[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 17]
[Senate]
[Pages 24055-24066]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




EMERGENCY SUPPLEMENTAL APPROPRIATIONS FOR IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN SECURITY 
                AND RECONSTRUCTION ACT, 2004--Continued


                 Amendments Nos. 1818 and 1819, En Bloc

  Mr. BYRD. I ask unanimous consent that two amendments which I have 
discussed with Mr. Stevens be introduced, that they be considered as 
having been read, and that they be temporarily set aside for the 
calling up of other amendments.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. BYRD. I ask unanimous consent that amendment No. 1818 be 
introduced by me for myself, Mr. Kennedy, and Mr. Leahy and that 
amendment No. 1819 be shown as having been proposed by me on behalf of 
myself and Mr. Durbin.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The amendments are as follows:

                           Amendment No. 1818

       On page 38, between lines 20 and 21, insert the following:
       Sec. 2313. (a)(1) Of the funds appropriated under chapter 2 
     of this title under the heading ``Iraq Relief and 
     Reconstruction Fund''--
       (A) not more than $5,000,000,000 may be obligated or 
     expended before April 1, 2004; and
       (B) the excess of the total amount so appropriated over 
     $5,000,000,000 may not be obligated or expended after April 
     1, 2004, unless--
       (i) the President submits to Congress in writing the 
     certifications described in subsection (b); and
       (ii) Congress enacts an appropriations law (other than this 
     Act) that authorizes the obligation and expenditure of such 
     funds.
       (2) Paragraph (1) does not apply to the $5,136,000,000 
     provided under the heading ``Iraq Relief and Reconstruction 
     Fund'' for security, including public safety requirements, 
     national security, and justice (which includes funds for 
     Iraqi border enforcement, enhanced security communications, 
     and the establishment of Iraqi national security forces and 
     the Iraq Defense Corps).
       (b) The certifications referred to in subsection (a)(1)(A) 
     are as follows:
       (1) A certification that the United Nations Security 
     Council has adopted a resolution (after the adoption of 
     United Nations Security Council Resolution 1483 of May 22, 
     2003, and after the adoption of United Nations Security 
     Council Resolution 1500 of August 14, 2003) that authorizes a 
     multinational force under United States leadership for post-
     Saddam Hussein Iraq, provides for a central role for the 
     United Nations in the political and economic development and 
     reconstruction of Iraq, and will result in substantially 
     increased contributions of military forces and amounts of 
     money by other countries to assist in the restoration of 
     security in Iraq and the reconstruction of Iraq.
       (2) A certification that the United States reconstruction 
     activities in Iraq are being successfully implemented in 
     accordance with a detailed plan (which includes fixed 
     timetables and costs), and with a significant commitment of 
     financial assistance from other countries, for--
       (A) the establishment of economic and political stability 
     in Iraq, including prompt restoration of basic services, such 
     as water and electricity services;
       (B) the adoption of a democratic constitution in Iraq;
       (C) the holding of local and national elections in Iraq;
       (D) the establishment of a democratically elected 
     government in Iraq that has broad public support; and
       (E) the establishment of Iraqi security and armed forces 
     that are fully trained and appropriately equipped and are 
     able to defend Iraq and carry out other security duties 
     without the involvement of the United States Armed Forces.
       (c) Not later than March 1, 2004, the President shall 
     submit to Congress a report on United States and foreign 
     country involvement in Iraq that includes the following 
     information:
       (1) The number of military personnel from other countries 
     that, as of such date, are supporting Operation Iraqi 
     Freedom, together with an estimate of the number of such 
     personnel to be in place in Iraq for that purpose on May 1, 
     2004.
       (2) The total amounts of financial donations pledged and 
     paid by other countries for the reconstruction of Iraq.
       (3) A description of the economic, political, and military 
     situation in Iraq, including the number, type, and location 
     of attacks on Coalition, United Nations and Iraqi military, 
     public safety, and civilian personnel in the 60 days 
     preceding the date of the report.
       (4) A description of the measures taken to protect United 
     States military personnel serving in Iraq.
       (5) A detailed plan, containing fixed timetables and costs, 
     for establishing civil, economic, and political security in 
     Iraq, including restoration of basic services, such as water 
     and electricity services.

