[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 125 (Wednesday, July 25, 2018)]
[House]
[Pages H7650-H7651]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
EXPRESSING SENSE OF HOUSE THAT NOT FULLY RESOURCING THE UNITED STATES
ARMY IN A TIMELY MANNER ERODES THE ARMY'S ABILITY TO MAINTAIN READINESS
Ms. CHENEY. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the
resolution (H. Res. 1007) expressing the sense of the House of
Representatives that not fully resourcing the United States Army in a
timely manner erodes the Army's ability to maintain readiness and poses
risk to the Army's ability to conduct military operations.
The Clerk read the title of the resolution.
The text of the resolution is as follows:
H. Res. 1007
Whereas, in previous years, the United States Army delayed
supply transactions, and later had to order parts from
sources outside the Department of Defense supply system and
pay more to get parts fabricated or shipped quickly to keep
up with maintenance timelines;
Whereas, in previous years, the Army was forced to restrict
to home station training due to not having enough resources;
Whereas the Army, if not fully resourced, will postpone all
noncritical maintenance work orders until later in the year
when resourced correctly;
Whereas the Army is attempting to add military personnel to
meet critical skill gaps, and if not fully resourced, will
delay the recruitment of new personnel which will result in
units continuing to lack the full complement of personnel
needed to be 100-percent effective;
Whereas, if not fully resourced, noncritical travel, which
includes relocating soldiers' families (change of duty
station) will be postponed and may result in missed school
year timing for dependent spouses and their children;
Whereas United States Army Forces Command is responsible
for the training, mobilization, deployment, sustainment, and
transformation of conventional forces to provide relevant and
ready land power to combatant commanders;
Whereas global threats require the Army to prepare to fight
both terrorist organizations as well as possible near-peer
adversaries; and
Whereas it takes both significant time and resources to
build a professional Army: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
(1) finds that not resourcing the Department of the Army in
a timely manner erodes readiness and puts the United States
Army at a disadvantage; and
(2) affirms that Congress should resource all our
warfighters prior to the beginning of a new fiscal year.
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 Oklahoma (Mr. Russell), who is my colleague from the
Armed Services Committee, to discuss his resolution.
Mr. RUSSELL. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from Wyoming for
her important leadership in the strengthening of our military and my
colleagues on the other side of the aisle that I work with well on the
Armed Services Committee.
Mr. Speaker, nothing is too good for the troops, and nothing is what
they get--at least on time, year after year, by this Congress. Our lack
of diligence and commitment to provide timely funds in Congress erodes
military readiness and weakens our Nation. H. Res. 1007 helps fix that
for the United States Army.
For me, these are not academic or political issues but, rather,
experiential. Having served as a combat infantryman in more than two
decades of uniformed service prior to coming to Congress, these are not
issues that I take lightly. I have lived the hardships created when
Congress is derelict in its duty.
When supply transactions are delayed, the Army is forced to order
parts outside the Department of Defense supply system, pay for more
parts, and risk getting any spare parts at all. Soldiers are severely
hampered in their training, being forced to stay at home stations with
limitations on equipment, fuel, and ammunition. Consequently, the
readiness of units diminishes, and their morale flags.
Even if the Army were to somehow make the best of those circumstances
and attempt to send their warriors to school in the time that is
created because they can't train to maybe increase their vital skills,
they can't. Their funds are delayed, so their schools get canceled, and
the time is gone forever.
Adding insult to injury, many people who were promised schools to
make important promotions have those schools taken from their grasp,
and, disillusioned, they exit the force, affecting recruitment and the
trained warriors who had invested years up to that point.
Another insult to injury is the relocation of families. It gets
postponed, and it causes undue family hardship on those in uniform,
missed school for their children, and stresses on the warrior at home
which not only affect his performance, but what is sad is that it was
all preventable, while we in this Congress who are responsible for this
and the timely delivery of funds fly home to our families weekend after
weekend without interruption.
Our founding documents state that we should promote the general
welfare and provide for the common defense. Both sides of the aisle
need to be mindful that these founding documents do not say provide the
general welfare and promote, somehow, the common defense. If we cannot
defend the Republic, all of these other things are simply not going to
matter.
