagues on the other side of the
aisle will remind us that even with 172 amendments allowed on the
floor, it's still not an open rule; and, clearly, they're right. But
let me assure you that this is also a fair and inclusive rule.
Having considered each of the amendments that was offered in the
Rules Committee, I can honestly say that what we have here today is a
rule that gives the House the opportunity to debate all of the major
topics contained in the underlying legislation without duplicating
efforts and having multiple amendments on the same issue.
[[Page H3373]]
For example, we heard many Members speak on the House floor yesterday
about sexual assault in the military. The underlying legislation takes
significant and necessary steps to combat, prosecute, and prevent this
heinous crime. But given the importance of this issue, the Rules
Committee understandably received five different amendments all related
to sexual assault. So I'm proud to say that H. Res. 260 provides the
House with the opportunity to debate this issue and ask ourselves if
there isn't more that we can do.
Another major topic, one that none of us can ignore, is the nature of
our military's operation in Afghanistan. We need to ask ourselves
what's going to happen at the end of 2014, at which time President
Obama has indicated we will have moved strictly to a security operation
in that country.
The Rules Committee received no less than four different amendments
on Afghanistan. I'm happy to say the rule allows for debate on the
issue by way of an amendment offered by my colleague from the Rules
Committee, Mr. McGovern, and I look forward to that. I look forward to
having the opportunity to join the gentleman from Massachusetts in
supporting that important--and I think commonsense--amendment, and my
hat's off to you for that.
And the list goes on--energy, the use of drones, Guantanamo Bay,
missile defense. The rule allows for amendments on all these important
topics. I am going to vote for some of the amendments that this rule
makes in order; I'm going to vote against others. But first and
foremost, I'm going to vote for this rule.
The bill was done the right way. It went through the subcommittee
process; it had a thorough and lively markup in the full committee; and
it went to the Rules Committee, where we were diligent about making
sure we gave it the consideration it deserves and provided it with two
rules.
H. Res. 260 is the next step in a thoughtful, bipartisan process. I'm
proud of this rule and the underlying legislation and the process that
has gotten us to where we are today. For that reason, I encourage all
of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to join me in passing this
rule, passing the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year
2014, and making sure our men and women in uniform have the tools and
resources they need to complete the mission safely and successfully.
With that, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. McGOVERN. I want to thank my friend, the gentleman from Florida
(Mr. Nugent), for yielding me the customary 30 minutes, and I yield
myself such time as I may consume.
(Mr. McGOVERN asked and was given permission to revise and extend his
remarks.)
Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, the rule for the defense authorization
bill is a structured rule. Over 300 amendments were submitted to the
Rules Committee, and 172 were made in order.
This was a very difficult task, made even more difficult because the
majority scheduled only 2 days for debate on amendments to this 850-
page bill. But I would like to add a special word of appreciation for
the Rules Committee staff, both majority and minority, who worked
tirelessly for long hours to prepare this bill and its amendments for
debate. I think most of my colleagues do not have the appreciation for
what the staff and even the members of the Rules Committee have to go
through, but I think they should appreciate their work even more after
this rule that is being brought before the floor today.
I am pleased that one of the amendments included in this rule is my
amendment on the war in Afghanistan. This is a bipartisan amendment
which will be debated and voted on later today. It is cosponsored by
Walter Jones of North Carolina and Ranking Member Adam Smith of
Washington, along with Representatives Lee and Garamendi of California.
A very similar amendment was not allowed debate last year; and I want
to particularly thank Chairman Sessions, members of the Rules
Committee, my good friend, Mr. Nugent, and the Republican leadership of
the House for allowing a debate on the war to occur this year. It is
the right thing to do; and I appreciate that they take seriously the
responsibilities of the House to debate issues of war and peace and to
sending and keeping our servicemen and -women in harm's way.
However, I'm a little disappointed that the debate will only last for
10 minutes. That's the amount of time designated for this amendment.
Ten minutes is not really enough time for a genuine debate on the war
in Afghanistan and what might next be required of our troops, and how
much staying in Afghanistan will cost us.
Afghanistan has turned into the longest war in American history--over
12 years so far. And heaven only knows, Mr. Speaker, it has cost us
dearly in both blood and treasure. Those costs will haunt us for
decades to come, as so many of our veterans have returned wounded in
body, mind, and soul: 2,235 American military personnel have been
killed in Afghanistan, and even more will be sacrificed before our
troops come home. Over 17,000 have been wounded. It's estimated that
over 30,000 Afghan civilians have been killed since 2001; 349 of our
veterans committed suicide last year, more than the 310 servicemen and
-women who were killed in theater in Afghanistan.
Since 2001, including the money in this bill, we have spent $778
billion for Operation Enduring Freedom, nearly all of that in
Afghanistan. Right now, as we speak on the floor of this House, we're
spending over $7 billion each month in Afghanistan. Every hour costs us
nearly $10 million. And all this time we have helped support a corrupt
Karzai government, a government that gets billions of dollars each year
and billions more under the table.
{time} 1300
Surely this war and the possible extended deployment of our brave
troops for an indefinite period of time are worth a little bit more
time than has been given for debate.
But, Mr. Speaker, Members will have the opportunity to debate and
vote later today on ensuring the President completes his timeline to
transfer all combat military and security operations to Afghan control
by the end of 2014, at which time U.S. involvement in combat operations
is to end; and to express that should the President determine to extend
the deployment of U.S. troops in Afghanistan after 2014, then the
United States Congress should specifically vote to authorize that
mission.
I would urge all of my colleagues--Democrats and Republicans--to join
us in supporting this very, very important amendment.
Again, I do want to express my appreciation to my colleagues on the
Rules Committee for making it in order. While I am pleased that my
amendment was made in order under the rule, several other amendments on
very serious military security issues were excluded from debate. I
would just like to mention a couple of them.
In a bipartisan fashion, Members of Congress have expressed their
shock and outrage over the epidemic of rape and sexual abuse and
assault in all branches of our military and at all ranks and military
institutions. It is unacceptable, and it is intolerable. While H.R.
1960 has many provisions that address aspects of this crisis, there
were several amendments that were not allowed, in particular,
amendments dealing with military sexual assault offered by
Representatives Speier and Gabbard.
These amendments were serious efforts to advance this debate and to
let Members of this House as a whole decide whether more needs to be
done to prevent and reduce the level of military sexual assault, to
prosecute and to bring to justice the perpetrators of sexual abuse, and
to hold accountable the military chain of command and institutions that
have allowed, facilitated, or tolerated this abuse. They should have
not been excluded from this rule, and they deserve our most serious
attention.
So because these and some other important issues fail to be included
in the rule, I reluctantly urge my colleagues to oppose this rule.
Again, I thank my colleague, Mr. Nugent, for his courtesies and for
his kind words about my amendment, and I will now reserve the balance
of my time.
Mr. NUGENT. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from
South Dakota (Mrs. Noem).
[[Page H3374]]
Mrs. NOEM. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding.
Today, during this debate, you may hear that some of the reforms that
are in H.R. 1960 do not go far enough, that commanders absolutely have
to be taken out of the decision process in sex-related offenses. Well,
I disagree, Mr. Speaker, and let me tell you why. Holding commanders
responsible and accountable for their actions and decisions is the most
effective way to change the military culture, especially with regard to
sex-related events.
Proposals to take the commander out of the military justice decision
process, they believe that it will improve those prosecutions. I
disagree. They believe it will improve convictions and overall
confidence of victims in the military justice system. There is no
evidence to support these assertions.
In fact, in 2005, the HASC heard similar assertions about the need to
conform the UCMJ section on rape and sexual assault to the Federal law
on those offenses. Congress made that revolutionary change and found
that it did not make things better. In fact, the change made things
worse. Cases were thrown out, the court of military appeals declared
parts of the changes were unconstitutional, and justice for victims was
delayed and ignored completely in some instances. Congress had to
rewrite the UCMJ to fix the harm done. The lesson from that is to slow
down when you're making major changes to UCMJ to make sure that you're
doing the right thing.
H.R. 1960 does exactly that. It asks both the Secretary of Defense
and the independent panel established by fiscal year '13 NDAA to
closely examine the role of the commanders under the UCMJ and make
recommendations for change as appropriate. It's time that we focus on
what's best for our victims of sexual assault in the military and how
to bring those perpetrators to justice.
