[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 14]
[Senate]
[Pages 19840-19841]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



   HIGHLIGHTS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE APPROPRIATIONS CONFERENCE 
                                 REPORT

  Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I want to make a few more comments 
regarding the conference of the House and the Senate. Quite apart from 
the DOE provision, we are very pleased that we made major strides in 
this legislation on behalf of the men and women of the U.S. military.
  We have an authorized funding level of $288.8 billion, which is $8.3 
billion above the President's budget request. And that is in real 
terms. This is the first time in 13 years that there has been a real--I 
repeat--real increase in the defense budget.
  Our distinguished Presiding Officer is a member of the Senate Armed 
Services Committee. He actively participated in structuring this piece 
of legislation. We have approved a 4.8-percent pay raise for military 
personnel, reform of the military pay tables, and annual military pay 
raises 0.5 percent above the annual increases in the Employment Cost 
Index.
  We provide military members with a wider choice on their retirement 
system. We allowed both Active and Reserve component military personnel 
to participate in thrift savings. There is nothing more important. 
Indeed, the tax legislation just passed --always, certainly, on this 
side of the aisle we are trying to seek ways to increase savings in our 
United States. I am pleased now we give wider opportunity to the men 
and women of the Armed Forces.
  Strategic forces: We authorize a net increase of $400 million for 
ballistic missile defense, a program that finally has achieved 
recognition under our distinguished colleague, Senator Cochran of 
Mississippi, in passing here a week ago, the important legislation, 
which the President has now signed, to take another step forward in 
protecting America against the likelihood that possibly some accidental 
firing or limited attack could be launched against this country. We 
have a long way to go, but through the leadership of Senator Cochran, 
and others, we have finally forged, I think, another, should we say, 10 
yards on this lengthy ball field.
  We authorize an increase of $212 million for the Patriot PAC-3 
system, again missile defense.
  Seapower authorized a $1 billion increase to the procurement budget 
request of $18 billion and a $251 million increase to the research, 
development, test, and evaluation budget request of $3.9 billion for 
the Seapower Subcommittee under the chairmanship of Senator Snowe.
  Very able work was done on behalf of Senator Snowe and the ranking 
member, Senator Kennedy, for the Navy and the Marine Corps and a 
limited number of Air Force programs under their jurisdiction.
  We extended the multiyear procurement authority for the DDG-51 
procurement and authorized advance procurement and advance construction 
for the LHD-8. We authorize construction of three DDG-51 Arleigh Burke 
class destroyers, two LPD-17 San Antonio class amphibious ships, and 
one ADC(X), the first of a class of auxiliary refrigeration and 
ammunition supply ships.
  We authorize advance procurement for 2 SSN-774 Virginia class attack 
submarines, and $750 million for the CVN-77, the last of the Nimitz 
class aircraft carriers currently in planning. We will, however, go on 
with another class of carriers, and that is the subject of research and 
development.
  In the readiness, we increase funding for military readiness by $1.5 
billion. It provides for the protection of the military's access to 
essential frequency spectrum. That was a highly contested issue in our 
legislation. The private sector had concerns that the Pentagon would 
absorb a proportion of the spectrum beyond its needs. But in 
consultation with Congressman Bliley, the chairman of the House 
committee with jurisdiction, Senator McCain, a distinguished member of 
our committee, as well as chairman here of the Commerce Committee, we 
reached this compromise, which I hope all will find satisfactory.
  In the Airland area, we had an additional $1.5 billion for critical 
procurement requirements and an additional $400 million for research 
and development activities above the President's request. We fully 
authorized the development and procurement budget request for the F-22 
Raptor.
  It is with some regret that the House did not adequately fund that 
program, in my judgment. That is a subject that is actively before the 
two Appropriations Committees. But both the House and the Senate 
authorizing committees fully funded that program.
  Lastly, upon assuming the chairmanship of this committee from my 
distinguished predecessor, Senator Thurmond, I decided to establish a 
new subcommittee entitled ``Emerging Threats.'' That committee, under 
the great leadership of Senator Roberts, moved out, and here are some 
of the initiatives taken by that subcommittee.
  We authorize and fully fund 17 new National Guard Rapid Assessment 
and Initial Detection--commonly known as RAID--Teams to respond to 
terrorist attacks in the United States--12 more than the administration 
request.
  It was my judgment, and Senator Roberts' and the members of the 
committee, that this is the greatest threat poised at the United States 
today--the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, whether they 
be biological, chemical, or possibly the incorporation of some crude 
weapon involving fissionable material. We have to move out on that. 
Progress was made by this new subcommittee.
  Further, we required the department to establish specific budget 
reporting procedures for its Combating Terrorism Program. This will 
give the program the focus and visibility it deserves while providing 
Congress with the information it requires to conduct thorough oversight 
of the department's efforts to combat the threat of terrorist attack 
both inside and outside the United States.
  We authorize $475 million for the Cooperative Threat Reduction 
Program to accelerate the disarmament of the former Soviet Union--now 
Russia--strategic offensive arms that always threaten the United 
States. That was commonly referred to as the Nunn-Lugar program for a 
number of years.
  We establish an Information Assurance Initiative to strengthen DOD's 
information assurance program and provide for an additional $150 
million to the administration's request for information assurances 
programs, projects, and activities.
  In cyberspace today, with the rapid research and development--indeed, 
achievement--of many technical initiatives, the whole area of 
cyberspace is