[[Page 24056]]

       (6) An estimate of the total number of United States and 
     foreign military personnel that are necessary in the short 
     term and the long term to bring to Iraq stability and 
     security for its reconstruction, including the prevention of 
     sabotage that impedes the reconstruction efforts.
       (7) An estimate of the duration of the United States 
     military presence in Iraq and the levels of United States 
     military personnel strength that will be necessary for that 
     presence for each of the future 6-month periods, together 
     with a rotation plan for combat divisions, combat support 
     units. and combat service support units.
       (8) An estimate of the total cost to the United States of 
     the military presence in Iraq that includes--
       (A) the estimated incremental costs of the United States 
     active duty forces deployed in Iraq and neighboring 
     countries;
       (B) the estimated costs of United States reserve component 
     forces mobilized for service in Iraq and in neighboring 
     countries;
       (C) the estimated costs of replacing United States military 
     equipment being used in Iraq; and
       (D) the estimated costs of support to be provided by the 
     United States to foreign troops in Iraq.
       (9) An estimate of the total financial cost of the 
     reconstruction of Iraq, together with--
       (A) an estimate of the percentage of such cost that would 
     be paid by the United States and a detailed accounting 
     specified for major categories of cost; and
       (B) the amounts of contributions pledged and paid by other 
     countries, specified in major categories.
       (10) A strategy for securing significant additional 
     international financial support for the reconstruction of 
     Iraq, including a discussion of the progress made in 
     implementing the strategy.
       (11) A schedule, including fixed timetables and costs, for 
     the establishment of Iraqi security and armed forces that are 
     fully trained and appropriately equipped and are able to 
     defend Iraq and carry out other security duties without the 
     involvement of the United States Armed Forces.
       (12) An estimated schedule for the withdrawal of United 
     States and foreign armed forces from Iraq.
       (13) An estimated schedule for--
       (A) the adoption of a democratic constitution in Iraq;
       (B) the holding of democratic local and national elections 
     in Iraq;
       (C) the establishment of a democratically elected 
     government in Iraq that has broad public support; and
       (D) the timely withdrawal of United States and foreign 
     armed forces from Iraq.
       (d) Every 90 days after the submission of the report under 
     subsection (c), the President shall submit to Congress an 
     update of that report. The requirement for updates under the 
     preceding sentence shall terminate upon the withdrawal of the 
     United States Armed Forces (other than diplomatic security 
     detachment personnel) from Iraq.
       (e) The report under subsection (c) and the updates under 
     subsection (d) shall be submitted in unclassified form.


                           amendment no. 1819

       At the appropriate place in Title III, insert the 
     following:

     SECTION  .

       (a) None of the funds under the heading Iraq Relief and 
     Reconstruction Fund may be used for: a Facilities Protection 
     Service Professional Standards and Training Program; any 
     amount in excess of $50,000,000 for completion of irrigation 
     and drainage systems; construction of water supply dams; any 
     amount in excess of $25,000,000 for the construction of 
     regulators for the Hawizeh Marsh; any amount in excess of 
     $50,000,000 for a witness protection program; Postal 
     Information Technology Architecture and Systems, including 
     establishment of ZIP codes; civil aviation infrastructure 
     cosmetics, such as parking lots, escalators and glass; museum 
     and memorials; wireless fidelity networks for the Iraqi 
     Telephone Postal Company; any amount in excess of $50,000,000 
     for construction of housing units; any amount in excess of 
     $100,000,000 for an American-Iraqi Enterprise Fund; any 
     amount in excess of $75,000,000 for expanding a network of 
     employment centers, for on-the-job training, for computer 
     literacy training, English as a Second Language or for 
     Vocational Training Institutes or catch-up business training; 
     any amount in excess of $782,500,000 for the purchase of 
     petroleum product imports.
       (b) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, 
     amounts made available under the heading Iraq Relief and 
     Reconstruction Fund shall be reduced by $600,000,000.
       (c) In addition to the amounts otherwise made available in 
     this Act, $600,000,000 shall be made available for Operation 
     and Maintenance, Army: Provided, That these funds are 
     available only for the purpose of securing and destroying 
     conventional munitions in Iraq, such as bombs, bomb 
     materials, small arms, rocket propelled grenades, and 
     shoulder-launched missiles.
  Mr. STEVENS. I ask unanimous consent that those amendments be set 
aside for consideration of the Dodd amendment.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The Senator from Connecticut.


                           Amendment No. 1817

  Mr. DODD. Mr. President, I send my amendment to the desk and ask for 
its immediate consideration.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       The Senator from Connecticut [Mr. Dodd] proposes an 
     amendment numbered 1817.