Let me talk a little bit about some of the reforms that are included
in the bill because there are so many of them on a bipartisan basis
that were added to the bill that are going to help reduce the
incidences of sexual assault in our military.
One of them is that it would strip the commanders of their authority
to dismiss a finding by a court-martial. It would limit commanders'
ability to reduce, suspend, or dismiss a sentence. It would also
establish minimum sentencing guidelines--dismissal or dishonorable
discharge for sex-related offenses. Currently, such guidelines only
exist in the military for the crimes of murder and espionage. Now it
would include those that have to do with sexual assault in the
military.
There are whistleblower protections that were put in here, advocated
by Members of both parties--Republicans and Democrats--that would add
rape, sexual assault, or other sexual misconduct to the protected
communications of servicemembers with a Member of Congress or an
Inspector General.
I want to talk about some provisions that I championed that were
included in this bill. One of them, that it would review the practices
by military criminal investigative organizations in sex-related crimes.
It will put forward standardized training procedures that every branch
of the military would have to adhere to. It would make our commanders
much more accountable throughout that process.
The last one that I will mention today, Mr. Speaker, is development
of uniform criteria for selection of sexual assault response
coordinators.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentlewoman has expired.
Mr. NUGENT. Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 30 seconds to the
gentlelady.
Mrs. NOEM. Mr. Speaker, in the past, yes, absolutely justice has been
delayed and we have not seen the answers for our victims that they need
that have been victims of sexual assault in our military. I wasn't here
to work on the other NDAA bills. I wasn't here to have the debate
during those conversations that were had in the past. A lot of the
things that were done and discussed were empty words and broken
promises.
Today, I'm here to say that these reforms that are included in H.R.
1960 will help our victims and will stop sexual assault in the military
today.
Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, it is my privilege now to yield 3 minutes
to the gentleman from Maryland, the Democratic whip, Mr. Hoyer.
(Mr. HOYER asked and was given permission to revise and extend his
remarks.)
Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding, and I
rise in opposition to this rule as it fails to make in order several
important amendments, including ones from Representatives Speier and
Gabbard, that would have continued a critical debate on the urgent
problem of sexual assault in the military.
The previous speaker has pointed out how important an issue this is.
If it's such an important issue, it really deserves broader debate in
this House fully. Unfortunately, the Rules Committee saw fit not to
allow those amendments in order.
But I want to thank the Rules Committee for making in order by the
ranking member, Mr. Smith, to close the detention facility in
Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. I've been to Guantanamo--I don't know how many of
my colleagues have been there, but I've been to Guantanamo--and
Guantanamo is a significant drain on the Department of Defense's
resources.
There are other reasons to close Guantanamo, which I will speak of,
but the numbers speak for themselves. It costs us $1.6 million per
detainee. That's versus $34,000 for Federal prisoners. $1.6 million per
detainee. $247 million authorized in this bill to replace temporary
facilities at Guantanamo. Overall, $264 million a year to keep this
facility operational for 166 people. For every dollar spent on a
detainee we spend one less dollar on our troops in the field. At a time
of great fiscal uncertainty, it is astounding that this facility stays
open.
Guantanamo costs us not only in economic might, but in moral might as
well. We are a Nation of laws, and it is our continued adherence to the
Founders' vision of a lawful society that allows us to lead the world
in confronting threats to peace and stability.
I urge all of my colleagues to think about the damage Guantanamo's
continued operation causes to our national security as our moral might
slips, as terrorists continue to use Guantanamo as a recruitment tool,
and as our allies grow leery of cooperating with us for fear that a
transferred detainee could end up at Guantanamo.
I also urge all of us to remember that hundreds of terrorists--
hundreds--have faced justice in civilian courts and are currently
serving time in prison in the United States. Among them are Faisal
Shahzad, the Times Square bomber; Richard Reid, the shoe bomber;
Zacarias Moussaoui, who conspired to kill nearly 3,000 innocent
Americans on 9/11--all of them in our prisons here.
{time} 1310
We don't have to worry about these individuals because our system
works. Not a single terrorist--not one--or anyone else has ever escaped
from one of our maximum security prisons.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has expired.
Mr. McGOVERN. I yield the gentleman an additional 1 minute.
Mr. HOYER. Since 9/11, 494 terrorists have been convicted in our
civilian court system. In stark contrast, there have been only seven
terrorists convicted by the military commissions in Guantanamo. Five of
these, by the way, were pleas.
To quote General Colin Powell from 2010:
We have 300 terrorists--it's now less--who have been put in
jail not by a military commission but by a regular court
system . . . We ought to remove this incentive that exists in
the presence of Guantanamo to encourage people and give
radicals an opportunity to say, ``You see? This is what
America is all about.''
That's Colin Powell.
We should be proud of our Nation's long history of bringing to
justice those who commit crimes that threaten the peace and freedom of
innocent people around the world. Guantanamo is a stain on that record.
It should be closed.
I urge my colleagues to support this amendment.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has again expired.
Mr. McGOVERN. I yield the gentleman 30 additional seconds.
Mr. HOYER. Additionally, let me say there are a few other amendments
that, I hope, Members will support.
[[Page H3375]]
One is the amendment from my friend Jim McGovern--a sense of Congress
that this body should have the right--indeed, the duty--to engage in a
debate about the continued path forward in Afghanistan.
I urge my colleagues to support that amendment.
Mr. NUGENT. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from
Indiana (Mrs. Walorski).
Mrs. WALORSKI. I rise today to speak in support of this rule.
Being new to the HASC Committee, I was very encouraged to see the
bipartisan fashion in which this bill was crafted. We worked together
as a committee, and we had vigorous debates on these issues in the
committee. I even had the privilege to work with colleagues across the
aisle to address the issue of sexual assault language.
I want to thank Chairman McKeon and Ranking Member Smith for making
efforts to combat sexual assault as a cornerstone of this bill.
Within this bill are provisions that would strip commanders of their
authority to dismiss findings. My bipartisan provision adds rape,
sexual assault or other sexual misconduct to the protected
communications of servicemembers with a Member of Congress or with an
inspector general. This bill also establishes minimum sentencing
guidelines. It establishes an independent panel to examine the role of
the commander in sex-related offenses. It also reviews the practices of
military criminal investigative organizations in sex-related crimes.
Mr. Speaker, we spent months debating and drafting all of the reforms
I just mentioned in this bill. There are a lot of good things in the
overall bill. The time for Congress to eradicate sexual abuse in the
military is now. I urge my colleagues to support the rule so that we
can move these much-needed reforms one step closer to becoming law.
Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentlewoman
from Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee).
(Ms. JACKSON LEE asked and was given permission to revise and extend
her remarks.)
Ms. JACKSON LEE. I thank my good friend, and I thank the manager of
the underlying legislation and this rule.
Happy Father's Day to all of the men who serve in the United States
military, for this legislation points, in some instances, to the needs
of these great servants--and to the women who serve in the United
States military as well.
I, too, would have wanted to see the Speier-Gabbard amendment be
included. I am glad for an amendment that I submitted to post sexual
assault prevention information and to be able to ensure that there are
ways of getting resources to those victims, the number of whom we want
to see diminished. I am also glad to note that Mr. McGovern's amendment
has been put in another amendment by Mr. Conyers that has to do with
not using force in Iran. Also, we recognize that our soldiers suffer
from PTSD, and I am glad that an amendment has been made to extend the
mental health services and counselors for our soldiers.
One that I have been working on for a long time has come to
fruition--and I want to thank the Rules Committee and, of course, the
Armed Services Committee--which is to collaborate between the National
Institutes of Health and the Department of Defense on finding the
biomarkers on triple-negative breast cancer. It will save the lives of
so many women.
I had hoped that we could have moved the 1.8 percent salary increase
to 2.2 percent. I know that it costs money--yes, it does--but our
soldiers are valuable.
Finally, I wish we could have had a thoughtful discussion to restore
the trust of Americans around our civil liberties, and to simply rein
in the number of private contractors that deal with intelligence
gathering, and I intend to introduce legislation.
Mr. NUGENT. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Ohio
(Mr. Turner).
