[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 165 (Thursday, November 17, 2016)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6440-S6442]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
CONTINUING RESOLUTION
Mr. McCAIN. Mr. President, here we go again. For the eighth
consecutive year, Congress has failed to pass an appropriations bill
for the Department of Defense on time, leaving our troops operating on
a so-called ``continuing resolution.''
Now, fresh off an election where the American people were clear that
they are fed up with business as usual, that is exactly what we are
about to get if Congress adopts another continuing resolution that
would cut resources to our troops, hamper the war against ISIL, and
delay the cutting-edge equipment and reforms they need.
A continuing resolution would also make the job of managing the
government's largest agency even more difficult--and at the worst
possible time.
The Presidential transition process currently underway is difficult
enough on its own, but no incoming President has ever had to inherit a
Department of Defense operating under a continuing resolution--no
incoming President--but this is not the time for us to break that
streak.
As the name suggests, a continuing resolution is supposed to continue
funding the government in situations where the Congress fails to pass a
regular appropriations bill. So what is the big deal about continuing
last year's funding levels?
Our Nation asks a lot of the men and women serving in uniform. We are
asking them to defend our Nation and our interests in real time against
rapidly changing threats and adaptive adversaries, but a continuing
resolution would lock our military into last year's budgets and last
year's priorities. Does anybody believe this year isn't greatly
dissimilar from last year on the battlefield?
A continuing resolution would place our troops at greater risk by
forcing them to operate under an outdated budget that does not
recognize the full extent of the threats they face. Worse still, a
continuing resolution doesn't quite live up to its name. A continuing
resolution would actually cut funds for our troops. The continuing
resolution passed by Congress in September to keep funding through the
end of this year cut the military's budget by $9 billion at annualized
levels. Under a potential yearlong continuing resolution, our military
would be short $12 billion.
The incoming and elected President of the United States stated time
after time that we needed to spend more money on defense; we are not
taking care of the defense needs of this Nation; we are not taking care
of the equipment, training, and benefits of men and women who are
serving in the military; that we have the smallest Army that we have
had since World War II; that we have the smallest Air Force that we
have had since the end of the Korean war; that we have the smallest
Navy since the end of World War I.
So what are we going to do? What are we going to do in response to
all that? As the conditions around the world become more chaotic, we
are going to cut defense spending by $12 billion. Not only would a
continuing resolution cut resources, it would leave them with the wrong
mix of funding among accounts.
[[Page S6441]]
That means the wrong kinds of money is being spent on the wrong
programs because we are continuing what we did last year.
Under a continuing resolution, our military would experience
shortfalls in some very important areas. Training for our National
Guard and Reserve troops would be at risk of falling off-track. As
Vladimir Putin's Russia continues to menace our NATO allies, our
military would not be able to carry out the expansion of the European
Reassurance Initiative, which is essential to deterring Russian
aggression in Eastern Europe.
Might I add an aside, it didn't seem to get much notice that a
Russian aircraft carrier, launching aircraft with airstrikes into
Aleppo--my friends, that is the first time in history that Russia,
generally regarded as a land power, now has sufficient ships and
aircraft capability to launch attacks into Aleppo, Homs, and other
parts of Syria. Guess what they are doing. They are slaughtering
innocent men, women, and children. They are killing the very people
whom we have armed, trained, equipped, and sent into battle. It is
atrocious.
A continuing resolution would put our groups at greater risk in
Afghanistan and in the fight against ISIL. The President has requested
a $5.8 billion emergency supplemental to cover the costs of additional
troops deployed to Afghanistan and expanded operations against ISIL in
Iraq and Syria, but a continuing resolution would not include any of
these necessary funds which would fill a shortfall that is looming in
January.
Put simply, this cockamamie idea, this abrogation of our
responsibilities called a continuing resolution would shortchange
American troops who are putting their lives on the line in Afghanistan,
Iraq, and Syria.
Meanwhile, the Department of Defense could have an excess of as much
as $6 billion in money under a yearlong continuing resolution. However,
those funds would be unusable because of restrictions on new
procurement, on buying new weapons systems, and other requirements.
There are restrictions on that and there is not authorization for
increases in production rates.
For example, we are firing off a lot of missiles. We need to replace
those missiles. We need to replace the aircraft that are wearing out.
We need new parts for them. None of that is possible under what is now
being contemplated.
Under a continuing resolution of any duration, our military would
have to delay 78 new starts, 89 production increases which would affect
critical programs. That includes the Ohio-class submarine replacement
program, the KC-46 tanker, the Apache, the helicopters--the Black Hawk
helicopters.
A continuing resolution would also delay major research and
development initiatives. In short, what we are contemplating--cutting
funds for our troops--inhibits their ability to serve the Nation, and
they are putting the men and women who are serving in the military at
greater risk.
Why? Why? Because we refuse to act. We who represent them, we who are
supposed to be standing for them. We are not going to pass a new
appropriations bill. We are just going to kick the can down the road
for another 3 months or more. In other words, some may ask: If this
continuing resolution delays some programs, can't we just make it up
later? For some programs, perhaps, but there is one area where we
cannot make up the losses of a continuing resolution, and that is
readiness. We are asking our troops to be ready to defend this Nation
at a moment's notice. We are asking our troops to be ready to take the
fight to ISIL. We are asking our troops to be ready to deter and, if
necessary, defeat aggression in Europe, the Middle East, and the Asia-
Pacific. We are asking them to be ready today.