  Mr. DODD. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the reading of 
the amendment be dispensed with.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The amendment is as follows:

 (Purpose: To provide an additional $322,000,000 for safety equipment 
for United States forces in Iraq and to reduce the amount provided for 
                reconstruction in Iraq by $322,000,000)

       On page 2, line 20, strike ``$24,946,464,000:'' and insert 
     ``$25,268,464,000, of which $322,000,000 shall be available 
     to provide safety equipment through the Rapid Fielding 
     Initiative and the Iraqi Battlefield Clearance program:''.
       On page 25, line 10, strike ``$5,136,000,000'' and insert 
     ``$4,884,000,000''.
       On page 25, line 16, strike ``$353,000,000'' and insert 
     ``$283,000,000''.

  Mr. DODD. I apologize to my colleagues. I know it is a late hour. 
This is an important amendment, and I hope my colleagues can support 
it.
  I rise to propose this amendment to the emergency supplemental 
spending bill to ensure that Congress and the administration keep sight 
of what I believe must remain our number one priority for the conduct 
of the operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, the protection of our 
American troops.
  According to the U.S. Army, the President's supplemental bill falls 
short of over $200 million for critical gear for our soldiers slated to 
rotate in Iraq and Afghanistan in the months ahead. This amendment was 
designed specifically to see to it that those U.S. troops coming into 
Iraq, into a theater of war, would receive important equipment they 
need to perform their missions effectively. This equipment includes 
important high-tech body armor, bullet-proof helmets, special water 
packs to keep soldiers hydrated, and other survival gear.
  I don't need to make the case about what is happening in Iraq on a 
daily basis, nor do I need to stress the importance of this kind of 
equipment. My colleagues are well aware of this situation.
  As it stands now, the supplemental bill before the Senate only covers 
expenses for soldiers' personal equipment up to the first 3 months of 
2004 and does not take into account very soon a considerable number of 
men and women who will be entering the theater to relieve soldiers who 
are there now.
  In an $87 billion emergency spending package for 2004, one would 
think we could find enough money to meet the pressing equipment needs 
of our young men and women in uniform. That is why I was surprised to 
find an official list from the U.S. Army Comptroller's Office dated 
September 26 detailing several important items that remain unfunded in 
this supplemental. Above all else, it is a requirement that thousands 
of our soldiers, particularly those in the Reserves and the National 
Guard, be equipped with the most effective personal equipment 
available. Our troops need this gear to improve their performance in 
combat and to enhance their safety under intense conditions.
  As my colleagues know, every day our men and women in uniform have 
been ordered into harm's way, sent into extreme heat--exceeding 120 
degrees in some cases--with strenuous missions in different settings 
throughout Iraq and Afghanistan.
  My chart shows what a foot soldier wears on his shoulders in Iraq: 60 
pounds of body armor, tactical equipment, in hot desert heat, carrying 
high-tech night vision equipment, special framed backpacks, and other 
survival gear. In 120 degrees, carrying all this equipment becomes 
quite burdensome, so they have special hydration systems necessary for 
troops to safely survive the desert heat. These water pack systems, 
called camelbaks, are attached to the soldier's backpack to allow easy 
access to water when they are in motion.

[[Page 24057]]

