Congressional Record, Volume 164 Issue 125 (Wednesday, July 25, 2018)

[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 125 (Wednesday, July 25, 2018)]
[House]
[Pages H7645-H7647]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

EXPRESSING SENSE OF HOUSE THAT THE LACK OF TIMELY AND PREDICTABLE
FUNDING UNNECESSARILY UNDERMINES MISSION OF THE UNITED STATES SPECIAL
OPERATIONS COMMAND

Ms. CHENEY. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the
resolution (H. Res. 1009) expressing the sense of the House of
Representatives that the lack of timely and predictable funding
unnecessarily undermines the mission of the United States Special
Operations Command and jeopardizes the security of the United States.
The Clerk read the title of the resolution.
The text of the resolution is as follows:

H. Res. 1009

Whereas the ability of the United States Special Operations
Command to successfully conduct operations relies on adequate
resourcing;
Whereas Special Operations Forces must prepare for a wide
array of missions to support and defend the United States in
various capacities around the world;
Whereas the training and development of Special Operations
Forces takes multiple years and cannot be created overnight;
Whereas the success of the United States Special Operations
Command requires close coordination between each branch of
the Armed Forces;
Whereas training shortfalls have been identified as posing
an unnecessary risk to Special Forces soldiers;
Whereas the lack of full, on-time funding undermines the
ability of the United States Special Operations Command to
work by, with, and through our partner nations;
Whereas the smaller operating footprint of Special
Operations Forces poses unique operational needs not found in
conventional forces;
Whereas the deployment cycle of Special Operations Forces
requires additional attention and resources be provided for
family and support programs before, during, and after
deployments; and
Whereas the United States Special Operations Command must
maintain a constant level of readiness that is significantly
undermined by budget uncertainty: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
(1) finds that not providing the Department of Defense with
stable, predictable, and on-time funding unnecessarily
jeopardizes the safety and security of the United States;
(2) expresses a sense of gratitude for the incredible
sacrifices made by both Special Operators and their families;
and
(3) commits to meeting the needs of the United States
Special Operations Command as part of its efforts to restore
military readiness.

The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from
Wyoming (Ms. Cheney) and the gentleman from California (Mr. Garamendi)
each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from Wyoming.

General Leave

Ms. CHENEY. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members
have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and
insert extraneous material on the resolution under consideration.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentlewoman from Wyoming?
There was no objection.
Ms. CHENEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the
gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Hudson) to discuss his resolution.
Mr. HUDSON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of my resolution, H.
Res. 1009, which expresses the sense of the House of Representatives
that lack of timely and predictable funding unnecessarily undermines
the mission of the United States Special Operations Command and
jeopardizes the security of the United States.

{time} 1500

Mr. Speaker, one of the greatest honors of my life is representing
Fort Bragg, the epicenter of the universe and home of the Airborne and
Special Operations Forces. The units stationed here represent the best
of the best and have a vast footprint.

[[Page H7646]]

