[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 40 (Wednesday, March 6, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1678-S1680]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                   Declaration of National Emergency

  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, if you ask the Trump administration about 
their highest spending priority in terms of their budget, it is pretty 
clear--national defense. Over and over, the President has asked and 
Congress has voted for more money for America's military for 
operations, readiness, and investment across the board. I don't think 
there is any question that the votes reflect the bipartisan commitment 
to our military and the belief

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that spending dollars today to train our men and women, to equip them 
properly, and to make sure they live in the best circumstances is in 
the best interests of America's future. We have done that year in and 
year out, but this year we are facing quite a challenge from the Trump 
administration.
  This notion of building a $5.7 billion wall is going to be paid for 
at the expense of the U.S. military. It is the military that will end 
up surrendering projects that are underway and investments in our 
troops that are underway so that the President can build this almighty 
wall of his that was supposed to be paid for by the Mexicans, right? I 
heard him say that--only 100 times, but I heard him say it. Now he is 
off of that. It will not be the Mexicans paying for the President's 
wall. It will be our military.
  So we ought to be very honest about the vote that is coming up. 
President Trump has decided to declare an emergency and to say that 
regardless of the Constitution's giving authority to Congress to 
appropriate funds, he wants to take on that responsibility to decide 
where funds will be spent. That will be challenged in court, I am sure, 
as it should be. But for those Members of the Senate who in a few days 
will be asked to vote, I would like them to reflect on two things. 
Their vote supporting the President's approach is basically giving the 
authority of this branch of the government away to the Executive. Make 
no mistake, that is at the heart of it, and a number of Republican 
Senators--a handful--have stood up and said: We wouldn't have allowed 
this under a Democratic President; why would we allow it under a 
Republican President?
  Yet others have said they are prepared to look the other way. If this 
President is popular back in their home States, the Constitution comes 
in second. I think that is a mistake.
  Secondly, though, Members of the Senate, before they cast this vote 
giving this President the authority to take money out of our military 
to build this wall, ought to stop and take a look at where the money is 
coming from within our military.
  I am in the fortunate position to be the ranking member on the 
Defense Appropriations Subcommittee. It is the biggest appropriations 
job on Capitol Hill, and I am happy to have Senator Shelby, a 
Republican from Alabama, as my chairman of the subcommittee. I am the 
ranking Democrat on that committee. We have the biggest appropriation 
bill when it comes to discretionary spending--some 60 percent of the 
Federal discretionary budget, and we know how important it is to get it 
right. America never wants to come in second in a war, and we certainly 
never want to be in a position where we are mistreating or ignoring the 
needs of our men and women in uniform.
  Each year we go through their requests and try to make sure the most 
important things are funded. The military will tell us: There are 
certain things that are essential and timely, and we need you to spend 
money on them. And we have responded, not just in the subcommittee and 
in the full committee but in the Senate and in the House.
  Now comes the President and says: Not so, we are going to take the 
money that we told you was so critically important this year and spend 
it on the Mexican border to extend the wall--$5.7 billion worth of it.
  As I have met with the heads of the branches of our military service, 
we have asked basic questions. I did that yesterday to several generals 
and Secretaries who came before me. I said: Has the administration sat 
down with you in terms of your branch of the military and told you 
where they are going to take the money to build the wall?
  Consistently, the answer is no, they don't know. We are days or weeks 
away from that money being taken.
  What we have done is to prepare a chart through the Military 
Construction Subcommittee, which is chaired by Senator Boozman, the 
Republican from Arkansas, and Senator Schatz, a Democrat from Hawaii. I 
asked them: Where are the unobligated projects? These are projects that 
have been authorized but haven't been started. They may have had basic 
engineering and preliminary estimates done and so forth. They are ready 
to let a contract. The money is sitting there ready to move forward, 
and these are the projects that are on the target list for President 
Trump when it comes to cutting the military to pay for his border wail.
  We have a long list here. The list includes almost every State--
certainly, every State that has anything near a military facility. The 
State of Illinois has several key projects that we consider to be 
essential. There is one in Peoria, IL. It is a fire crash and rescue 
station that needs to be upgraded for the safety of the men and women 
who work there and those who use that important airport, and there are 
other things within our State.
  As I said, hardly any State is omitted from this list. Any Senator 
who is voting to give this President the authority to cut military 
projects and to stop the spending on military projects should realize 
that it may come home and require an explanation.
  The Presiding Officer is from the State of Oklahoma. I tell him that 
four of the projects are in Oklahoma that are on the target list--the 
hit list--for cuts if the President decides to cut those projects or 
Illinois projects to fund this wall.
  I have two or three specific ones that I would like to highlight 
today because they came to my attention. I thought it would be a 
shame--in fact, it would be just plain wrong--for us to cut the 
spending on these projects. Let me tell you about one of them that 
struck me first.
  The Commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps came to see me. He is a no-
nonsense man. You can understand that if you come to be a four-star 
general in the Marine Corps, you get down to business in a hurry. We 
talked about some of the damage done at the premier training facilities 
for the U.S. Marine Corps. Last year, Hurricane Florence tore through 
the State of North Carolina. The Marine Corps happened to be one of the 
victims of that violent storm. The hurricane damaged roughly 800 
buildings on base at Camp Lejeune, New River, and Cherry Point.
  Here is an overhead shot that is not as graphic because it was taken 
after the hurricane, but the blue coverings on the tops of these roofs 
are an indication of the structural damage that was done to these 
buildings.
  As I mentioned, 800 buildings on these bases were impacted and 
damaged by this hurricane. This overhead shot taken last month 
indicates the work that needs to be done before these buildings can be 
successfully inhabited by the Marine Corps and their families.
  I have a photo of the Camp Lejeune chapel, too. There is not much 
left of it. That is an indication of the damage that was done there. 
This is a worker walking outside of the chapel. That is what is left of 
the chapel. Insulation is falling from the ceiling. There is no good 
reason to prolong the cleanup.
  The Marine Corps said they want to get down to work as quickly as 
possible and restore this training facility for the good of the Marine 
Corps and for our Nation, but this is on the hit list for the President 
for the wall at the border.
  What else needs attention this year? The U.S. Air Force needs $750 
million to begin cleaning up Tyndall Air Force Base, which was leveled 
by Hurricane Michael. The Army leaders need $1 billion for everything 
from more training to jump-starting new technology to keep our troops 
safe and effective in the battlefield. The Navy has asked for hundreds 
of millions of additional dollars for unexpected ship maintenance. We 
can't afford to shortchange the men and women in the Navy. We saw what 
happened not that long ago with the fatal accidents involving Navy 
maneuvers and exercises. We never want that to happen again.
  The National Guard has 2,100 personnel on the border, but it is 
starting to run low in its pay account. So it was hoping some of these 
unobligated funds, at least a small part of them, might be used so they 
can continue their border mission.
  Unless the Department of Defense finds $150 to $300 million this 
year, the National Guard will have to cut short its summer trainings in 
all 50 States.
  My subcommittee has identified almost $5 billion in military 
priorities that need attention today, but after President Trump takes 
half of that--$2.5 billion to pay for his border wall--which priorities 
will get cut?

