[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 166 (Wednesday, November 20, 2013)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8340-S8341]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT

  Mrs. SHAHEEN. Mr. President, I rise today to discuss the legislation 
before us, the National Defense Authorization Act, and to highlight 
some of the many provisions in this legislation that are critical as we 
think about our national security and the future of our military. I 
chair the Readiness and Management Subcommittee, and I understand that 
one of the chief challenges which faces our military is readiness. The 
effects of nearly 10 years of warfare on our equipment and personnel, 
coupled with the sharp budget reductions under sequestration, have made 
it more difficult for our Nation's military leaders to prepare our 
forces for combat.
  During our markup of the Readiness and Management Subcommittee 
sections of this bill, I was pleased to work with my colleague from New 
Hampshire, the ranking member of the Readiness and Management 
Subcommittee Senator Ayotte to move more than $1.5 billion from low-
priority military construction projects into critical operations and 
maintenance accounts for each of our military services. This move will 
help mitigate the worst effects of sequestration on readiness. It is 
obviously not going to address the whole problem. We have a lot more 
work to do. Our men and women in uniform put their lives on the line 
for us, and we need to keep the commitment we have made that they 
should have the best possible training and best available equipment 
before we send them into combat.
  I was also pleased to work with Senators McCain, Leahy, and Grassley 
to include a 1-year extension of the special immigrant visa programs 
for both Iraq and Afghanistan. Special immigrant visas allow Afghans 
and Iraqis who worked directly with our U.S. Government and our men and 
women on the ground to come to the United States if their lives are in 
danger as a result of their service. We have heard countless stories of 
how these young brave men and women risked their lives to help the 
United States drive out violent extremists from their home countries of 
Iraq and Afghanistan. As we wind down our military operations, we have 
a responsibility to ensure that those who are in danger as a result of 
their faithful service to the United States are protected from harm.
  Many of us are now familiar with one of these stories that has been 
much publicized, the story of U.S. soldier Matt Zeller and his Afghan 
interpreter Janis Shinwari, who served the U.S. Government for over 9 
years in Afghanistan. During an attack in 2009, Shinwari not only 
pulled Zeller out of a kill zone to safety, he also shot two members of 
the Taliban who were sneaking up behind them. In doing that, he saved 
Zeller's life. Following the incident, Shinwari was put on a Taliban 
kill list.
  After many months--really years--of waiting, both Zeller and Shinwari 
recently reunited here in the United States thanks to this special 
immigrant visa program. I had the opportunity, with Senator McCain, to 
meet the two of them in my office several weeks ago. Matt Zeller said 
that Janis Shinwari is his brother. He expressed how grateful he was to 
Shinwari for saving not only his life but all of the other members of 
his unit who were helped by Shinwari.

[[Page S8341]]