Mr. TURNER. We have a significant problem of sexual assaults in the
military, and this bill addresses many of the issues that we know
legislatively will help both change the culture and change the
environment in the military.
Recent surveys indicate that over 28,000 people have indicated that
they have been sexually assaulted in the military, but slightly fewer
than 3,000 are willing to come forward and actually ask that their
perpetrators be prosecuted. When you look at that number further, the
survey indicates that 62 percent of those who came forward indicated
that they felt they were persecuted in the workplace for having done
so.
Many victims of sexual assault in the military report that they have
been re-victimized, that they, in fact, fear the system, and that there
is a sense that if one reports a sexual assault that it will negatively
impact one's career and perhaps even put one at risk for further
violence.
What we have tried to do in this bill on a bipartisan basis, in
working with Niki Tsongas--my cochair of the Sexual Assault Prevention
Caucus--and in working with Chairman McKeon and Ranking Member Smith,
is to look at ways in which the commander's role can be restricted and
to require that the decisionmaking on sexual assaults be pushed up the
chain of command, and to instill upon the entire system an evaluation
process so that those who are making decisions are held accountable for
those decisions.
We have taken away from the commander the ability to set aside a
conviction for sexual assault, and we have added a mandatory minimum so
that, if you commit a sexual assault, you are out of the military. If
there is an inappropriate relationship between a trainee and a trainer,
you are out of the military.
We tried to make certain in this that we had bipartisan consensus.
Now, there are those who say that we need a whole new judicial system
in order to be able to address sexual assault, but, in fact, the
judicial system hasn't been the failure; the chain of command has been
the failure, and we have addressed that by restricting the authority of
the chain of command by requiring decisions be pushed up the chain of
command and by imposing criteria of holding them accountable.
Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to yield 2 minutes to
the gentleman from California (Mr. Garamendi).
Mr. GARAMENDI. Thank you, Mr. McGovern.
I want to follow up on the previous comments.
A strong case was made for changing the way in which rape is handled
and sexual assault is handled, but it doesn't go far enough.
Unfortunately, the rule doesn't allow for a full discussion and a full
vote by the House on this very, very important issue being brought to
us by my colleague from California (Ms. Speier). We need to have that
debate here. We need to really go outside the chain of command for the
most important piece, and that is the charging of the incident.
Beyond that, the Rules Committee did pick up an issue that I put
forward. The Afghan National Army is going to receive $7.7 billion in
this legislation. Unfortunately, $2.6 billion has been added to last
year's money, and there is no indication as to how that $2.6 billion
will be spent. So the Rules Committee did adopt my amendment, and it
will be en bloc. It deals with: we can't spend that money until we find
out how it is going to be spent, which is the basic policy that we
apply to every military acquisition in our own military.
The east coast missile defense site remains and is not to be debated
on the floor. That's unfortunate. It's $2.25 million this year and more
in the future. Language in this bill about Syria ought to be debated on
the floor. Fortunately, it will. We are going to also debate the
authorization to use force.
{time} 1320
We need that debate. Unfortunately, in the committee markup, only
moments were spent on the Afghanistan war, and more than $80 billion
will be spent there.
At a time when we are reducing our forces by 40 percent, we're
actually spending at least as much as we're spending in the current
year. Why? We need to ask that question. Why are we spending that
amount of money as we reduce our forces? It was not discussed at all
during the markup. We need that full debate on the floor. And
therefore, for these reasons, I oppose the rule.
We must debate this $700 billion bill in full.
[[Page H3376]]
Mr. NUGENT. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from Utah
(Mr. Bishop), my colleague on both the Rules Committee and the Armed
Services Committee.
Mr. BISHOP of Utah. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the gentleman from
Florida yielding. I now owe you one more.
This is an impeccably good rule. It made in order 172 amendments,
which makes someone wonder why we have committees in the first place. I
wish to bring to light three of those particular amendments so they're
not overlooked in the rhetoric that we have going here today, because
each does have an impact on the readiness taking place.
The first one is one by the gentleman from New Mexico (Mr. Pearce),
which would ask the agencies of this government to communicate with the
military when something actually would impact the military; in this
case, BLM making a decision which would have a great deal of impact on
our military lands in New Mexico. We saw this earlier when NASA decided
to change its flight program--it had a great deal of impact on the cost
of our missile defense system--and when the FAA decided to close
towers, which impacted three military bases and made their security
much more tenuous, and all of these cases without ever discussing the
impact of those decisions with the military. We have an administration
that seems to have the problem of interagency communication--when the
actions of one impact the actions of the other--and this is the first
step to move it that way.
Mrs. Lummis of Wyoming has an amendment which would create a warm
line for the ICBM. Not only would this increase our security, but it
ensures we have an adequate industrial base. We cannot turn on and off
our industrial base like a spigot: when we need them, they're there;
and when we don't need them, they can go off. This would require us to
have a strong industrial base and would move us forward in the area of
security.
Finally, I wish to address an amendment by Mr. Rigell of Virginia
which deals with A-76. On the surface, this looks like a wonderful
idea. Who can be opposed to competition? Especially when it's fair and
apples to apples. Unfortunately, this particular amendment is comparing
artichokes to avocados, which have only the fact that they start with
the letter ``A'' in common and the fact that I hate both of them
equally.
Five years ago, the Office of Management and Budget asked the
Government Accountability Office to review A-76, as well as the
inspector general of the Department of Defense. They concluded that
this program should be suspended because there were structural flaws
within the system that was dealt with on its implementation. None of
those suggested structural flaws have been fixed in the meantime. This
system has been studied and found wanting.
At the same time, the Department of Defense has come up with a DTM
process, which is required to be reviewed by the underlying base bill.
Now is not the time to change that process of A-76 until that review
has also been completed.
Let me be kind of honest here. The idea before A-76 is really about
lowest price but not necessarily best value. With lowest price, you're
doing a product that will be put on the open market that will sell or
not sell. Who really cares what happens to it. But when you're dealing
with the military, you're dealing with military equipment that must be
repaired on a timely basis and be available on a timely basis or lives
are lost, and that becomes the significance of this particular issue.
What we should be doing, instead of trying to go backwards to A-76,
is do a public-private partnership, which many of our depots are
actually doing. In that case, I am appreciative that Mr. Rigell did put
one sentence that would not interfere with any public-private
partnerships that we are doing at the present time. But the idea of
allowing the creativity of the private sector to meet with the
stability of the workforce from a public sector would be the ideal
solution, rather than trying to do some other program which would
create a food fight, which would be costly, counterproductive, harm our
readiness, and destroy the morale of our workforce, which is already
harmed because of the furloughs they're facing.
In this particular amendment, the Office of Management and Budget is
opposed to it. The Department of Defense is opposed to this amendment,
and so should we be on the floor of the House.
Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, it's my privilege to yield 1\1/2\ minutes
to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Castro).
Mr. CASTRO of Texas. I thank my friend, Mr. McGovern, for yielding.
I rise to speak today on sexual assault in the military and the need
for justice and reform. This issue carries great significance for me,
as I represent the area around Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio,
Texas.
The community in San Antonio, like communities across the country,
was appalled to learn of the events that took place at Lackland. The
sexual misconduct by military training instructors at Lackland has been
one of the largest sexual misconduct scandals and investigations within
the military. Similar stories have also surfaced from the academies to
forward operating bases and now in the Pentagon.
When events like this occur, we must do two things: first, we must
provide justice swiftly, and second, we must implement reforms to
prevent future transgressions.
I'll continue to work with the committee to make sure that the
recommendations for reform are implemented and serve as a model for the
other branches of service.
This legislation does make progress in combating military sexual
assault, but let us not forget that there is still much work to be
done.
Mr. NUGENT. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from
Tennessee (Mr. Duncan).
Mr. DUNCAN of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for
yielding, and I rise in support of this very fair rule which has
allowed 172 amendments.
I rise in strong support of the amendment by the gentleman from North
Carolina (Mr. Jones), which would accelerate the paced withdrawal from
Afghanistan.
Mr. Speaker, the American people do not want forever wars that now
have lasted three or four times longer than World War II. Afghanistan
has simply become little more than a gigantic money pit, with President
Karzai and his cronies ripping off American taxpayers for billions of
dollars. President Karzai has made it very clear that even he wants us
out, but, of course, he still wants us to send him our billions. It is
long past the time.