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  The President has also decided to cut or delay $3.6 billion in 
military construction projects. The President might not think these 
projects are timely or important, but it was just weeks or months ago 
when the administration said just the opposite and asked Congress to 
appropriate money--examples: $800 million for essential training 
facilities like the National Guard readiness centers, simulators and 
firing ranges in the States of Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, and Montana, 
to name a few; $1.4 billion worth of maintenance-related projects such 
as aircraft hangars and vehicle maintenance shops in Arkansas, Indiana, 
Missouri, and Oklahoma, not to mention many other States affected; $1 
billion worth of projects for medical and dental care facilities for 
the men and women in uniform; schools for military families, military 
barracks, and other essential facilities in Arizona, Missouri, Texas, 
and beyond.
  Fort Campbell, KY, needs a new middle school for military children. 
The current building dates back to 1967 and is in serious disrepair. We 
were told that was a priority, but it could be stopped, cut, and 
eliminated if we are not careful to build this wall.
  Also on this list is a new rifle range at Parris Island, SC, a 
training base for 20,000 new Marines every single year.
  There is a new training center at Fort Bragg, NC, to provide top-
notch training and prevent injuries among our Special Forces. They are 
using an old warehouse right now, and they want a modern facility. If 
it were your son or daughter serving our military at Fort Bragg, you 
would give them nothing less. The list goes on and on.
  Are we really going to tell our military--the very people who are 
protecting and defending this Nation--that the needs they have 
identified and we have appropriated money for are going to be put on 
hold because President Trump made a campaign promise that he can't 
keep--that the Mexicans were going to build the wall?
  Republicans and Democrats in the Senate should join the House in 
rejecting the President's emergency declaration. The Senate should 
reject any effort by the President to take money from our troops, from 
the military--from the Marines, from the Air Force, the Navy, the Army, 
the National Guard units--to build this wall. We may not agree on much, 
but we used to agree on fundamental things. The Department of Defense 
was a priority. The men and women serving there deserve not only our 
gratitude but the investment in their training, operations, readiness, 
and a way of life that shows our respect for what they are doing in 
service to this country. We can do nothing less.
  When we face the vote--quite likely a week from today or tomorrow--on 
whether we agree with the House, I hope that the Senate, Democrats and 
Republicans, will put the national defense of our Nation first and our 
military first and vote no on President Trump's effort to extend this 
emergency designation and to try to assume constitutional 
responsibilities beyond what is already written.
  We are a branch of government--article I of the Constitution. Our 
responsibility is to appropriate funds. When we give away that 
responsibility, we walk away from the reason we were elected. I hope 
that Members on both sides of the aisle will consider that as we face 
this historic vote.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Michigan.