[[Page 19841]]

threatened by an ever-growing number of sources of invasion and 
compromise, and indeed, disabling of the systems themselves.
  I thank my colleagues for indulging me to speak to this important 
piece of legislation which will be filed tonight in the House and, of 
course, automatically in the Senate.
  I shall now inquire of our staff as to the desire of other Members to 
speak, as well as the wrap up for the evening.
  (Mr. KYL assumed the Chair.)
  I yield the floor, Mr. President.
  Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. President, I note the Senator from Kansas would 
like to be recognized, but I ask if I could just make a few comments 
about the remarks that Senator Warner has just made.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Alabama.
  Mr. SESSIONS. I have been honored to join the Armed Services 
Committee this year. Senator Warner just took over as its new chairman. 
Some said we did not do anything the first part of the year, but even 
before the impeachment hearings came, Senator Warner knew that we had a 
crisis in our defense circumstances.
  He has served as Secretary of the Navy. He loves this country, and he 
loves our men and women in uniform. He decided early that we had to 
send a signal to reverse this 13-year trend of cutting our defense 
budgets, and he did that with great leadership.
  We have now a very healthy pay raise this year for our men and women, 
a guaranteed pay raise in excess of the inflation rate for the next 5 
years for our men and women in the services.
  We want to send them a message that we are concerned about the rapid 
deployments that they are undergoing and the amount of time they spend 
away from their families. And we want to continue to monitor that.
  I want to say how much I have enjoyed serving with the Senator. 
Members of both parties respect him and enjoy working with him.
  Mr. WARNER. If the Senator would yield?
  Mr. SESSIONS. Yes.
  Mr. WARNER. I thank the Senator very much for his kind comments. But 
the Senator has brought to mind the fact that our majority leader, 
Senator Lott, made a decision to support our committee in putting 
through S. 4, I think the earliest bill in the Senate, which brought 
about the pay raises and retirement adjustments, which, hopefully, will 
increase our readiness by encouraging more young men and women to join 
the Armed Forces--our recruiting having fallen off--and retaining the 
skilled personnel that we now have.
  Also, it was the Joint Chiefs of Staff that on two occasions came 
before our committee--in September of last year and again in January of 
this year--and unequivocally stated, in their best professional 
judgment, the need for additional dollars, and how best those funds 
could be expended by the Congress, and putting particular emphasis on 
the pay and allowances, which is always the top priority of the Chiefs 
for their men and women of the Armed Forces.
  I thank my colleague.
  Mr. SESSIONS. I want to say how much I respect our chairman. I 
believe this bill, this appropriations report, represents a commitment 
by our Nation to reverse the trend of decline. The chairman has 
supported the President when he is right. He has been prepared to 
oppose him when he is wrong. As to those who disagree with our firm 
commitment, that I know the Senator in the chair supports, to reform 
our nuclear labs and to bring an end to this absolute disaster of 
security that we have had, I am disappointed that they have not yet 
gotten the message that serious fundamental reform is needed. They say 
those words, but when we come down with a good bill that does it, they 
draw back and again have excuses. I hope we can work this out and the 
bill will pass.
  Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, if the Senator will yield, I have just 
been informed, much to my great pleasure, that two members of the 
minority, two Democrats on the Armed Services Committee, have now 
decided to sign our conference report, and there is a likelihood of one 
or more additional ones. I depart the floor far more heartened than 
when I entered about 40 minutes ago.
  Mr. SESSIONS. I thank the chairman. I also appreciate his leadership 
and those who are signing this report. I think it is a good one.
  Mr. BROWNBACK addressed the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Kansas.

                          ____________________