[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 25 (Tuesday, February 8, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S559-S562]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                           Government Funding

  Mr. REED. Mr. President, last week, I came to the floor to warn that 
we are moving closer to a yearlong continuing resolution, or a CR, that 
would have devastating implications for every Federal Agency--
particularly the Department of Defense.
  We are 5 months into the fiscal year. Soon, the House will send over 
another stop-gap measure so we can avoid a shutdown for a few more 
weeks. When the short-term funding bill expires, the fiscal year will 
be halfway over. We need to get this work done.
  As outlined last week, Democrats put a deal on the table months ago 
that gave Republicans what they wanted--more funding for defense than 
the $22 billion increase that President Biden sought and less money for 
nondefense programs than he requested. This should have been an easy 
deal for them to accept. Indeed, the defense funding number that 
Democrats are willing to agree to is the number that Republicans on the 
Armed Services Committee proposed this summer and that was incorporated 
into the National Defense Authorization Act. But even with that defense 
number in hand, our Republican colleagues continue to draw out 
negotiations, pushing us closer to a full-year continuing resolution 
that would fund defense at a level that is less than President Biden 
initially requested and about $37 billion lower than the level set out 
in the NDAA.
  I think that is important. If the Republicans continue to reject a 
sensible agreement on an Omnibus appropriations bill, they will end up 
with a defense number that is less than what President Biden sent up, 
and what he sent up was harshly and vigorously criticized by the 
Republicans as being not only ineffectual but also somehow undermining 
our defense.
  So it is very clear that we have to move quickly to make a full-year 
CR an impossibility and that we have to move and vote for an Omnibus 
appropriations bill. A CR for the full year will shortchange our 
military. It will disrupt the efficient operations of the Federal 
Government in the midst of international tension, the ongoing COVID-19 
pandemic, and a fragile economic recovery.
  Let me focus on the Navy and Marine Corps for a moment. Like the 
other services, they would be hard hit. A full-year CR would lead to a 
shortfall of $4.4 billion from the level the President requested.
  Even worse, the Navy estimates the impact could total more than $14 
billion of misaligned funds because a CR prohibits any new starts and 
production rate increases. The military personnel accounts alone would 
be $1.6 billion below what the Navy needs, and that is the pay and 
benefits for our men and women in uniform. The Navy's Active-Duty end 
strength would be reduced by 23,000 sailors of its planned accessions. 
Almost half of the permanent change-of-station moves would be cut, and 
the Navy Reserves would also face a substantial reduction in its end 
strength.
  A full-year CR could leave the training and readiness accounts for 
the Navy and Marine Corps about $2.5 billion short of what they need. 
This shortfall would reduce the services' flight operations by 10 to 20 
percent for all units for 6 months. Reductions in ship operations will 
put training certifications for one carrier strike group and two 
expeditionary strike groups at risk, thereby impacting fiscal year 2023 
deployments.
  This shortfall would impact the scheduling of ship maintenance 
availabilities for five Virginia-class submarines and two aircraft 
carriers--

[[Page S560]]