  Unfortunately, with the shortage of funds, the Army could not afford 
to equip all soldiers with this equipment, so many soldiers are using 
bulky canteens that quickly heat up in the desert sun. Most of the 
canteens do not have adequate capacity to carry the water they need in 
Iraq's intense heat.
  This information comes from the U.S. Army. I am not making this up 
from news reports. This is what our military is telling us and where a 
shortfall exists in this supplemental.
  In other cases, the soldiers are paying hundreds of dollars out of 
their own pockets to buy the equipment themselves, everything ranging 
from the camelbaks to gun scopes, because in spite of the Army's stated 
priorities, the administration did not procure enough personnel 
equipment for these men and women. I think we can do better than that.
  The 2003 Defense Appropriations Act included language demanding 
answers to why the very men and women we send into combat are being 
forced to spend upwards of $300 per person. Our own Congress made this 
point: They are spending up to $300 per person on equipment to outfit 
themselves for combat in Iraq. The Army has yet to report on this issue 
and has established a rapid fielding initiative designed to outfit our 
soldiers with the most modern equipment available so they do not have 
to spend their own money on the latest body armor hydration systems.
  Out of $324.5 million needed to fund this program in Iraq and 
Afghanistan, only $122.5 million was to be available in this 
supplemental budget bill. That means if our soldiers, many of whom are 
less than 21 years of age, making under $20,000 a year, want the right 
gear for their mission, they are going to have to dig into their own 
pockets to buy their own hydration equipment, radios, weapon sights, 
combat helmets, and individual body armor.
  Let me cite an article that appeared in yesterday's Washington Post 
called ``The Children Of War,'' section C, page 16. There was an 
interview with the children whose parents are fighting in the Persian 
Gulf. One young person points out that her father has been buying other 
supplies already--a portable hammock, special water pouches, et cetera.
  That is from a child talking about her parent having to buy his own 
equipment. I don't know of anyone who believes that ought to persist.
  Now, in response to the Army's request, the committee added $300 
million to the present supplemental request which could be used for 
either this additional equipment or the clearance of weapons and mines 
still lingering on Iraqi battlefields. It says it right here, in the 
Congressional Record, dated October 1, 2003, when the Supplemental 
Appropriations bill's accompanying report was printed. On page S12222, 
there is a chart detailing expenditures in the Army Operations and 
Maintenance account. $300 million is to be allocated for ``SAPI body 
armor/Rapid Fielding Initiative or battlefield cleanup.''
  But the Army says it needs an additional $420 million just to handle 
the Iraqi battlefield clearance. As the pending legislation stands now, 
there is still not enough money in the bill to do both, and both 
items--more safety equipment and Iraqi battlefield clearance--are top 
Army priorities.
  I think we need to address both of these issues. For those reasons, I 
have asked my colleagues to support this amendment to allocate an 
additional $322 million for the critical equipment of our troops and 
adequate resources for battlefield clearance to fully meet the Army's 
current requirements.
  The funding in my amendment is fully offset by reductions in some of 
these reconstruction accounts called emergencies. I want to draw my 
colleagues' attention to them.
  Looking at this next chart. I have reprinted items submitted to us by 
the Administration in their request, entitled ``Coalition Provisional 
Authority Request to Rehabilitate and Reconstruct Iraq,'' dated 
September 2003. It lists in this supposed emergency budget proposal, 
among other things, $15 million to procure 3,000 computers. That means 
