[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 148 (Monday, December 8, 2014)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1749-E1750]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 PROTECTING VOLUNTEER FIREFIGHTERS AND EMERGENCY RESPONDERS ACT OF 2014

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                        HON. SHEILA JACKSON LEE

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, December 4, 2014

  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I rise to speak on the Motion to Concur 
in the Senate Amendment with a House Amendment to H.R. 3979, the Carl 
Levin and Howard P. ``Buck'' McKeon National Defense Authorization Act 
for Fiscal Year 2015.
  This legislation authorizes $495.5 billion in discretionary spending 
for the base budget for the Department of Defense and $17.9 billion in 
discretionary spending for the defense-related activities of the 
Department of Energy in Fiscal Year 2015, totaling $513.4 billion, 
which is $31 billion less than authorized in Fiscal Year 2014.
  The legislation also authorizes $63.7 billion in Fiscal 2015 for 
Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO).
  I thank Chairman McKeon and Ranking Member Smith and the members of 
the Armed Services Committee for their work on this important 
legislation.
  I especially wish to thank Chairman McKeon for his friendship and his 
service to the nation as he concludes his long and distinguished tenure 
as a member of the People's House.
  The National Defense Authorization Act's purpose is to address the 
threats our nation must deal with not just today, but into the future. 
This makes the work on this bill vital to our national interest and it 
should reflect our strong commitment to ensure that the men and women 
of our Armed Services receive the benefits and support that they 
deserve for their unwavering service to this great nation.
  This is the 53rd consecutive National Defense Authorization Act, 
which speaks to the long term commitment of the Congress and successive 
Administrations to provide for the defense of our nation.
  The bill encompasses a number of initiatives designed to confront 
sexual assault in the military, making more efficient the work of 
protecting America, addresses the mental health needs of men and women 
in the armed services, and extends economic opportunity to small 
minority and women owned businesses.
  There is much in the legislation before us that I strongly support. 
For example, the House-Senate agreement:
  1. Significantly improves readiness by restoring $818 million in cuts 
made by House Republicans to the readiness accounts below what was 
requested by the President;
  2. Supports a 1.0 percent pay raise for the troops for FY 2015, equal 
to the President's request;
  3. Authorizes the awarding of the Purple Heart Medal to those killed 
domestically as a result of a foreign terrorist attack like the 
tragedies that occurred at Fort Hood in my home state of Texas;
  4. Creates a flexible $1.3 billion Counter Terrorism Partnership Fund 
that supports partner nation operations and U.S. Building Partnership 
Capacity programs to combat terrorism in the Middle East and Africa and 
bring to heel notorious terrorist organizations such as Boko Haram;
  5. The bill also addresses serious health and well-being challenges 
faced by our men and women in the armed services such as post-traumatic 
stress disorders by requiring the Department of Defense to report on 
improvements in the identification and treatment of mental health 
conditions and traumatic brain injury among members of the Armed 
Forces, as well as providing a person-to-person mental health 
assessment for active duty and selected reserve members each year and, 
through 2018, a person-to-person mental health screening once during 
each 180-day period in which a member is deployed;
  6. Requires the establishment of a Defense Advisory Committee on 
Investigation, Prosecution, and Defense of Sexual Assault in the 
Military, eliminates the ``good soldier defense,'' which allows alleged 
attackers to avoid charges by showcasing a positive military record in 