something that will ripple through the industrial base in future fiscal 
years.
  For the Marines, maintenance availabilities for 12 of their landing 
craft would be deferred, including 6 landing craft air cushions and 6 
landing craft utility. These deferrals would potentially impact their 
ability to support operational needs around the globe. If we don't keep 
our ships and amphibious vehicles maintained, they will not be ready 
nor reliable when they are needed in operations, thereby risking the 
safety of our servicemembers and impeding their ability to perform the 
mission.
  These are just some of the operational impacts the Navy and Marine 
Corps would face under a yearlong CR.
  A CR will also prevent the Navy from effectively modernizing and 
reinvesting in new programs. The Department of the Navy would not be 
able to execute 10 new procurement programs and 10 new research and 
development projects.
  Additionally, 20 programs would not be able to increase their 
production rate as planned in the budget request. Perhaps most 
importantly, the CR would provide insufficient funding for the 
continued construction of SSBN-826, the first boat of the Columbia-
class ballistic missile submarine program, which is replacing the aging 
Ohio-class submarines.
  The Columbia-class program is vitally important to maintaining our 
strategic nuclear deterrence. I have seen the boat currently under 
construction in Rhode Island, the state-of-the-art hull cylinders and 
missile tubes. It is a formidable vessel, and it needs to stay on 
track.
  A yearlong CR would also affect the advance procurement funding for 
the second, third, fourth, and fifth of the submarines of this class. 
Effectively, we would be disrupting the unavoidable replacing of aging 
Ohio-class submarines with the new Columbia class. All this would mean 
down the road eventually is just more expensive submarines.
  We are already on a tight schedule to deliver SSBN-826 to meet the 
requirements of Strategic Command. Chief of Naval Operations Admiral 
Gilday has said that the Columbia class is the Navy's ``number one 
modernization priority'' and that it ``is a program with zero margin 
for delays.''
  The impacts aren't limited to our undersea fleet. Under a yearlong 
CR, the Navy also wouldn't be able to purchase three additional surface 
ships--two of the TAGOS ocean surveillance ships and one ship to shore 
connector--and the Navy won't be able to start procuring materials in 
advance for the new frigate and the TAO fleet oiler.
  The Marines will not be able to buy 7 more F35 Joint Strike Fighters, 
20 more of the amphibious combat vehicle, nor additional quantities of 
the joint air-to-ground missile and Hellfire missiles. Instead of 
procuring six MQ-9A Reaper UAVS, the Marines will get zero.
  There are many impacts to new research and development projects that 
cannot be started under a CR, and the Navy is very concerned about the 
shortfall in funding for the Conventional Prompt Strike Program. This 
missile, which is being jointly developed and produced with the Army, 
will provide Navy ships and Virginia-class submarines with a hypersonic 
weapon capability that is critical to our Nation's ability to deter 
conflict with China and with Russia. In order to make up this shortfall 
under a CR and keep this program on pace, the Navy would have to divert 
funding from other important R&D programs. It is one step forward and 
two steps back and in some cases may cause delays that are 
unrecoverable.
  The Navy and Marine Corps also won't be able to start 17 military 
construction projects--new facilities that our sailors and marines need 
to do their jobs safely and effectively. This includes, among others, 
$321 million for two projects in North Carolina, $288 million for three 
projects in Virginia, $14 million for a project in Minnesota, $49 
million for a project in Michigan, $558 million for eight projects in 
Guam, and $50 million for a project in Japan. This will clearly affect 
our ability to have a forward-operating presence in the Indo-Pacific 
region and to confront what the Secretary of Defense has called the 
pacing threat--China.
  These are just some examples of the varied impacts and challenges the 
Navy and Marine Corps would face if there was a yearlong CR. I would 
encourage my colleagues to read the full testimony of the Chief of 
Naval Operations, Admiral Gilday, and the Commandant of the Marine 
Corps, General Berger, which they submitted to the House Appropriations 
Subcommittee on Defense.
  These statements can be found online on the House Committee on 
Appropriations website at https://appropriations.house.gov/events/
hearings/impact-of-continuing-resolutions-on-the-department-of-defense-
and-services.
  In short, a yearlong CR will make us less competitive with our 
adversaries and less able to respond to the rapidly changing global 
landscape, and these are some things--these efforts are not something 
the Defense Department can do on its own. We need to fund our diplomats 
and our law enforcement and all Agencies of the Federal Government.
  Indeed, we cannot afford to shortchange nondefense priorities. A CR 
will not adequately fund our Defense Department nor our domestic 
Agencies. Stating the obvious, we are still in the midst of the COVID-
19 pandemic. Are we truly willing to fund the NIH and the CDC and other 
public health Agencies at last year's levels? Are we willing to tell 
school systems to make do with the same funding levels for critical 
programs like title I? Are we going to cut funding for housing rental 
assistance? Are we willing to shortchange law enforcement, including 
the Capitol Police?
  We need to get our work done. That begins with reaching an agreement 
that provides the funding Americans need on both sides of the ledger. A 
full-year CR is not an acceptable solution. I am hopeful that agreement 
is near. But no one should believe those who claim to support our 
national defense while threatening a yearlong CR, and no one should 
claim that our domestic needs are somehow unworthy of support as well.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mrs. FISCHER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The Senator from Nebraska.


                          2022 Winter Olympics

  Mrs. FISCHER. Mr. President, it goes without saying that each of the 
American athletes competing in the Olympics this year is the best in 
their event. Many of them have dedicated their entire lives to their 
sports in the hope that they might have this opportunity to represent 
the United States at the Olympic Games. They have earned their spots on 
Team USA, and I wish them the best as they compete against other 
athletes from around the world.
  But make no mistake, Beijing 2022 is no ordinary Olympics. Just a 4-
hour flight from where the Games are being held, China has imprisoned 
more than a million Uighur Muslims in concentration camps. These 
Chinese citizens are prisoners--political prisoners--in their own 
country. Their crime? Maintaining a vibrant Muslim culture that doesn't 
fit the mold that Beijing wants to impose on China's more than 1.4 
billion people. The very same government that is hosting the Olympics 
this week is putting these innocent people in labor camps and 
subjecting them to forced sterilization, forced labor, and physical and 
psychological torture.
  One of the few things that President Trump and President Biden agree 
on is that what China is doing to its Uighur population amounts to 
genocide.
  Last November, one of the most famous athletes in China, Peng Shuai, 
posted on social media that a high-ranking politician in the Chinese 
Communist Party had sexually assaulted her. This wasn't just any 
politician; he was a member of the Politburo Standing Committee and the 
face of China's successful effort to land the 2022 Olympics. He even 
met with the president of the International Olympic Committee at least 
once.
  Speaking out about someone like this is dangerous in a country like 
China. Peng Shuai knew that, but I don't think she expected what came 
next. Less than 20 minutes after she