In fact, Mr. Speaker, there never should have been a time in the
first place for needless wars that keep resulting in the killing and
maiming of young American soldiers. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan
have always been more about money and power than about any real threat
to the American people.
William F. Buckley changed his views before he died and came out
strongly against the war in Iraq. What he said in 2005 regarding the
war in Iraq can be said about Afghanistan today. Mr. Buckley said:
A respect for the power of the United States is engendered
by our success in engagements in which we take part. A point
is reached when tenacity conveys not steadfastness of
purpose, but misapplication of pride.
Mr. Speaker, as other speakers have pointed out before me, the
underlying bill calls for a spending of $85 billion, or $7 billion a
month, for the war in Afghanistan. That is too much.
It is time to bring our troops home.
Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from
California (Mr. Lowenthal).
Mr. LOWENTHAL. Mr. Speaker, I'm here today, and I stand in support of
the Smith amendment to close the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay.
Guantanamo Bay has become a symbol around the world for an America
that has lost sight of its own cherished principles: due process,
habeas corpus, and the rule of law.
I recently visited the Guantanamo Bay detention camp. Seeing this
camp made it clear to me that we cannot keep these detainees forever
without charging them with crimes and giving them their day in court.
It is not humane. It is not just. It is not American.
Some prisoners must go home; some must face trial; some prisoners
will spend the rest of their lives in jail. In the end, though, we must
close this chapter and ensure that justice is done. Guantanamo must
close.
[[Page H3377]]
Keeping the Guantanamo camp open is a complete waste of taxpayers'
money. The solution is to support Congressman Smith's amendment to
close the Guantanamo detention center.
Mr. NUGENT. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from
Illinois (Mr. Rodney Davis).
{time} 1330
Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman
formerly from the great State of Illinois.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the rule, and I appreciate
the time to talk about a very critical issue that the underlying bill
addresses. As the father of a 16-year-old daughter, I don't know how
comfortable I would be if she came to me and said she would like to
join the military, especially given the current culture regarding
sexual assault. This year alone, 26,000 men and women in the military
have been impacted by sexual assault.
The National Defense Authorization Act is a step in the right
direction in ending this culture and establishing an intolerance, as it
includes mandatory sentencing requirements and strips commanders of
their authority to dismiss a conviction by court-martial.
The Department of Defense estimates there were 19,000 victims of
sexual assault in FY 2011 alone, but only 2,700 victims actually filed
a report.
In early May, I was pleased to cosponsor H.R. 1864, a military
whistleblower bill which extends whistleblower protections to those who
report instances of sexual misconduct. This valuable provision has been
added to the National Defense Authorization Act. I am pleased to see
Congress respond to the issues of sexual assault within the military. I
look forward to the day when all fathers will be comfortable sending
daughters like mine into the military to fight for our freedoms, and
without second thoughts about their safety.
Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from
Oregon (Ms. Bonamici).
Ms. BONAMICI. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to the rule. I thank
Mr. McGovern for yielding.
Last week, this House passed the Ruth Moore Act to help support the
victims of sexual assault and trauma in the military, but more must
still be done to stop those crimes before they occur.
I thank the Armed Services Committee members for their work on this
issue to date; but, unfortunately, the Sexual Assault Training
Oversight and Prevention amendment, sponsored by Representative Jackie
Speier, was not made in order. This amendment would help stop sexual
violence in our military and remove sexual predators from its ranks,
and we should have an opportunity to vote up or down on the provision.
We're missing a crucial opportunity to stop the unwanted sexual contact
that is now experienced by one in five servicewomen.
I've heard from Oregonians who live with the painful memory of sexual
assault they experienced while serving and veterans associations
concerned for the safety of those who answer the call of duty.
We all agree that these crimes have no place in our society and no
place in our military. It's too bad that we were deprived of an
opportunity to do something meaningful about it.
Mr. NUGENT. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I am proud to yield 2 minutes to the
gentlewoman from California (Ms. Speier).
Ms. SPEIER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Massachusetts for
allowing me to speak.
My colleagues have all spoken eloquently on the floor today about the
importance of addressing this issue of sexual assault and rape in the
military. What we hasten to do around here is pat ourselves on the back
for all the things we have done.
But let me tell you what the elephant in the room is here today. The
elephant in the room here today is we have not had a robust debate on
chain of command. And why are my good friends on the Republican side of
the aisle unwilling to have that debate? Let's just air it. The Senate
has taken up this issue in their committee. They've had a full-out
hearing on it, and yet we have not done that in the House in the Armed
Services Committee. I had an amendment that was taken up last night by
the Rules Committee. It had 134 cosponsors. It was bipartisan in
nature. What's wrong with taking up an amendment with over a quarter of
the membership of this House on the floor in what is supposed to be an
open debate on this issue?
We will not fix this issue, Members, if we don't fix it on the front
end; and the problem is on the front end where people feel they cannot
file their complaint for fear of retaliation. And when complaints are
filed, and there were 3,300 of them filed in 2011, only 500 of them
were investigated and sent to court-martial, and less than 200 actually
had convictions. So why would anyone who was raped or sexually
assaulted in the military feel with confidence that they will receive
justice?
We deserve an opportunity to have a robust debate on the chain of
command and whether or not we should take these cases out of the chain
of command.
Britain, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Israel all have taken
these cases out of the chain of command. At the very least, we should
be able to debate it.
Mr. NUGENT. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Ohio
(Mr. Turner).
Mr. TURNER. Mr. Speaker, there are two things that I think are
important to note about the Speier amendment. First is that the author
of the amendment is actually a full member of the Armed Services
Committee and chose not to offer this amendment in the Armed Services
Committee where there could have been unlimited debate on the substance
of the amendment; instead choosing to offer it in this more limited
format where there were hundreds of amendments and certainly limited
time and issues of great import.
Also, it is cast in the light of the fact that you have bipartisan,
full support for the provisions that are in our bill that do address
sexual assault. The second thing that is important about the Speier
amendment is that, as the author noted, there had been debate on this
in the Senate. And in that debate, in fact, it was rejected--the
structure that was being proposed in the Speier amendment. So we
already have the Senate's view, and we also have a bipartisan view of
this House on what needs to be done. And we share with the author the
absolute commitment that this needs to be addressed.
The manner in which we've done it, again on a bipartisan basis, is by
moving it up the chain of command and restricting the chain of command.
No more can a commander, by their signature, set aside a conviction for
sexual assault. No more can someone who's convicted of a sexual assault
stay in the military. We will never have another victim who has to
report that after a conviction of a perpetrator for sexual assault,
that they were forced to salute their attacker. That attacker will be
out.
Now, there is more that we can do. In fact, I want to thank the Rules
Committee for having ruled in order my amendment, the Turner amendment,
that would also include 2 years of incarceration along with the
mandatory minimum of being thrown out. I would encourage everyone to
support the Turner amendment that actually would like to increase the
penalties beyond what we've done.
Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from
Texas (Mr. O'Rourke).
Mr. O'ROURKE. I thank the gentleman for yielding me this time.
I rise today in support of the McGovern-Smith-Lee-Jones-Garamendi
amendment to responsibly end the war in Afghanistan.
I have the distinct honor of representing Fort Bliss in El Paso,
Texas, home to 33,000 Active Duty Army servicemembers and their
families.
Since the start of this war in Afghanistan, 41 soldiers from Fort
Bliss have lost their lives in combat. In April of this year, five Fort
Bliss soldiers lost their lives in a single IED attack. All five of
them had already been awarded both a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart.
Just this past month, three Fort Bliss soldiers were killed in a single
attack. More than 100 have been injured in combat and awarded the
Purple Heart. Countless soldiers are coming back to our community with
unseen mental injuries, including post-traumatic stress disorder. And
already this year, three
[[Page H3378]]
soldiers at Fort Bliss have committed suicide.
This terrible loss of life should focus us on our solemn
responsibility to know when to bring our soldiers home to their
families. We are grateful to their service and their achievements.
Because of them, Osama bin Laden has been killed. The Taliban has been
weakened, and the Afghan people have been given the opportunity to
develop a stable and democratic state, if they so choose.
