[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 181 (Thursday, December 19, 2013)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1906]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2014

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                               speech of

                         HON. CHRIS VAN HOLLEN

                              of maryland

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, December 12, 2013

  Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of final passage 
of the FY2014 National Defense Authorization Act. I commend Chairman 
McKeon, Chairman Levin, Ranking Member Smith, and Ranking Member Inhofe 
for crafting a bipartisan bill that both strengthens the security of 
our nation and provides for vital programs that benefit our men and 
women in uniform and their civilian colleagues.
  While not perfect, today's compromise legislation makes many key 
improvements over the Defense Authorization bill that the House voted 
on earlier this year. I am particularly encouraged that the final 
agreement we voted on today includes $80.7 billion in funding for 
overseas contingency operations (OCO), which is in line with the 
Pentagon's request. This is an important change from the $85.8 billion 
that was included in the House-passed authorization in June. Today's 
bill provides sufficient funds to fully meet the President's FY 2014 
request for the war in Afghanistan while ensuring that the overseas 
contingency operations account will not become a slush fund for 
unrequested defense spending.
  The final agreement also eases restrictions on the ability of DoD to 
transfer Guantanamo detainees and takes an important step in addressing 
our indefinite detention policy there. In particular, I am pleased that 
this bill drops a provision that would have barred the use of funds to 
transfer prisoners to Yemen and authorizes the Pentagon to transfer 
detainees to other foreign countries under certain conditions. More 
needs to be done when addressing our indefinite detention policy, but 
provisions such as these represent significant progress.
  I am also encouraged by the changes this bill makes with regards to 
how the military responds to sexual assault cases. It adopts Senate 
language to bar individuals from joining the military if they have been 
convicted of a sex-related offense; it imposes a minimum sentence of 
dishonorable discharge or dismissal on those found guilty; and it 
prohibits commanders from dismissing a court martial finding or 
reducing the offense level of guilty findings.
  Finally, the compromise bill does make some progress on allowing the 
Department of Defense to execute the New START Treaty. Specifically, it 
allows DoD to begin planning and preparation for implementing the force 
structure to meet the required limits of the New START Treaty. However, 
it still goes too far in limiting the President's ability to fully 
implement the treaty and set the country's nuclear policy.
  I am also disappointed that this legislation authorizes the 
establishment of a missile defense site on the East Coast that the 
Pentagon continues to say is unnecessary. This provision disregards the 
advice of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and seeks to tie the President's 
hands in determining military requirements in other parts of the world. 
This bill also contains provisions which ignore DoD recommendations and 
continues to fund unrequested weapons systems and military aircraft, 
including the M1A2 Abrams tank, the C-130 AMP, and the UH-72A Light 
Utility Helicopter.
  Despite these reservations, this compromise legislation is a marked 
improvement over the bill the House passed earlier this year. It 
contains many important provisions that will strengthen our national 
security while also providing for our troops and their families.

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