[[Page S561]]

posted her accusation, her existence had been scrubbed from the 
internet. Any mention of her name was restricted. For a while, the 
Communist Party banned discussion of hundreds of other key words, even 
words as general as ``tennis.'' She disappeared from the public eye for 
months, and the only appearances that she has been allowed to make 
since have been scripted and supervised by the CCP.
  If this is how China treats its own people, I think it is fair to 
ask: What kind of risks are our athletes facing as they participate in 
the Olympic Games?
  To protest China's miserable human rights record, the United States 
instituted a diplomatic boycott, and American officials will not be 
present for these Games; neither will officials representing many of 
our allies, like Canada or the United Kingdom. That is the right 
decision. We shouldn't pretend that everything is fine in China just 
because the IOC chose them to host the Olympics.
  As far as the committee is concerned, they have made it very clear 
that China's money is worth more to them than the rights of the world's 
athletes. They had years to plan for these Olympics, but they still 
chose not to adopt any rules to protect the human rights of Olympians 
while they are in China. Instead, competitors are required to follow 
local laws limiting free expression, privacy, and other basic freedoms.
  Before they ever set foot in China, athletes and journalists were 
required to download an intrusive smartphone app, supposedly to track 
COVID-19 infections. Experts say that China and other malicious actors 
could exploit flaws in the app's design to go beyond that and spy on 
athletes in many other ways, both during the Olympics and long after 
they are over.
  The CCP's app also contains a list of more than 400 illegal words 
that they could use to censor athletes' conversations.
  The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee has gone as far as to tell 
American athletes to ``assume that every device and every 
communication, transaction, and online activity will be monitored.'' 
Many other nations have issued similar warnings.
  This all could have been avoided. We didn't have to host a unifying 
event like the Olympics in a country that thinks the book ``1984'' is 
an instruction manual. The IOC chose to have China host the Olympics 
anyway. They chose to ignore these and many other shameless human 
rights abuses Beijing engages in every single day. They could have 
required China to respect the basic liberties athletes enjoy in the 
United States and other Western countries, but they didn't. The next 
time a host country is chosen, it is important that the IOC pick any of 
the dozens of democracies around the world.
  The more than 200 athletes on Team USA earned their places at the 
Olympics with years of hard work and sacrifice. I do wish them the 
best, and I pray that they stay safe while they are away from home.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Indiana.
  Mr. YOUNG. Mr. President, in an effort to make the internet healthy, 
happy, and peaceful, the Chinese Government recently clamped down on 
what it deems as online bad behavior.
  Beijing knows all about bad behavior. In fact, if behaving badly were 
an Olympic sport, China would take the gold, silver, and bronze.
  Speaking of the Olympics, last week the Olympic cauldron was lit in 
the Chinese capital by a Uighur torchbearer. It was a spectacular 
opening ceremony, with thousands of participants filling the Bird's 
Nest. Its choreography was innovative, its artistry unprecedented as 
China sought to portray itself to the world not as it is but as they 
want to be seen.
  There was an LED floor below, brilliant fireworks overhead. Children 
danced, sang, and raised glowing doves. The theme was socially 
conscious and environmentally aware.
  The Chinese flag was passed through the hands of people representing 
the diversity within China, and it was raised where it billowed 
proudly, even though there wasn't a breeze.
  And not a single American Government official was present--not a 
single government official. You see, we sent our regrets to the Chinese 
Communist Party, refused to join in the Xi Jinping games. We let a few 
of the reasons why we didn't appear be submitted candidly to the world.
  A million Uighurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz are locked away in gulags--raped, 
tortured with electric batons, sterilized, forced into abortions--all 
in an effort to eradicate these religious and ethnic minorities not 
just from Xinjiang but from the face of the Earth.
  Taiwan's sovereignty is continually threatened with the Chinese 
flying aircraft, streaking across Taiwan's skies. Hong Kong's democracy 
is strangled.
  There and across the CCP's domain, dissidents, whistleblowers, and 
protesters are apprehended, imprisoned, persecuted, and reeducated--
free speech and expression stifled and censored, religious freedom 
denied.
  A virus was recklessly unleashed on the world, upturning our lives, 
killing our most vulnerable, closing our businesses, damaging our 
economy, and dividing our people.
  A nation is hosting a storied athletic competition, but that nation 
erases its own athletes for telling embarrassing truths about its 
government.
  The history, distant and recent, of the communist Chinese Government 
is one of inhumanity, ruthless violation of the most basic human 
rights, and aggression toward America and its allies.
  The Olympic Games in Beijing, spit and polished, even carbon-neutral, 
may present the face of a humane and caring world power, but we are not 
fooled.
  We see through the charade--a slave state hosting the Olympics; its 
participants wearing uniforms made by Uighurs tortured and toiling in 
labor camps.
  We see the authoritarian regime behind what the dissident artist Ai 
Weiwei calls China's fake smile. And we are leading by example. The CCP 
has the world stage, but we are not in the audience.
  Our athletes are in Beijing, though. They are on the ice, in the 
snow, on the slopes, and in the arena, and they should be. They have 
worked their entire lives for this moment. They are seizing it, while 
we root them on. And I want America's Olympians to bring back every 
single gold medal.
  But I also want our athletes to know what the Chinese Government 
might have in store for them. So here are a few hopefully helpful words 
for our American Olympians.
  Keep an eye on your bank account. That is right. When you buy a meal 
or a souvenir in Beijing, you will be forced to pay for it with the 
CCP's digital yuan. The Chinese Government claims the system creates 
more efficient payments across its economy, but it is also a way of 
keeping tabs on your transactions and watching what you buy. Be aware. 
Think twice about what you buy in Beijing. You see, the International 
Olympic Committee made no effort to stop the sale of apparel made with 
forced labor.
  Not only will China's Olympic team be wearing uniforms likely 
produced by slave labor, but official Olympic garments could be coming 
from the same oppressed source.
  And don't be fooled by uncensoring. The CCP erases any unflattering 
but accurate portrayals of itself on the internet. With the world 
watching, it is now promising to lower the great firewall, allowing 
athletes and the press open access to the internet through SIM cards. 
China's own citizens are afforded no such privilege. Hopefully, you 
brought a burner phone and left your personal devices at home.
  Keep an eye out for your fellow athletes. Now, this is important. 
Tennis star Peng Shuai disappeared in November after accusing a Chinese 
official of sexual assault. Her peers and the Women's Tennis 
Association called for action--an extraordinary showing of solidarity. 
But after Peng was seen in a video, the world moved on, much to China's 
delight.