Our lack of diligence in Congress creates reduced readiness, a less
capable military, cancellation of training, untold family hardships,
and a less secure nation. It is so easily solved. We simply do the
work, sign the bills, and get them to the President by October 1.
It is pretty simple, and it is extraordinarily important. Today is
the 25th of July. There is plenty of time.
The question that I and warriors who still serve in uniform ask is:
Will this Congress have the heart and the guts to do what is right?
The clock ticks. Let's stop the madness. Let's stop the debate of
ancillary things that don't have anything to do with providing for the
common defense, and let's end the continuing resolutions that affect
our military funding. Run a clean defense measure.
If we are in so much agreement about funding our military, then my
challenge to both sides of the aisle is let's run a clean measure.
Let's not attach anything else to it, no Labor-H, no other
appropriations measures, a simple, clean measure that we all agree to
anyway and we pass year after year. Then we can get it to the
President's desk, and our warriors who give us our freedom and allow us
to continue with this great Republic for generation to generation will
have what they need.
We have not done it in years. This could be a first and could be a
hallmark of the 115th Congress.
Mr. GARAMENDI. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
I want to thank the gentleman from Oklahoma for making me aware of
the current financial situation, and I will remind him that California
is running a very significant budget surplus at the present time. Both
of our economies are presently growing, and we are thankful for that.
I also want to thank the gentleman for being a voice of knowledge on
the Armed Services Committee, for his many years of service in the
United States Army, and for bringing us this resolution today calling
for the full and timely funding of the United States Army.
{time} 1545
My father, who served in the Army and ended that service as a major,
would have been very pleased to hear that there was adequate and timely
funding.
I know I have said quite enough on the issue of how we are going to
fund the government, and I am sure my colleagues across the aisle
probably think I have said too much. If they feel that way, so be it.
But I do think that we need to understand the need to be balanced as we
move forward.
[[Page H7651]]
I announce my support for this resolution, along with the two
previous resolutions, and look forward to its immediate passage.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
Ms. CHENEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.
Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague, Mr. Garamendi from California, for
his support of these resolutions and for his time focusing on them
today on the floor.
I also want to thank my colleague from Oklahoma. There is no stronger
supporter of our men and women in uniform that I know of in this body
than Mr. Russell from Oklahoma. He understands, I would say, more than
most because of his own service that what we do in this body and what
we do on this floor has a direct impact on the levels of risk, on the
safety, and on the effectiveness of our men and women in uniform.
Mr. Speaker, this resolution highlights the damage that we have seen
to the readiness of the United States Army over 9 years of continuing
resolutions, sequestration, and overall budget dysfunction.
I want to echo the remarks of my colleague from Oklahoma. Let's
change that. Let's make this a new start. Let's make this the year that
we don't hold military funding hostage and we pass a clean Defense
Appropriations bill. We have done it here in the House. We know they
can do it in the Senate. We need to get the bill, take it up, and pass
it.
All these other arguments and discussions are important. They are
important for the future of the Nation. They are important for our
economy. But we should not force our men and women in uniform to have
to wait, to have stand by and watch, not knowing whether we are going
to be able to pass the bills that they need for the funding they need
to continue to keep us all safe.
We did our job for fiscal year 2018, although we were too slow, but
we have now appropriated the $700 billion for that fiscal year. Let's
do it this year on time, with sufficient funding, and with a level of
accountability, and also making sure that our men and women in uniform
know that those funds are coming to them.
It is going to take us more than a single year to get ourselves out
of the crisis we face, Mr. Speaker. We have made a good start. But I
think we should all come together, both sides of the aisle and,
frankly, on both sides of Capitol Hill, to say: Look, this is an issue
on which we are going to agree.
The security of the Nation is an issue that ought to cross party
lines. The support that we are seeing for this resolution and for all
the resolutions we have done for our services demonstrates that. Let's
make this the year that we do it differently and we do it right, Mr.
Speaker.
With that, I thank everyone who has participated in this effort. I
thank Chairman Thornberry and Chairman Granger for their important
efforts.
Mr. Speaker, I urge adoption of this resolution, and I yield back the
balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentlewoman from Wyoming (Ms. Cheney) that the House suspend the rules
and agree to the resolution, H.R. 1007.
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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