I believe now is the right time to responsibly end the longest war in
our Nation's history. The amendment would help ensure that the
President sticks to his timetable to end combat operations by the end
of this year and bring our soldiers home from Afghanistan by the end of
next year. This amendment will save lives, and it honors the sacrifice
of our soldiers who have lost their lives by guaranteeing that Congress
fulfills our constitutional responsibility to decide when to send our
soldiers into harm's way and how long to keep them there.
I urge all of my colleagues to support it, and bring our soldiers
home.
Mr. NUGENT. I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from
Texas (Mr. Veasey).
Mr. VEASEY. Mr. Speaker, I'm proud today to stand with my colleagues,
Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard and Dr. Benishek, in support of their
amendment to include the Military Justice Improvement Act of 2013 in
the National Defense Authorization Act, and I regret that this rule for
this bill did not allow that.
The Military Justice Improvement Act will reform the military legal
procedure for handling sexual assault cases by giving a military
attorney outside the victim's chain of command the ability to initiate
legal proceedings. This is a fundamental change from currently
requiring a sexual assault victim to first turn to their commanding
officer to investigate and decide how to advance the case.
{time} 1340
As a member of the House Armed Services Committee, I'm proud to
support this bill that will decrease the occurrence of sexual assault
within our military ranks.
The current state of 26,000 reported sexual assault incidents in 2012
is completely unacceptable. This amendment will strengthen initiatives
already in the Defense bill that aim to reduce this way-too-high
number. Our military men and women deserve better, and this bill is a
strong step in the right direction.
Also, Mr. Speaker, I rise today in opposition to the amendment by Mr.
Coffman that would direct the Defense Department to contract any
function not considered to be inherently governmental, with no regard
to policy, risk, or costs.
At a time when service and contract costs to our military have risen
by 200 percent in the last 10 years and civilian personnel costs have
remained relatively flat, I believe it's irresponsible to require our
military to outsource important governmental work like developing
budgets, overseeing contracts, and interpreting regulations to private
contractors.
We cannot allow our Federal employees and civilian personnel to
continue to serve at the first line of cuts and furloughs in an effort
to cut costs. Federal employees and civilian personnel are a critical
component to our national security and consistently deliver their
services at significantly lower costs than private contractors. In
fiscal year 2010, the Pentagon reported saving nearly $900 million by
using civilian workers instead of private contractors.
I urge my colleagues to oppose this amendment and let the defense
workers continue their service.
Mr. NUGENT. Mr. Speaker, I continue to reserve the balance of my
time.
Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I'm happy to yield 2 minutes to the
gentlewoman from Maryland (Ms. Edwards).
Ms. EDWARDS. Mr. Speaker, yesterday, I joined with many of my
colleagues here on the floor to urge the Congress and the Rules
Committee to take seriously the disturbingly high incidences of sexual
assault in the military and to act quickly and responsively to address
the issue.
Yesterday, on this floor, we were promised full consideration and
open debate on an issue that affects, at a minimum, 26,000 individuals
in the United States armed services. And yet here we are today with a
closed rule, consideration of only some amendments. And, frankly, the
amendments that would actually do the most to strengthen the hand of
survivors and prosecutors aren't being considered on this floor, and
that's really unfortunate.
I feel that we have let 26,000 victims of sexual assault down. We've
just let them down. And for all the good intentions--and I think that
there were good intentions. The Congress has considered, for the last
20 years, testimony and information from the Department of Defense on
its efforts to eliminate sexual assault from its ranks. These well-
intentioned efforts are falling well short, and we know that.
But we can't wake up on another day, or in another 20 years to say,
You know what? We still have to solve the problem. And so I would urge
us, we have to do that today for those victims. And with the estimated
26,000--that's up even 19,000 from 2011--we know that something is not
working.
While some of the provisions that are being considered today are
good-faith efforts, the dozens, including the Speier amendment,
supported by experts, advocates, and legal experts and proposed before
the Rules Committee to take additional steps to show that we really do
mean business are not being considered. It's really unfortunate that
only half of those amendments were made in order. And with an issue as
pervasive and damaging as this, where Republicans and Democrats, men
and women, agree that we have to do something, why, for those 26,000
victims, aren't we doing everything that we can?
We can't stand on the side of the perpetrators. We must stand on the
side of victims and survivors.
Mr. NUGENT. I continue to reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentlewoman
from Maine (Ms. Pingree).
Ms. PINGREE of Maine. Thank you to my good friend for yielding.
Mr. Speaker, as we confront the issue of sexual assault in the
military, we can't forget the survivors who continue to serve.
One area that has needed reform is the questionnaire that must be
filled out to obtain or renew a security clearance. One of the
questions, Question 21, asks if you have ever sought mental health
counseling. Knowing the question is there, and believing that answering
``yes'' might jeopardize their chances at a security clearance,
survivors of sexual assault often decided not to get the mental health
counseling that they needed.
The Director of National Intelligence has listened to us on this and
has issued guidance saying survivors of sexual trauma do not have to
report counseling related to that assault. But that change won't do the
survivors any good unless they know it has taken place, which is why
I've introduced an amendment that is part of a package we are
considering later today that would require the Department of Defense to
inform servicemembers of this change.
Mr. Speaker, I regularly hear from survivors of sexual assault who
want to know when the change will be made. It's time they get their
answer.
It's unfortunate that this rule does not allow more time for debate
on these critical topics.
Mr. NUGENT. Mr. Speaker, I continue to reserve the balance of my
time.
Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentlewoman
from California (Ms. Lee).
Ms. LEE of California. Let me thank the gentleman for yielding, for
your support, and for your tremendous leadership on so many issues.
Let me rise, first of all, in strong opposition to this rule. I am
extremely disappointed that Congress was denied the opportunity on this
floor to have a full and necessary debate about our constitutional role
in declaring war and our obligation to conduct vigorous oversight,
accountability, and to demand transparency.
While I appreciate the committee making my bipartisan amendment
[[Page H3379]]
with Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen with regard to HIV
discrimination in order, I offered a number of other amendments to
audit the Pentagon and to end the overly broad 2001 Authorization to
Use Military Force, which is a blank check.
I have long called for repeal of this authorization, dating back to
the horrific days of 9/11, right when we debated that resolution for no
more than an hour on September 14. We did not have a meaningful debate
12 years ago, and by blocking my amendment, this Congress will not be
able to exercise its constitutional war-making duties today.
Let me also say that I am pleased to join Representatives McGovern,
Jones, Garamendi, and our Armed Services ranking member, Adam Smith, on
an amendment which was made in order, which will at least give us an
opportunity to open that door and begin to talk about the fact that it
is time to bring our troops home, and that once 2014 is here, then we
need to determine what Congress will authorize, if anything.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentlewoman has expired.
Mr. McGOVERN. I yield the gentlewoman an additional 10 seconds.
Ms. LEE of California. Also, let me just say it's important, the
amendment that was made in order, Congressman Hank Johnson and myself,
with regard to prohibiting permanent military bases, so important.
So finally let me just say, Congress must debate and authorize any
future troop presence in Afghanistan beyond 2014.
Mr. NUGENT. Mr. Speaker, I continue to reserve the balance of my
time.
Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, may I inquire how much time is remaining?
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman has 2\1/4\ minutes.
Mr. McGOVERN. I am happy to yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from
Arizona (Ms. Sinema).
Ms. SINEMA. Mr. Speaker, I'm very disappointed that the Rules
Committee chose to disallow my amendment from being heard today. The
amendment that I offered, in conjunction with Representative Benishek
and Representative Gabbard, simply allowed for victims of sexual
violence in the military to have an opportunity to seek justice in
court, in the light of day, without fear of retribution or
recrimination from their superiors.
This amendment, Mr. Speaker and Members, would have taken the policy
outside of the chain of command so that victims of sexual assault would
have the opportunity to seek justice, and that those perpetrators who
have committed sexual assault against their fellow servicemembers would
be held accountable, accountable for the acts which they have
committed.
In this instance, Mr. Speaker and Members, this amendment would
ensure that the victims could report the crimes, seek justice without
fear of retribution or, even worse, having a superior who ignores or
downplays the severity of the incident which has occurred.
Mr. NUGENT. Mr. Speaker, I continue to reserve the balance of my
time.
Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, may I inquire from my friend how many more
speakers he has on his side?
Mr. NUGENT. I have none.
Mr. McGOVERN. Okay. Then I will yield myself the balance of the time.
Mr. Speaker, I'm going to urge that we defeat the previous question.
And if we defeat the previous question, I will offer an amendment to
make this an open rule so that Members have the opportunity to offer
any amendment allowed under the rules of the House.
{time} 1350
Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to include for the Record the
text of the amendment in the Record along with extraneous materials
immediately prior to the vote on the previous question.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Massachusetts?
There was no objection.
Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, let me just say that I think the Rules
Committee had a difficult task given the fact that the leadership of
this House has kind of only allocated 2 days for debate on the defense
authorization bill. They had to deal with 300 amendments. They made 172
in order. I know that everybody worked hard to try to be fair. I
appreciate, again, the courtesy extended to me on my amendment with
regard to Afghanistan, and I appreciate my colleagues on the Republican
side for their support.
I think the controversy still is around the issue of sexual assault
in the military. A number of amendments, particularly those offered by
Ms. Speier and Ms. Gabbard, were not made in order. That,
unfortunately, makes it very difficult for many on our side to support
this rule.
But I want to thank, again, the staff of the Rules Committee and the
Members for work on this. I urge a ``no'' vote on the previous question
and a ``no'' vote on the rule. I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. NUGENT. Mr. Speaker, this may be my third National Defense
Authorization Act as a Member of Congress, but it's my first NDAA as a
member of the Armed Services Committee. Let me tell you, it's been an
experience. It's an educational, time-consuming and sometimes an
exhausting experience, but it's always been a gratifying one.
As the father of three sons that currently serve in the United States
Army, I never forget the overarching purpose for all of our work on the
Defense Authorization Act. I know that my HASC colleagues never forget
it either.
I've had sons that have served in Iraq and Afghanistan, sometimes
simultaneously. I know what it's like to send a son or a daughter off
to war. As a family, it's something that causes you anguish all the
time. It's not something that should be done lightly. So I appreciate
the McGovern amendment because it's going to provide the opportunity to
actually discuss and put on the floor an ability for this House to
actually authorize or continue authorization of any force.
I think this House has been, unfortunately, somewhat derelict in its
duties because of what we've done in the past and what we've called the
President to do when we went into Libya, even though limited by air
support only. We should never put our men and women at risk unless this
House has a say in that which is so precious to us, and that's our sons
and daughters.
You heard Mr. Turner speak as relates to sexual assault, and I heard
a lot on the floor about Ms. Speier. She had the ability in the Armed
Services Committee--the committee I serve on--she had the ability to
bring that up in committee and have unlimited debate--unlimited
debate--within that body in regards to her amendment. She chose not to
do that. Instead, she chose to bring it in front of the Rules Committee
that has a limited time slot.
Of the 299 amendments that were brought forward, 172 were made in
order that are going to be heard on this floor today. That's what this
rule is about, about giving everybody access and to be heard on all the
important aspects of the NDAA. So to say that she was locked out just
isn't so. The ability was there. As a Member of the HASC Committee, she
had the ability to have unlimited debate.
Remember, the NDAA passed out of that committee 59-2. That's about as
bipartisan as you can get, and it really talks about the issues that
are important to America and particularly as it relates to protecting
our sons and daughters that are called upon to protect this Nation and
called upon to go out and sacrifice for this Nation. We owe them that
much. We want to make sure that they're successful in any mission that
they're sent forward to participate in to protect the interests of this
Nation and our Allies.
The American people hear in the news media about how partisan
Congress is today. Although we have our disagreements, and I know those
reports and folks back home can't be looking at the work we're doing on
the Armed Services Committee if all they see is partisanship, because
it's not there. If they were looking at the Armed Services Committee
and this year's National Defense Authorization Act, they'd see the kind
of collaboration that legislation is supposed to be about. They'd see a
chairman and a ranking member who work together on a common goal.
They'd see staff that works to benefit our warfighters and not a
political party. They'd see an
[[Page H3380]]
NDAA that was passed out of the largest committee in the House of
Representatives with only two people opposing it.
And, tomorrow, I hope they'll see a House of Representatives that can
put politics aside and support our troops by overwhelmingly passing the
National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2014.
It's a good bill. H. Res. 260 makes it even better by allowing the
House to consider amendments covering all the major issues covered by
NDAA and the Department of Defense at large. I always like to say that
nobody has a monopoly on good ideas. And that truism is evidenced by
the 299 amendments that were offered to this legislation. The rule
provides time for a vote on the majority of those ideas. That's why I
support the rule, I support the underlying legislation, and I hope the
House, as a whole, can do the same.
Mr. HONDA. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express my disappointment in
the Rules Committee for not making my amendment to H.R. 1960, the
National Defense Authorization Act or Fiscal Year 2014, in order.
House Republicans have once again failed to live up their promises of
openness and transparency by denying me the opportunity to offer this
important amendment to protect the privacy of students and parents with
regard to military recruiters.
I sought to offer this amendment in support of parents and students
within my own Silicon Valley district and from across the country. The
privacy of high school students across our nation is compromised by a
provision of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, also known as
No Child Left Behind, which requires school districts to provide the
personal, private information of students to military recruiters at the
risk of losing scarce federal education dollars, unless parents opt out
in writing.
Parents in my district complained to me that, in some instances,
their children were persistently contacted at home by military
recruiters. These parents wanted to know how the military got their
children's personal, confidential information, including home phone
numbers and addresses. They wanted to know why they were getting calls
during dinner, especially when they had already gotten off of
telemarketing lists.
My amendment sought to change this to an ``opt in'' requirement,
under which parents would need to provide written permission in order
for schools to be allowed share student information with recruiters.
The decision to join the military is a solemn one. Ideally, this
decision should be made in consultation with people who love and care
for the child--not with a government official, however well-
intentioned, whose very job is to recruit for the military. This cannot
be guaranteed if recruiters are able to contact students without
explicit parental approval, as those parents may not realize their
students are receiving such calls.
Other federal privacy statutes explicitly recognize individual
privacy rights, particularly those of minors. The Children's Online
Privacy Act prohibits commercial websites or online services from
releasing personally identifiable information of minors. Federal
agencies are prohibited from divulging personal information without
written consent. Yet under current law it is acceptable to force
schools to provide military recruiters with personal information of
their students. This violates the trust between schools and students.
Our nation has the best-trained and most powerful armed forces in the
world, and maintaining our military superiority depends on effective
recruiting. This country also has a proud history of personal rights
and privacy protection. I believe we can sustain one while preserving
the other.
We must protect the children and students who represent the future of
our country. This includes protecting their privacy.
The material previously referred to by Mr. McGovern is as follows:
An Amendment to H. Res. 260 Offered by Mr. McGovern of Massachusetts
Strike all after the resolved clause and insert:
That at any time after the adoption of this resolution the
Speaker may, pursuant to clause 2(b) of rule XVIII, declare
the House resolved into the Committee of the Whole House on
the state of the Union for further consideration of the bill
(H.R. 1960) to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2014
for military activities of the Department of Defense and for
military construction, to prescribe military personnel
strengths for such fiscal year, and for other purposes. No
further general debate shall be in order. It shall be in
order to consider as an original bill for the purpose of
amendment under the five-minute rule the amendment in the
nature of a substitute recommended by the Committee on Armed
Services now printed in the bill. The amendment in the nature
of a substitute shall be considered as read. All points of
order against that amendment in the nature of a substitute
are waived. At the conclusion of consideration of the bill
for amendment the Committee shall rise and report the bill to
the House with such amendments as may have been adopted. The
previous question shall be considered as ordered on the bill
and amendments thereto to final passage without intervening
motion except one motion to recommit with or without
instructions.
THE VOTE ON THE PREVIOUS QUESTION: WHAT IT REALLY MEANS
This vote, the vote on whether to order the previous
question on a special rule, is not merely a procedural vote.
A vote against ordering the previous question is a vote
against the Republican majority agenda and a vote to allow
the Democratic minority to offer an alternative plan. It is a
vote about what the House should be debating.