court, and builds upon the provisions included in the FY 2012, FY 2013, 
and FY 2014 Defense Authorization bills that contained dozens of 
provisions, including stripping commanding officers of the unilateral 
authority to dismiss a finding by a court martial; prohibiting 
commanding officers from reducing guilty findings by a court martial to 
guilty of a lesser offense; and requiring that service members found 
guilty of sexual offenses, including rape or sexual assault, be 
dismissed or honorably discharged;
  7. Authorizes $622 million for Israeli Cooperative Missile Defense 
Programs, which is $349 million more than the President's request, a 
total that includes $350 million for Israel's ``Iron Dome'' short-range 
rocket defense system, which is $175 million more than the President's 
request;
  8. Includes provisions to allow the Department of Defense to 
reprogram funds to carry out both the Syria train-and-equip program and 
the Iraq Train and Equip program to combat ISIL; and
  9. Creates the National Commission on the Future of the U.S. Army, 
which will have four members appointed by the President and four 
appointed by Congress that is tasked to report back to Congress with 
recommendations for optimizing Army and National Guard Force Structure 
by February 1, 2016.
  Mr. Speaker, one of the most important lessons we learned from the 
long war in Iraq is the importance of military readiness which imposes 
on the Congress the obligation of ensuring that every woman and man 
sent into battle in defense of our nation must be properly trained and 
equipped.
  This is why I will not forget the troops killed and wounded in Iraq 
and Afghanistan when their vehicles were attacked by ``improvised 
explosive devices.''
  To ensure that the Armed Forces of the United States remains the best 
trained, best equipped fighting force in the world, we must provide 
them the resources needed to adapt and meet any challenge they may 
face, from global military conflicts to an Ebola virus outbreak.
  I am also pleased that the bill includes authorization for awarding 
the Purple Heart Medal to those killed or wounded in domestic terrorist 
attacks, like the attack at Ft. Hood.
  The Army National Guard is a critical component of our national 
defense structure.
  The men and women of the National Guard serve our nation as a reserve 
force in times of military conflict and at home in responding public 
emergencies natural disasters.
  Mr. Speaker, the threat posed by the terrorist organization Boko 
Haram be addressed before it becomes become a problem of the level of 
ISIS to our national interests.
  For this reason I offered an amendment to the House version of this 
bill that was adopted as Section 1266, which would have required the 
Secretary of Defense to report to Congress on the nature and extent of 
the crimes against humanity committed by Boko Haram in Nigeria.
  I am disappointed that Section 1266 of the House bill was not 
included in the final version of the bill but I am pleased the 
legislation reauthorizes the Africom command and recognizes the 
importance of combating terrorist activity on the continent of Africa.
  Mr. Speaker, the threat posed by ISIS is serious and real and the 
President has reached out to Congress to work with him to develop a 
unified and international response to meet the threat.
  For this reason I support the provision in the legislation 
authorizing $3.4 billion for sustaining U.S. personnel forward-deployed 
to the Middle East, providing enablers such as intelligence, 
surveillance, and reconnaissance platforms, replenishing munitions 
expended while conducting airstrikes against ISIL, and financing 
operations and maintenance costs for air, ground and naval operations 
to date.
  Specifically, I support the provision authorizing the President's 
$1.6 billion request to train and equip Iraqi security forces to re-
build the capability and capacity of our Iraqi partners in the region 
so they can sustain the long-term fight to defeat ISIL and provide 
security and stability to the Iraqi people, so that large numbers of 
U.S. combat forces are not required.