we are providing computers at $5,000 a piece. This does not seem 
reasonable, when you could find a perfectly reasonable computer for 
$750. I have a lot of respect for what the Iraqis are going through, 
but I do not know, for the life of me, why you are going to spend 
around $3,000 to $5,000 per computer, and $40 million to train them 
under this so-called emergency budget.
  You can go down even further on this list, and there are additional 
points to make. I will not go through all these items because of the 
time constraints. But my bill takes the money from two or three areas 
to come up with this $250 million to make up the difference between the 
$300 million in the bill and this additional amount to cover both 
battlefield clearance and the equipment they need.
  Out of the money the administration has proposed to fund the 
construction of two 4,000-bed maximum security prisons, at a cost of 
$400 million--$50,000 per bed in an Iraqi prison--these moneys would be 
in addition to the $99 million also included in that account for the 
refurbishing and construction of 26 prisons and detention centers that 
existed under the regime of Saddam Hussein.
  Even without spending one penny of the $400 million--by the way, we 
recommend taking $200 million of this, not all the $400 million. Even 
without spending one penny of the $400 million for the maximum security 
prisons, the prison capacity in Iraq will be nearly doubled from the 
11,200 to 19,700, thanks to our efforts.
  The question I would ask--anyone ought to ask--is, Do we really 
believe, in a democratic Iraq, there will be a need to imprison three 
times more Iraqi citizens than were kept behind bars under Saddam 
Hussein?
  We would be transferring $200 million out of this account, cutting it 
in half--not eliminating all of it. We would also like to take $50 
million out of the $100 million fund for the Iraqi witness protection 
program. That is right, there is $100 million listed in the 
Administration's budget justification materials for the emergency 
supplemental for witness protection. By the way, that is $100 million 
for 100 families.
  Now, the average Iraqi makes $2,200 a year. I don't know what anyone 
is thinking here. And I do not understand how we can provide $1 million 
per family, when we are at the same time not meeting the requirements 
that our men and women in uniform are lacking.
  The offsets for my amendment therefore include $50 million from the 
witness protection program as well as $70 million from the proposals 
for computers, computer training and even English classes proposed in 
this so-called emergency budget.
  There are a lot of emergencies that need to be met, but you are going 
to be hard pressed to convince the American public that doubling the 
capacity of prisons is an emergency, or providing witness protection at 
$1 million per family, or buying computers at $3,000 each--when we are 
being told we cannot provide the necessary resources for our men and 
women in uniform.
  In sum, I want to make the point that the Administration's 
supplemental budget request has simply not been scrubbed sufficiently. 
I do not believe any of my colleagues, if they were sitting down going 
over this in detail, would make a case that in $20 billion of 
construction money for Iraq, that a $100 million witness protection 
program, $400 million to double or triple the prison cells at $50,000 a 
bed in their prisons, and that $3,000 for computers--and $40 million, 
by the way, is to provide computer training--I would like to see 
someone get a $40 million appropriation to provide computer training 
for anyone else in this country, let alone to do it over in Iraq.
  So these are the areas that we would take money from to provide for 
the $322 million to provide for the men and women in uniform who need 
these resources.
  I mentioned earlier the kind of equipment. I will come back and just 
identify this for my colleagues. Again, this is not my assessment. This 
is the U.S. Army saying what they need. They need adequate provisions 
for clean water, additional high-tech backpacks,