Mr. Clarence Cannon's Precedents of the House of
Representatives (VI, 308-311), describes the vote on the
previous question on the rule as ``a motion to direct or
control the consideration of the subject before the House
being made by the Member in charge.'' To defeat the previous
question is to give the opposition a chance to decide the
subject before the House. Cannon cites the Speaker's ruling
of January 13, 1920, to the effect that ``the refusal of the
House to sustain the demand for the previous question passes
the control of the resolution to the opposition'' in order to
offer an amendment. On March 15, 1909, a member of the
majority party offered a rule resolution. The House defeated
the previous question and a member of the opposition rose to
a parliamentary inquiry, asking who was entitled to
recognition. Speaker Joseph G. Cannon (R-Illinois) said:
``The previous question having been refused, the gentleman
from New York, Mr. Fitzgerald, who had asked the gentleman to
yield to him for an amendment, is entitled to the first
recognition.''
The Republican majority may say ``the vote on the previous
question is simply a vote on whether to proceed to an
immediate vote on adopting the resolution . . . [and] has no
substantive legislative or policy implications whatsoever.''
But that is not what they have always said. Listen to the
Republican Leadership Manual on the Legislative Process in
the United States House of Representatives, (6th edition,
page 135). Here's how the Republicans describe the previous
question vote in their own manual: ``Although it is generally
not possible to amend the rule because the majority Member
controlling the time will not yield for the purpose of
offering an amendment, the same result may be achieved by
voting down the previous question on the rule. . . . When the
motion for the previous question is defeated, control of the
time passes to the Member who led the opposition to ordering
the previous question. That Member, because he then controls
the time, may offer an amendment to the rule, or yield for
the purpose of amendment.''
In Deschler's Procedure in the U.S. House of
Representatives, the subchapter titled ``Amending Special
Rules'' states: ``a refusal to order the previous question on
such a rule [a special rule reported from the Committee on
Rules] opens the resolution to amendment and further
debate.'' (Chapter 21, section 21.2) Section 21.3 continues:
``Upon rejection of the motion for the previous question on a
resolution reported from the Committee on Rules, control
shifts to the Member leading the opposition to the previous
question, who may offer a proper amendment or motion and who
controls the time for debate thereon.''
Clearly, the vote on the previous question on a rule does
have substantive policy implications. It is one of the only
available tools for those who oppose the Republican
majority's agenda and allows those with alternative views the
opportunity to offer an alternative plan.
Mr. NUGENT. With that, I yield back the balance of my time, and I
move the previous question on the resolution.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on ordering the previous
question on the resolution.
The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that
the ayes appeared to have it.
Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 9 of rule XX, the Chair
will reduce to 5 minutes the minimum time for any electronic vote on
the question of adoption of the resolution.
The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--yeas 233,
nays 195, not voting 6, as follows:
[Roll No. 220]
YEAS--233
Aderholt
Alexander
Amash
Amodei
Bachmann
Bachus
Barber
Barletta
Barr
Barton
Benishek
Bentivolio
Bilirakis
Bishop (UT)
Black
Blackburn
Bonner
Boustany
Brady (TX)
Bridenstine
Brooks (AL)
Brooks (IN)
Broun (GA)
Buchanan
Bucshon
Burgess
Calvert
Camp
Cantor
Capito
Carter
Cassidy
Chabot
Chaffetz
Coble
Coffman
Cole
Collins (GA)
Collins (NY)
Conaway
Cook
Cotton
[[Page H3381]]
Cramer
Crawford
Crenshaw
Culberson
Daines
Davis, Rodney
Denham
Dent
DeSantis
DesJarlais
Diaz-Balart
Duffy
Duncan (SC)
Duncan (TN)
Ellmers
Enyart
Farenthold
Fincher
Fitzpatrick
Fleischmann
Fleming
Flores
Forbes
Fortenberry
Foxx
Franks (AZ)
Frelinghuysen
Gardner
Garrett
Gerlach
Gibbs
Gibson
Gingrey (GA)
Gohmert
Goodlatte
Gosar
Gowdy
Granger
Graves (GA)
Graves (MO)
Griffin (AR)
Griffith (VA)
Grimm
Guthrie
Hall
Hanna
Harper
Harris
Hartzler
Hastings (WA)
Heck (NV)
Hensarling
Holding
Hudson
Huelskamp
Huizenga (MI)
Hultgren
Hunter
Hurt
Issa
Jenkins
Johnson (OH)
Johnson, Sam
Jones
Jordan
Joyce
Kelly (PA)
King (IA)
King (NY)
Kingston
Kinzinger (IL)
Kline
Labrador
LaMalfa
Lamborn
Lance
Lankford
Latham
Latta
LoBiondo
Long
Lucas
Luetkemeyer
Lummis
Marchant
Marino
Massie
McCarthy (CA)
McCaul
McClintock
McHenry
McKeon
McKinley
McMorris Rodgers
Meadows
Meehan
Messer
Mica
Miller (FL)
Miller (MI)
Miller, Gary
Mullin
Mulvaney
Murphy (PA)
Neugebauer
Noem
Nugent
Nunes
Nunnelee
Olson
Palazzo
Paulsen
Pearce
Perry
Petri
Pittenger
Pitts
Poe (TX)
Pompeo
Posey
Price (GA)
Radel
Reed
Reichert
Renacci
Ribble
Rice (SC)
Rigell
Roby
Roe (TN)
Rogers (AL)
Rogers (KY)
Rogers (MI)
Rohrabacher
Rokita
Rooney
Ros-Lehtinen
Roskam
Ross
Rothfus
Royce
Runyan
Ryan (WI)
Salmon
Sanford
Scalise
Schock
Schweikert
Scott, Austin
Sensenbrenner
Sessions
Shimkus
Shuster
Simpson
Smith (MO)
Smith (NE)
Smith (NJ)
Smith (TX)
Southerland
Stewart
Stivers
Stockman
Stutzman
Terry
Thompson (PA)
Thornberry
Tiberi
Tipton
Turner
Upton
Valadao
Wagner
Walberg
Walden
Walorski
Weber (TX)
Webster (FL)
Wenstrup
Westmoreland
Whitfield
Williams
Wilson (SC)
Wittman
Wolf
Womack
Woodall
Yoder
Yoho
Young (AK)
Young (FL)
Young (IN)
NAYS--195
Andrews
Barrow (GA)
Bass
Beatty
Becerra
Bera (CA)
Bishop (GA)
Bishop (NY)
Blumenauer
Bonamici
Brady (PA)
Braley (IA)
Brown (FL)
Brownley (CA)
Bustos
Butterfield
Capps
Capuano
Cardenas
Carney
Carson (IN)
Cartwright
Castor (FL)
Castro (TX)
Cicilline
Clarke
Clay
Cleaver
Clyburn
Cohen
Connolly
Conyers
Cooper
Costa
Courtney
Crowley
Cuellar
Cummings
Davis (CA)
Davis, Danny
DeFazio
DeGette
Delaney
DeLauro
DelBene
Deutch
Dingell
Doggett
Doyle
Duckworth
Edwards
Ellison
Engel
Eshoo
Esty
Farr
Fattah
Foster
Frankel (FL)
Fudge
Gabbard
Gallego
Garamendi
Garcia
Grayson
Green, Al
Green, Gene
Grijalva
Gutierrez
Hahn
Hanabusa
Hastings (FL)
Heck (WA)
Higgins
Himes
Hinojosa
Holt
Honda
Horsford
Hoyer
Huffman
Israel
Jackson Lee
Jeffries
Johnson (GA)
Johnson, E. B.
Kaptur
Keating
Kelly (IL)
Kennedy
Kildee
Kilmer
Kind
Kirkpatrick
Kuster
Langevin
Larsen (WA)
Larson (CT)
Lee (CA)
Levin
Lewis
Lipinski
Loebsack
Lofgren
Lowenthal
Lowey
Lujan Grisham (NM)
Lujan, Ben Ray (NM)
Lynch
Maffei
Maloney, Carolyn
Maloney, Sean
Matheson
Matsui
McCollum
McDermott
McGovern
McIntyre
McNerney
Meeks
Meng
Michaud
Miller, George
Moore
Moran
Murphy (FL)
Nadler
Napolitano
Neal
Negrete McLeod
Nolan
O'Rourke
Owens
Pallone
Pascrell
Pastor (AZ)
Payne
Pelosi
Perlmutter
Peters (CA)
Peters (MI)
Peterson
Pingree (ME)
Pocan
Polis
Price (NC)
Quigley
Rahall
Rangel
Richmond
Roybal-Allard
Ruiz
Ruppersberger
Rush
Ryan (OH)
Sanchez, Linda T.
