[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 17]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 23605]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



             DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2002

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                               speech of

                          HON. BETTY McCOLLUM

                              of minnesota

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, November 28, 2001

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 3338) making 
     appropriations for the Department of Defense for the fiscal 
     year ending September 30, 2002, and for other purposes.

  Ms. McCOLLUM. Mr. Chairman, I rise today in support of H.R. 3338, the 
Defense Appropriations bill for fiscal year 2002.
  In this time of national awareness of the very real threat of 
terrorism, I believe it is our responsibility as lawmakers to ensure 
the readiness and quality of life of our military by providing these 
forces with the necessary resources, equipment and training to defend 
our nation's interests and to keep the American people secure. With our 
country at war, it is more important than ever to continue to support 
our armed forces and provide them with the necessary resources needed 
to wage this war and protect our nation and our world from terrorism.
  Despite my support for this bill, I have strong reservations about 
the way this bill has placed an added emphasis on programs and 
provisions that do not address the most pressing needs of our nation.
  For example, this measure provides $7.9 billion for an untested and 
unproven missile defense program, while providing only $613 million to 
improve federal, state, and local bioterrorism preparedness. By moving 
forward with a costly national missile defense system, we are investing 
billions of scarce federal dollars in an unproven and dangerous scheme 
while placing at risk the well-being of our nation in a time of 
national crisis.
  In addition, this Defense Appropriations bill will cut critically 
needed funding from the Department of Labor's employment and training 
administration to provide additional funding relief to assist New 
York's efforts to recover from the September 11th terrorist attack. 
While there should be no doubting my commitment to the people of New 
York and their efforts to recover and rebuild after the terrorist 
attacks, I am concerned that the funding they need may come at the 
expense of other programs and initiatives deserved of funding.
  Specifically, funding in this bill in the employment and training 
administration was to be used for the New National Emergency Grant 
program, which would allocate emergency funding to the states to 
provide health insurance, income support, and job search assistance and 
training for displaced workers following the September 11th attack. 
This includes a $24 million grant for the State of Minnesota to provide 
assistance to displaced airline employees who have lost their jobs when 
the government suspended domestic and international air travel. These 
layoffs have had a devastating impact on these individuals and their 
families and to Minnesota's economy as a whole. With the huge influx of 
current layoffs, the state cannot meet the needs of these laid off 
workers without this emergency grant.
  While this is not a perfect bill, with our nation at war, it is a 
necessary bill. It is imperative that our nation continues to maintain 
a strong national defense, especially during this time of domestic and 
international crisis. However, in the weeks and months ahead we must 
also pledge our commitment to work as a unified Congress to provide 
increases in additional security, bioterrorism preparedness, and 
employee assistance measures. Furthermore, we must work to help New 
York recover and rebuild from the devastating attack of September 11th, 
as well as stimulating our economy and strengthening our nation's 
infrastructure and safety measures.

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