[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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