Sanchez, Loretta
Sarbanes
Schakowsky
Schiff
Schneider
Schrader
Schwartz
Scott (VA)
Scott, David
Serrano
Sewell (AL)
Sherman
Sinema
Sires
Slaughter
Smith (WA)
Speier
Swalwell (CA)
Takano
Thompson (CA)
Thompson (MS)
Tierney
Titus
Tonko
Tsongas
Van Hollen
Vargas
Veasey
Vela
Velazquez
Visclosky
Walz
Wasserman Schultz
Waters
Watt
Waxman
Welch
Wilson (FL)
Yarmuth
NOT VOTING--6
Campbell
Chu
Herrera Beutler
Markey
McCarthy (NY)
Shea-Porter
{time} 1422
Messrs. WELCH, GARCIA, and CARNEY changed their vote from ``yea'' to
``nay.''
Mrs. HARTZLER changed her vote from ``nay'' to ``yea.''
So the previous question was ordered.
The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the resolution.
The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that
the ayes appeared to have it.
Recorded Vote
Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I demand a recorded vote.
A recorded vote was ordered.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. This is a 5-minute vote.
The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--ayes 238,
noes 189, not voting 7, as follows:
[Roll No. 221]
AYES--238
Aderholt
Alexander
Amash
Amodei
Bachmann
Bachus
Barber
Barletta
Barr
Barton
Benishek
Bentivolio
Bilirakis
Bishop (UT)
Black
Blackburn
Bonner
Boustany
Brady (TX)
Bridenstine
Brooks (AL)
Brooks (IN)
Broun (GA)
Buchanan
Bucshon
Burgess
Calvert
Camp
Cantor
Capito
Carter
Cassidy
Chabot
Chaffetz
Coble
Coffman
Cole
Collins (GA)
Collins (NY)
Conaway
Cook
Cotton
Cramer
Crawford
Crenshaw
Culberson
Daines
Davis, Rodney
Denham
Dent
DeSantis
DesJarlais
Diaz-Balart
Duffy
Duncan (SC)
Duncan (TN)
Ellmers
Enyart
Farenthold
Fincher
Fitzpatrick
Fleischmann
Fleming
Flores
Forbes
Fortenberry
Foxx
Franks (AZ)
Frelinghuysen
Gardner
Garrett
Gerlach
Gibbs
Gibson
Gingrey (GA)
Gohmert
Goodlatte
Gosar
Gowdy
Granger
Graves (GA)
Graves (MO)
Griffin (AR)
Griffith (VA)
Grimm
Guthrie
Hall
Hanna
Harper
Harris
Hartzler
Hastings (WA)
Heck (NV)
Hensarling
Holding
Hudson
Huelskamp
Huizenga (MI)
Hultgren
Hunter
Hurt
Issa
Jenkins
Johnson (OH)
Johnson, Sam
Jones
Jordan
Joyce
Kelly (PA)
King (IA)
King (NY)
Kingston
Kinzinger (IL)
Kline
Labrador
LaMalfa
Lamborn
Lance
Lankford
Latham
Latta
LoBiondo
Long
Lucas
Luetkemeyer
Lummis
Maffei
Marchant
Marino
Massie
McCarthy (CA)
McCaul
McClintock
McHenry
McIntyre
McKeon
McKinley
McMorris Rodgers
Meadows
Meehan
Messer
Mica
Miller (FL)
Miller (MI)
Miller, Gary
Mullin
Mulvaney
Murphy (FL)
Murphy (PA)
Neugebauer
Noem
Nugent
Nunes
Nunnelee
Olson
Owens
Palazzo
Paulsen
Pearce
Perry
Peters (CA)
Petri
Pittenger
Pitts
Poe (TX)
Pompeo
Posey
Price (GA)
Radel
Reed
Reichert
Renacci
Ribble
Rice (SC)
Rigell
Roby
Roe (TN)
Rogers (AL)
Rogers (KY)
Rogers (MI)
Rokita
Rooney
Ros-Lehtinen
Roskam
Ross
Rothfus
Royce
Runyan
Ryan (WI)
Salmon
Sanford
Scalise
Schneider
Schock
Schweikert
Scott, Austin
Sensenbrenner
Sessions
Shimkus
Shuster
Simpson
Smith (MO)
Smith (NE)
Smith (NJ)
Smith (TX)
Southerland
Stewart
Stivers
Stockman
Stutzman
Terry
Thompson (PA)
Thornberry
Tiberi
Tipton
Turner
Upton
Valadao
Wagner
Walberg
Walden
Walorski
Weber (TX)
Webster (FL)
Wenstrup
Westmoreland
Whitfield
Williams
Wilson (SC)
Wittman
Wolf
Womack
Woodall
Yoder
Yoho
Young (AK)
Young (FL)
Young (IN)
NOES--189
Andrews
Barrow (GA)
Bass
Beatty
Becerra
Bera (CA)
Bishop (GA)
Bishop (NY)
Blumenauer
Bonamici
Brady (PA)
Braley (IA)
Brown (FL)
Brownley (CA)
Bustos
Butterfield
Capps
Capuano
Cardenas
Carney
Carson (IN)
Cartwright
Castor (FL)
Castro (TX)
Cicilline
Clarke
Clay
Cleaver
Clyburn
Cohen
Connolly
Conyers
Cooper
Costa
Courtney
Crowley
Cuellar
Cummings
Davis (CA)
Davis, Danny
DeFazio
DeGette
Delaney
DeLauro
DelBene
Deutch
Dingell
Doggett
Doyle
Duckworth
Edwards
Ellison
Engel
Eshoo
Esty
Farr
Fattah
Foster
Frankel (FL)
Fudge
Gabbard
Gallego
Garamendi
Garcia
Grayson
Green, Al
Green, Gene
Grijalva
Gutierrez
Hahn
Hanabusa
Hastings (FL)
Heck (WA)
Higgins
Himes
Hinojosa
Holt
Honda
Horsford
Hoyer
Huffman
Israel
Jackson Lee
Jeffries
Johnson (GA)
Johnson, E. B.
Kaptur
Keating
Kelly (IL)
Kennedy
Kildee
Kilmer
Kind
Kirkpatrick
Kuster
Langevin
Larsen (WA)
Larson (CT)
Lee (CA)
Levin
Lewis
Lipinski
Loebsack
Lofgren
Lowenthal
Lowey
Lujan Grisham (NM)
Lujan, Ben Ray (NM)
Lynch
Maloney, Carolyn
Maloney, Sean
Matheson
Matsui
McCollum
McDermott
McGovern
McNerney
Meeks
Meng
Michaud
Miller, George
Moore
Moran
Nadler
Napolitano
Neal
Negrete McLeod
Nolan
O'Rourke
[[Page H3382]]
Pallone
Pastor (AZ)
Payne
Pelosi
Perlmutter
Peters (MI)
Peterson
Pingree (ME)
Pocan
Polis
Price (NC)
Quigley
Rahall
Rangel
Richmond
Rohrabacher
Roybal-Allard
Ruiz
Ruppersberger
Rush
Ryan (OH)
Sanchez, Linda T.
Sanchez, Loretta
Sarbanes
Schakowsky
Schiff
Schrader
Schwartz
Scott (VA)
Scott, David
Serrano
Sewell (AL)
Sherman
Sinema
Sires
Slaughter
Smith (WA)
Speier
Swalwell (CA)
Takano
Thompson (CA)
Thompson (MS)
Tierney
Titus
Tonko
Tsongas
Van Hollen
Vargas
Veasey
Vela
Velazquez
Visclosky
Walz
Wasserman Schultz
Waters
Watt
Waxman
Welch
Wilson (FL)
Yarmuth
NOT VOTING--7
Campbell
Chu
Herrera Beutler
Markey
McCarthy (NY)
Pascrell
Shea-Porter
{time} 1431
So the resolution was agreed to.
The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
____________________