  These stories are incredibly common, and I am grateful to all of our 
colleagues for their assistance in reauthorizing this program, not just 
through the NDAA bill that is before us but the short-term extension we 
were able to get during the government shutdown by unanimous consent in 
both the Senate and the House. It shows just how much we appreciate, in 
America, the service these men and women from Iraq and Afghanistan have 
given to us.
  The bill before us also includes provisions from the Next Generation 
Cooperative Threat Reduction Act, which I introduced earlier this year. 
The Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction Act is the most successful 
nonproliferation program in our country's history. The language in the 
underlying bill would expand the scope of Nunn-Lugar to reflect the 
current security environment.
  Specifically, the bill requires the President to develop a 
comprehensive strategy to address the rapidly growing threat of 
proliferation across the Middle East and North Africa. The spread of 
nuclear weapons is one of the gravest threats we face, both in the 
United States and across our international community. We need to make 
sure our efforts to combat those challenges are coordinated and reflect 
where the current security challenges exist.
  I am also pleased we were able to increase funding in this bill for 
the Department of Defense inspectors general by $35 million. This is 
important because investment in our Nation's inspectors general 
continues to be one of the most cost-effective ways the government can 
work, particularly when it concerns the Department of Defense. In 2012, 
DOD inspectors general saved taxpayers more than $3.6 billion, and IG 
efforts have been credited with a nearly $11 return on investment for 
every $1 spent. As the Presiding Officer knows, given our ongoing 
fiscal challenges, it is now more important than ever before we ensure 
every dollar is spent effectively.
  Finally, I want to address the issue of military sexual assault that 
is tackled in this National Defense Authorization Act. It makes 
significant progress toward addressing the crisis of sexual assault in 
our Nation's military.
  I commend all of the members of the Armed Services Committee who 
worked to tirelessly address this issue, but I want to particularly 
call out Senators McCaskill and Gillibrand, who have led the charge and 
worked to help ensure we include provisions in this act that can 
address this scourge on our military. Because of their leadership, we 
are going to pass a bill that will take historic steps toward 
addressing this problem.
  As the Presiding Officer knows, we may have had different ideas about 
the best way to address the problem, but we are united in our 
commitment to victims of sexual assault and we will keep fighting for 
them.
  I certainly look forward to supporting the Gillibrand amendment, the 
Military Justice Improvement Act, along with the Presiding Officer, 
because it addresses chain-of-command issues that I believe can cause 
victims of sexual assault in the military to refrain from reporting an 
incident because they fear either that nothing will be done or that 
there will be retaliation from their commanders. Regardless of the 
outcome of that legislation, it is important to reflect on the 
provisions that are already included in this bill because the bill 
before us today includes nearly 30 provisions that address sexual 
assault, prevention, investigation, and prosecution procedures at the 
Department of Defense. Almost all of these provisions were agreed to 
unanimously in the Armed Services Committee. Strong bipartisan support 
for commonsense sexual assault prevention reforms such as those 
included in this bill sends a powerful message to all of the members of 
our military, including tens of thousands of victims, many of whom have 
been suffering quietly for decades, that what happened to them is 
unacceptable and it will no longer be tolerated.

  One of the critical challenges we face in the military is changing 
the culture surrounding sexual assault. I was pleased to work with our 
colleagues to include provisions in the bill to help create an 
environment where victims can feel safe to come forward and report 
these crimes.
  In any organization, the best way to attract the most qualified 
personnel is to tie an issue to career advancement. Sexual assault 
prevention and response is no different. That is why Senator Fischer 
and I included language that elevates the role of sexual assault 
prevention response officers to ensure we have the highest caliber 
candidates assigned to those positions.
  Also, in recent months I have held roundtable discussions with New 
Hampshire law enforcement and with members of our University of New 
Hampshire community who have worked on sexual assault prevention and 
with members of the New Hampshire National Guard to discuss their best 
practices, the way in which they are working together in New Hampshire 
to address domestic violence and sexual assault. As a result of some of 
those discussions, we have included in the bill a reform that would 
require the Defense Department to incorporate civilian sexual assault 
investigation and prosecution best practices into their military 
procedures.
  I wish to close this afternoon by thanking Chairman Levin and Ranking 
Member Inhofe for their leadership on this bipartisan bill. We still 
have a lot of work to do here in the Senate, but obviously the 
foundation has been laid by the work of the committee and by their 
leadership.
  I also thank my staff for their incredibly hard work and dedication, 
as well as the staff of all of the Armed Services Committee, because 
without their contributions we would not have made as much progress as 
we have. From the readiness subcommittee, I thank Jay Maroney, John 
Quirk, and Mike Noblet on the majority side; Lucian Niemeyer, Bill 
Castle, and Bruce Hock from the minority; and from my personal staff 
Chad Kreikemeier, Josh Lucas, Joel Colony, and Patrick Day.
  Finally, I want to say a special thank-you to CDR Tasya Lacey. Tasya 
is a graduate of the Naval Academy, and she served in my office over 
the past year as a fellow on loan from the Department of the Navy. Her 
thoughtfulness and insight have been invaluable on a wide range of 
issues, especially during our efforts to address sexual assault. She is 
headed back to the Navy soon, but I wanted her to know that it truly 
has been a pleasure having her on my staff, and I wish her good luck in 
her next assignment.
  Thank you very much, Mr. President. I hope we can come together in 
the next couple of days and get this bill done.
  I yield the floor, and I note the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Maine.
  Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Ms. COLLINS. I thank the Chair.
  (The remarks of Ms. Collins and Ms. Klobuchar pertaining to the 
submission of S. Res. 303 are printed in today's Record under 
``Submitted Resolutions.'')
  Ms. KLOBUCHAR. I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Illinois.

                          ____________________