[[Page E1750]]

  The $1.6 billion is being provided to fund a two-year program with 
robust oversight and notification requirements to support Peshmerga, 
Sunni tribes, and other forces beyond the traditional Iraqi Security 
Forces.
  The legislation also extends the McKeon Amendment, which I supported, 
that provides funding to train and equip moderate Syrian forces to 
combat ISIL.
  Mr. Speaker, it is important to emphasize that nothing in the 
legislation before authorizing the training and equipping of Iraqi and 
Syrian forces by U.S. advisors to combat ISIS derives from the 2002 
Iraq AUMF.
  The decision to send American men and women into harm's way is the 
most consequential decision the Constitution vests in the President and 
the Congress.
  For this reason, the Constitution wisely divides the responsibility 
of deciding when to use military force to protect the nation and its 
interests between the President and the Congress, the representatives 
of the American people.
  Mr. Speaker, I remain strongly opposed to the deployment of the U.S. 
Armed Forces inside the territorial borders of Syria without a vote of 
Congress explicitly authorizing such action.
  Moreover, any vote regarding the authorization to use military force 
against Syria must be preceded by meaningful, substantive, and 
thoughtful dialogue and robust debate governed by a rule that affords 
Members of the House the opportunity to offer and debate amendments.
  I must stress that before any vote is held, Members of Congress must 
be apprised of all facts material to the decision and have access to 
relevant documentation, classified and otherwise, and afforded the 
opportunity to meet in small groups and in secure locations with senior 
members of the Administration's national security team who can answer 
detailed and pointed questions and provide requested information.
  Mr. Speaker, the war in Iraq taught this nation the importance of 
having accurate and reliable information when deciding whether to use 
military force and the painful costs in lives and treasure of acting 
precipitously.
  We cannot and dare not repeat that mistake.
  That is why it is essential that all Members of Congress have access 
to the relevant information and the responsible Administration 
officials before any vote to authorize the use of military force to 
defeat ISIS is scheduled.
  Mr. Speaker, the health and well-being of our men and women in 
uniform on and off the battlefield is of critical importance.
  The House version of the National Defense Authorization Act included 
an amendment I introduced authorizing an increase of $10 million in 
breast cancer research funding and directing the Department of Defense 
to identify specific genetic and molecular targets and biomarkers for 
Triple Negative Breast Cancer (TNBC).
  I am disappointed that the Jackson Lee Amendment was not included in 
the final version of the legislation because my amendment would save 
lives that may otherwise be lost.
  Mr. Speaker, breast cancer has been as brutal on women in the 
military as combat.
  More than 800 women have been wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan, 
according to the Army Times; 874 military women were diagnosed with 
breast cancer just between 2000 and 2011, and according to that same 
study, more are suspected.
  The Jackson Lee Amendment, however, provided funding for the 
additional research that is desperately needed since women are joining 
the Armed Services in increasing numbers and serving longer, ascending 
to leadership.
  Within increased age comes increased risk and incidence of breast 
cancer.
  Not only is breast cancer striking relatively young military women at 
an alarming rate, but male service members, veterans and their 
dependents are at risk as well.
  With a younger and generally healthier population, those in the 
military tend to have a lower risk for most cancers than civilians--
including significantly lower colorectal, lung and cervical--but breast 
cancer is a different story.
  Military people in general, and in some cases very specifically, are 
at a significantly greater risk for contracting breast cancer because 
life in the military can mean exposure to a witch's brew of risk 
factors directly linked to greater chances of getting breast cancer.
  With the expansion of women in the military, it is extremely 
important that more funding be allocated for research for early 
detection, treatment, and cure of breast cancer, including TNBC.
  I will continue fighting until this objective is achieved.
  I strongly support the provisions in the legislation before us 
intended to combat the epidemic of sexual assaults in the military, 
including the elimination of the ``good soldier defense,'' which is 
defined as a consideration of general military character toward the 
probability of innocence in sexual assault prosecutions.
  Houston is home to one of the largest populations of military service 
members and their families in the nation.
  There are over 200,000 veterans of military service who live and work 
in Houston; more than 13,000 are veterans from the Iraq and 
Afghanistan.
  Although some of a soldier's wounds are invisible to the naked eye 
they are still wounds that should be properly treated.
  Another important component of the legislation that I strongly 
support is are the provisions designed to increase the number of 
medical facilities and mental health professionals who are available to 
serve the active duty personnel and veterans.
  In closing, Mr. Speaker, let me express again my appreciation to 
Chairman McKeon and Ranking Member Smith for their work in crafting a 
Defense Authorization bill that strives to enhance the readiness of our 
troops, provides for the care of our military personnel and their 
families, and authorizes the investments needed to keep our nation 
strong, safe, and respected in the world.

                          ____________________