As our Nation continues to fight terrorism around the world while
simultaneously preparing for the threats of near-peer adversaries, our
requirements increase and diversify.
For too long, we have asked our military to do more with less. Now,
we have made great progress with our fiscal year 2018 and fiscal year
2019 DOD appropriations, but every time we fail to pass a Defense
Appropriations bill on time, we do irreparable harm to our Nation's
military. This is especially apparent in our special operations
community.
The men and women at USSOCOM cannot afford another year of CRs. Their
missions require an advanced level of training and preparation as they
operate in some of the most austere conditions in the world.
When USSOCOM is not funded on time, training cannot be conducted,
essential equipment cannot be ordered, and long-term responsibilities
are not met. The effects of 9 years of continuing resolutions have
severely undermined our forces and led to a waste of taxpayer dollars
as we flood the Department of Defense with cash near the end of the
fiscal year and force them to spend it all within a matter of a few
months.
We must never underestimate the most important asset our military
has, and that is the individual. Green Berets cannot be built
overnight. We cannot flip a switch and magically produce Navy SEALs or
Air Force combat controllers or Marine Raiders. The elite units of
USSOCOM are built over multiple years and cannot be stopped and
started.
This resolution would affirm our commitment to stand behind each and
every one of these incredible servicemembers and their families.
Make no mistake, when this body chooses not to appropriately fund
these warriors, we are putting their lives at greater risk. I refuse to
go home and look in the eye of a Gold Star wife of a Green Beret and
say: ``Sorry, your husband didn't get the training he needed, because
we were too busy playing games in Washington.'' That, Mr. Speaker, is
unacceptable.
The time is now for us to come together as a Nation and fund our
military. I urge every one of my colleagues to recognize what is at
stake and put the needs of our Nation before politics.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank Representative Cheney for her
efforts on these issues, as well as Chairman Thornberry and Chairwoman
Granger for their unwavering support and commitment to our military and
our special operators.
Mr. GARAMENDI. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself as much time as I might
consume, but I will try to be brief.
Mr. Speaker, we are in total support of this piece of legislation. We
think this is a very, very good thing to do, to adequately fund all of
our military, whether it is SOCOM or any other part of it. It is
essential for our national security.
However, I would like to note that, having served on the Armed
Services Committee for the last several years and endured unending
discussions about the horrible sequestration issues, which were totally
under the control of the majority party to change should they decide to
do so, that it is a little incongruous to put forth a resolution that
would call for adequate funding for SOCOM, and we should do so.
At the same time, when we have created a trillion-dollar deficit with
a piece of legislation that passed last December with no Democratic
votes--because we like to think of ourselves as deficit hawks, and we
think it is difficult to put this Congress into a situation where we
have to choose between the health of seniors who are on Medicare or
young children who depend upon the Medicaid program or maybe the
education systems.
So this resolution, it is a good thing. It is something we ought to
do. Certainly, we ought to support SOCOM. Certainly, we ought to pass
appropriations bills on time. Let me commend the House for having done
so, and we can always blame the enemy on the other side of the
building, the Senate, but the reality is that the Treasury was gutted
by a tax bill of which more than 80 percent of the benefit went to the
top income earners of America and corporations. And a deficit has been
created that will be a trillion dollars next year. That is the period
of time in which this resolution calls for full funding for our Special
Operations Forces.
So my discussion today is really about the very difficult choices
that are going to have to be made because this Congress, without
Democratic support, decided that the first choice was the superwealthy
and the corporations of America, not the children, not the sick, not
those in need of education, not the infrastructure, but rather those
who have much already.
Now, I notice that I don't have many colleagues here on our side,
although I would assure all the Congress that we are 100 percent in
support of our Special Operations Forces, and we look forward to a
continuing debate on the choices that must be made.
Mr. Speaker, I urge an ``aye'' vote, and I yield back the balance of
my time.
Ms. CHENEY. Mr. Speaker, I welcome my colleague from California's
support for this resolution.
As my colleague knows very well, we have done far more in this body,
and, as he mentioned, we have done far more in this body than these
resolutions of support. These resolutions of support are crucially
important, but we have, in this House, completed our work. We have
completed our work on the Defense Appropriations bill.
Last year, the Senate also completed its work, and we were able to
take the very first crucially important steps to begin to rebuild our
military with the $700 billion we were able to appropriate for fiscal
year 2018.
We have also done our work for this fiscal year, and we will be in a
position, hopefully in the next day or so, to be able to pass the
National Defense Authorization Act as well for fiscal year 2019.

So we in this House understand how crucially important it is that we
get the work done, that we pass this legislation. We need the Senate to
do the same.
We also, I think, need to recognize we have fundamental disagreements
and disputes about the impact of the tax cuts we passed. In fact, on
this side of the aisle, we believe that allowing Americans to keep more
of their money is really the secret to getting the kind of economic
growth we need to fundamentally deal with the deficit, that the answer
is not to raise people's taxes to have more money coming into the
Treasury. We need to actually let people keep more of what they have
got. We need to let people invest more of their own money.
We have seen jobs come back, and we have seen economic growth come
back. We have seen people at all income levels able to keep more money,
and they see the difference in their paychecks.
So we are very proud of that, and we do not believe that we should
ever be in a situation where we think that somehow we have to choose
expensive domestic spending if we want to fund the military.
I agree with my colleague's views on sequestration. Sequestration was
extremely damaging. The Budget Control Act is damaging, and we ought to
be in a position where we are repealing that as well.
So I am pleased that there will be support for this resolution on
behalf of our Special Operations Forces.
Mr. Speaker, I also want to thank very much my friend and colleague
from North Carolina for introducing this important bill highlighting
the crucial role our special operators play.
Mr. Speaker, they, more than any other segment of our forces, operate
in secret and undertake missions that keep us safe and that serve to
protect and defend us. We will not ever know most of the stories of the
service that they carry out for all of us.
They really are the watchmen on the walls of freedom. They stand
guard for all of us day and night, undertaking missions that are
incredibly complex, incredibly dangerous. And too often, they pay the
ultimate sacrifice, but they are willing to do that for our freedom.
It is crucially important, Mr. Speaker, that we don't in this House
and in this Congress continue to force them and all of our men and
women in uniform to pay the price for our dysfunction, and that is a
price that comes with funding delays and uncertainty.
Therefore, Mr. Speaker, I urge the adoption of this resolution, and I
yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Duncan of Tennessee). The question is

[[Page H7647]]

on the motion offered by the gentlewoman from Wyoming (Ms. Cheney) that
the House suspend the rules and agree to the resolution, H. Res. 1009.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the
rules were suspended and the resolution was agreed to.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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