[[Page 24058]]

advanced combat helmets and body armor, additional radios, machine gun 
sights and tripods, M-16 ammunition, high-tech GPS compass equipment, 
additional desert boots, sun and wind dust goggles and gloves, 
grappling hooks, door ramming kits, sniper rifles, binoculars, and 
special night vision goggles.
  That is their list. Yet they are being told: Either spend money to 
clear Iraqi battlefields of mines and other dangerous materials or 
receive effective safety gear. This seems unacceptable. The Army needs 
money for both of these line items.
  And I think we ought to do both. I am saying do both. Do not add to 
the deficit, just take the $20 billion that we have for the 
reconstruction and go after some of these items that I do not think 
anyone--regardless of where you come out politically.
  Let us take care of our men and women in uniform going over to Iraq. 
I do not think any of us want to read a story where one of our young 
troops has to go out and buy their own equipment to protect themselves. 
This is the 21st century. And in this day and age, the sole superpower 
in the world should not have to tell its military personnel to fend for 
themselves.
  So for those reasons, I urge the adoption of the amendment. I 
apologize to my colleagues for taking time tonight, but I thought they 
ought to understand what was at stake and why I thought this amendment 
was particularly important.
  For those reasons, I urge the adoption of the amendment, and I 
withhold the remainder of my time.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Who yields time?
  Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I am indeed sorry that the Senator did 
not discuss it with us further before he offered this amendment. There 
is $26 billion in the 2004 bill the President signed the night before 
last for the Army. They could reprogram any money they need from the 
$26 billion.
  We asked them in and we identified the needs in the Army. We took 
$952 million from other services and moved it to the Army. And we 
covered specific items that they identified in terms of their 
priorities.
  What Senator Dodd's amendment does, though, is it adds money to 
accounts we have already plused up, and it takes it from money to bring 
the troops home. He has attacked the exact wrong part of the bill.
  I wish I had more than 5 minutes, but I do not want to inconvenience 
my colleagues and keep them here too long tonight. People are missing 
planes because of this vote. And it is a vote that is duplicitous. It 
really is designed to reduce the $20.3 billion in the other part of the 
account.
  We did get money for these people. We got money for every item that 
is on that list, and in the regular bill they have $26 billion. In 
addition to that, we added $952 million.
  Now, I have been overseas. I said the other day, I remember going 
overseas, and on the way I bought boots. I did not like my boots. I 
bought shirts. I did not like my shirts. I bought gloves I would rather 
wear. Kids are kids, and they are going to buy what they want. This 
idea that they have to buy armor, armor is available on the basis of 
how rapidly it is produced. And we have put up money in here, more than 
enough to buy everything to be produced in this time that he mentioned 
between now and--what?--about 5 months away.
  That is special money on top of the $26 billion that they could use 
if they want. It is in the O&M account. These are O&M items they are 
talking about.
  Now, I do not believe we should do this at this late hour, try to 
take money out of one account and justify it by virtue of this litany 
of items that we reviewed. We did review it.
  They brought us this list. The Senator has gone over this list of 
items that the Army would like to have in addition to what the 
Department of Defense gave them. We went over it and we agreed. We 
said: $952 million of this you should have had in the go-around in the 
Department of Defense. And we took it from the Air Force and from the 
Navy and from the Marines and put it here.
  What we do miss is we do have $300 million for body armor in the 
rapid fielding initiative, and explosive and ordnance cleanup, $174 
million for damaged equipment. We have $136 million for radios.
  Now, the Senator mentions this $1 million for families. That is money 
that may be claimed--may be claimed. We paid $30 million for the people 
who came in and identified the two sons of Saddam Hussein. It may not 
be spent at all. It will only be spent if these people come in and 
disclose people we want to pick up that are worth the cost. What is the 
cost? Moving them out of the country forever. That is taking people and 
buying them a new life somewhere else because they have exposed 
themselves to death because they disclosed the location of some of 
these people.
  I am appalled the Army would ask for this addition. We made an 
agreement with them. We took money from the other three services. And 
someone in the Army is going to answer to me. If it is really true 
someone in the Army went to the Senator from Connecticut and demanded 
more money than we gave them, after we gave them $26 billion in the 
regular bill, gave them another $952 million, almost a billion we took 
from other services, to come in and make this demand at this time, it 
is absolutely nonsense.
  Anyone who comes back, I hope they understand they have been brought 
back to answer a political amendment. I am going to move to table it 
when the time comes. The Senator from Connecticut is my friend, but I 
have to tell you, to bring back people who have already gone home, some 
of them who missed planes in order to vote on this amendment at this 
time, is an absolute absurdity.
  How much time do I have remaining?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Thirty seconds.
  Mr. STEVENS. I will reserve it.
  Mr. DODD. Mr. President, how much time do I have remaining?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Connecticut has 7 minutes.
  Mr. DODD. Mr. President, the Army did not come to me. This is an 
official briefing provided by the United States Army Comptroller to 
both the Armed Services and Appropriations Committees. I am just 
reading what they said. They didn't make an attempt to get in touch 
with me. Their briefing materials speak for them. They say that there 
is a requirement for $420 million to fund the ordnance disposal on the 
battlefields still out there, and, in addition, there is a shortfall in 
Army equipment. That is it plain and simple.
  What the committee has said is: You can only do one or the other, but 
you will not have enough money to do both.
  I am suggesting you ought to be able to do both. To provide the $300 
million, that is great, that helps. But the $300 million doesn't cover 
the $420 million for the battlefield clearance and for the shortfalls 
that occurred in this equipment. This is not about allowing service 
members to go out and buy shirts and gloves simply that they like. This 
is about equipping our soldiers with the most effective gear available 
to protect them from hostile fire as well as from the intense desert 
climate. I am not arbitrarily making up figures. The suggestion here is 
we come up with an additional $322 million to cover both 
circumstances--that is, the battlefield clearance as well as the 
equipment--and pay for it, by the way, not by readjusting moneys within 
the defense needs but in the reconstruction side of this supplemental 
request, that you can do away or at least delay, if you want, the idea 
of buying computers at $3,000 a copy, a witness protection program at 
$50 million for 50 families, and whether or not you can cut down prison 
construction from $400 million to $200 million. With my amendment, 
there is still plenty of funding to implement the reconstruction plans 
of the Coalition Provisional Authority.
  I don't know why this is so controversial. Why don't we just accept 
this amendment? If I did it by not going into these reconstruction 
accounts, they might take it. But because I am talking about a witness 
protection program and ridiculously high-priced computers and going 
after excessive prison construction, which I

[[Page 24059]]