  We may never know how many Chinese athletes live under fear from 
their oppressive government.
  Journalists, by the way, you should be on guard too. You see, there 
is no freedom of the press in China. Reporters are regularly harassed, 
censored, and surveilled. In fact, in 2021, China jailed 50 
journalists--more than any other nation.
  During the 2008 Summer Games in Beijing, there were at least 30 cases 
of CCP officials interfering with reporting and assaulting journalists. 
And that

[[Page S562]]

was when China was truly concerned about making a positive impression 
across the world.
  Lastly, and most importantly, to all America's athletes, don't forget 
this: Your country is behind you. By boycotting the Olympics, our 
government is shining a light on the CCP's abuse of its citizens and 
its disregard for the rest of the world, but by competing in the 
Olympics, our athletes are showing what a free people from an open 
society are capable of. Now, remember, the Olympics have long been a 
forum for American victory at the expense of authoritarians' pride. 
They were an early front in the war against fascism.
  Jesse Owens won four gold medals in the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, 
while Hitler looked on, humiliated, his delusion of Aryan superiority 
burst. When Owens stood on the podium after winning the long jump, he 
was surrounded by Sieg Heils, but he stood taller and he stood higher 
than all of them, saluting Old Glory.
  But it was Cornelius ``Corny'' Johnson who was the first Black 
American to earn gold in Berlin, winning the high jump. The silver went 
to Dave Albritton, another American, who was also Black. Delos Thurbur, 
yet another American, won the bronze. Hitler refused to meet with them 
or to congratulate any of them.
  When they took the podium, all three offered their own protest to the 
dictator--the Bellamy salute; the palm-out salute of the American flag 
named for Francis Bellamy, the author of the Pledge of Allegiance.
  The Olympics were a battleground in the Cold War as well.
  In 1980, the unheralded and ragtag American hockey team upset the 
four-time gold medal-winning Soviets. Two days later, they defeated 
Finland and won the gold.
  Russia had just invaded Afghanistan. America's economy was in 
recession. The victory not only shocked the world, it lifted our Nation 
and sunk the Soviet's spirits. The Russian hockey players didn't even 
bother to have their silver medals engraved; they were so angry about 
losing to America.
  Now, in 2022, another act in a global power competition will take 
place at the Olympics. We have seen it unfold in recent days. America 
and the free West against the communist Chinese Government. It is part 
of the contest that will define this century--show the CCP that the 
future belongs to the free; that authoritarian governments always fail 
the people trapped under them.
  Win. Make Xi Jinping and the Chinese authorities hear the ``Star-
Spangled Banner'' and see the Stars and Stripes again and again and 
again.
  We are cheering you on and will be waiting for you when you come home 
decorated in gold. Good luck to Team USA, and God bless America.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. BOOZMAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.