But a continuing resolution would force tradeoffs that undermine
readiness. In other words, they will not be able to conduct the
training operations, the replacement of parts, the maintenance, all the
things that go into making a ready military that is ready to fight. We
are impacting them. With a continuing resolution, we are harming their
ability to do that. Adding additional readiness funds later in the year
would be too little, too late, just papering over our failure to give
our troops the resources they need when they need it.
Readiness tomorrow does not replace readiness today. Every senior
leader--uniform and nonuniform at the Department of Defense--has warned
Congress about the negative impact of a continuing resolution on our
men and women who are serving us in the military.
Secretary of Defense Ash Carter has stated that ``a continuing
resolution is a straitjacket'' that ``prevents us from fielding a
modern, ready force in a balanced way.'' Secretary Carter said a
continuing resolution ``undercuts stable planning and efficient use of
taxpayer dollars.''
Commandant of the Marine Corps General Neller warned that a long-term
continuing resolution ``dramatically increases risk to an already
strained fiscal environment and disrupts predictability and our ability
to properly plan and execute a budget and a 5-year program.''
Suppose you had a company or a corporation and that company--like
most companies and corporations small and large--operate on a year-to-
year basis. So you tell that company: Wait a minute. For the first 3
months of next year, you are not going to get any additional funds. You
are not going to be able to plan. You are not going to be able to do
what is necessary.
They wouldn't stay in business.
Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Richardson warned that a continuing
resolution would lead to wasted taxpayer dollars. Under a continuing
resolution, the Navy would be forced to break up its contract actions
into small pieces. Admiral Richardson warned that as a result, the Navy
would not be able to ``take advantage of savings from contractors who
could better manage their workload and pass on lower costs to the Navy.
These redundant efforts drive additional time and cost into the system,
for exactly the same output.''
Army Chief of Staff General Milley made a similar warning about waste
and inefficiency resulting from budgetary uncertainty. Have no doubt,
what a continuing resolution does is causes budgetary uncertainty. It
is just a fact. He said:
Things like multiyear contracts, developing long-term
relationships with industry where they can count on us and so
on--that becomes very difficult. And what ends up happening
is the price per unit goes up. So it has built in
inefficiency. It has built in cost overruns. It is an un-good
situation. It is not good and it needs to end.
General Milley is right. This madness needs to end.
It is time for Congress to do its job. When it comes to doing our
constitutional duty to provide for the common defense, there is no call
for lazy shortcuts and shortchanging of our troops.
Let's pass a Defense authorization bill as soon as we get back. Let's
pass a Defense appropriations bill that gives our troops the resources,
predictability, and flexibility they need and deserve.
Next year, with a new President and a new Congress, let's go to work
immediately on ending sequestration once and for all and returning to a
strategy-driven defense budget. Let's work together on a Defense
supplement that will serve as a downpayment on rebuilding military
capacity, capability, and readiness that have suffered under years of
budget cuts and uncertainty.
This year, this Congress, let's do our jobs and pass Defense
authorization and appropriations bills. This is what the American
people expect of us, and it is what the men and women who serve and
sacrifice on our behalf deserve from us.
Almost everybody I know--except those who don't tell the truth--did
not predict the result of this Presidential election. What we are
finding out--much to the dismay of some and to the surprise of almost
all--is that the American people, particularly in some parts of the
country, are very unhappy. One of the reasons of their unhappiness is
that they believe they have a Congress that doesn't work for them. They
believe their elected representatives no longer have their interests
uppermost. When they see continued gridlock in Congress, of course the
frustration level goes up and the approval rating goes down. I haven't
met anyone who approves of Congress recently who wasn't paid staff or
blood relatives.
So the fact is that when we kick the can down the road and do not
provide
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the fundamental necessities for the most important obligation we have--
to defend this Nation and provide the men and women with the training,
equipment, readiness, and capabilities they need--then it is no wonder
the American people hold us in such low regard.
So I urge my colleagues and I urge our leaders on both sides to take
up the Defense authorization bill when we get back, and I think we can
do that. Then let's take up the Defense appropriations bill. I have
confidence in our appropriators. I don't agree with some of the things
they have done, but they have carried out their duties. Why don't we
move forward? Instead, for 3 months or more, we are going to put the
military in a state of uncertainty--in limbo--and we will harm their
ability to defend this Nation. That is not John McCain's view. It is
the view of the leaders of the military to whom we entrust our men and
women.
So I urge my colleagues to get going. Let's get the Defense
authorization bill done. We could get the Defense appropriations bill
done in a matter of hours.
Let's get those other appropriations bills done as well--those for
the FBI, for the CIA, for our other intelligence agencies, and for
those agencies of government that also are entrusted with the security
of this Nation. Let's get something for them too. Let's not kick the
can down the road. Let's do the people's work.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Vermont.
Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, as a longtime member of the Appropriations
Committee, I strongly believe that we should have regular, yearlong
appropriations, not continuing resolutions. I would like to remind my
friend from Arizona that, by tradition, appropriations bills begin in
the other body, in the House of Representatives. They have not yet sent
over regular appropriations bills.
It was just reported in the last few hours that Donald Trump has told
them not to have regular appropriations bills, but to have a continuing
resolution until the end of March.
Frankly, the Senator from Arizona is right. I agree with him. We
should have appropriations bills on all subjects. I am sorry the
President-elect has decided that in his spare time he will also run
Congress and will not allow full appropriations bills to be passed.
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