think is hardly an emergency, all of a sudden this is a bad amendment 
and I am a dreadful guy for making folks come back and miss a plane.
  I don't want a soldier out there getting hurt because they don't have 
the right equipment. I didn't make this up. The Army didn't come to me 
specifically. They made this case on September 26, the source was a 
briefing provided to Congress' defense committees by the Assistant 
Secretary of the Army for Financial Management and Comptroller, 
entitled, ``FY04 Supplemental Request for the Global War on Terrorism: 
The Army At War.'' That is where it comes from. I appreciate what the 
committee did with $300 million. But the committee report says you have 
to make a choice: Clearing up the battlefield or provide funding for 
soldiers' equipment. And I don't think the Army ought to be put in that 
position. I don't think you ought to ask them to have to make that 
choice. That is the reason for the amendment.
  Again, I am sorry people have to come back and vote. That is not my 
intention. But I, in good conscience, believe this is a responsible 
amendment. I would have thought it might be accepted instead of making 
a lot more out of this than has to be the case. We all agree they ought 
to get the equipment. Why not just agree to the amendment? If you want 
to table the amendment, put people on record saying they would rather 
spend money on a witness protection program at $1 million a family in 
Iraq when the average family makes $2,200 a year, you explain that to 
the American taxpayer, why an Iraqi family would get $1 million in 
witness protection. That is ridiculous.
  Spending $3,000 for a computer and $400 million to create new prison 
operations over there is not an emergency need. You make the choice 
whether or not you think that is more important than seeing these young 
people get what they need. I stand by the amendment. It is the right 
thing to do.
  I yield back the remainder of my time, and I ask for the yeas and 
nays.
  Mr. STEVENS. The yeas and nays are not ordered until I speak.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The yeas and nays are in order at this time.
  Mr. DODD. I ask for the yeas and nays.
  Mr. STEVENS. I have not yielded back my time.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. It is not a motion to table. The yeas and nays 
can be requested at any time.
  Mr. DODD. I ask for the yeas and nays.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. At the moment there is not a sufficient 
second.
  The Senator from Alaska.
  Mr. REID. I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, that is good for me. If you want to have 
a quorum, go right ahead. Go right ahead.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Alaska has the floor.
  Mr. DODD. I renew my request. I ask for the yeas and nays on the 
amendment.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Alaska has the floor.
  Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I want to point out the Army has all of 
this money in this supplemental without any directions in the bill. The 
line items the Senator mentions are specified in our report. They have 
entire discretion to use any money in this bill for the moneys he has 
asked for. But he wants to take it from the other money. This is a 
duplicitous amendment to take money from the second part of the bill 
and put it in the first.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Alaska's time has expired.
  Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
  Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I move to table the amendment.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. A motion to table has been made.
  Mr. STEVENS. I ask for the yeas and nays on the motion to table.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
  There appears to be a sufficient second.
  The question is on the motion to table amendment No. 1817.
  The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk called the roll.
  Mr. McCONNELL. I announce that the Senator from Colorado (Mr. 
Campbell), the Senator from New Mexico (Mr. Domenici), the Senator from 
Mississippi (Mr. Lott), the Senator from Pennsylvania (Mr. Santorum), 
and the Senator from Alabama (Mr. Shelby) are necessarily absent.
  Mr. REID. I announce that the Senator from Delaware (Mr. Carper), the 
Senator from North Carolina (Mr. Edwards), the Senator from Florida 
(Mr. Graham), the Senator from South Carolina (Mr. Hollings), the 
Senator from Hawaii (Mr. Inouye), the Senator from South Dakota (Mr. 
Johnson), the Senator from Massachusetts (Mr. Kerry), the Senator from 
Connecticut (Mr. Lieberman), and the Senator from Arkansas (Mr. Pryor), 
are necessarily absent.
  I further announce that, if present and voting, the Senator from 
Massachusetts (Mr. Kerry) would vote ``nay.''
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Are there any other Senators in the 
Chamber desiring to vote?
  The result was announced--yeas 49, nays 37, as follows:

                      [Rollcall Vote No. 376 Leg.]

                                YEAS--49

     Alexander
     Allard
     Allen
     Bennett
     Bond
     Brownback
     Bunning
     Burns
     Chafee
     Chambliss
     Cochran
     Coleman
     Collins
     Cornyn
     Craig
     Crapo
     DeWine
     Dole
     Ensign
     Enzi
     Fitzgerald
     Frist
     Graham (SC)
     Grassley
     Gregg
     Hagel
     Hatch
     Hutchison
     Inhofe
     Jeffords
     Kyl
     Lugar
     McCain
     McConnell
     Miller
     Murkowski
     Nelson (NE)
     Nickles
     Roberts
     Sessions
     Smith
     Snowe
     Specter
     Stevens
     Sununu
     Talent
     Thomas
     Voinovich
     Warner

                                NAYS--37

     Akaka
     Baucus
     Bayh
     Biden
     Bingaman
     Boxer
     Breaux
     Byrd
     Cantwell
     Clinton
     Conrad
     Corzine
     Daschle
     Dayton
     Dodd
     Dorgan
     Durbin
     Feingold
     Feinstein
     Harkin
     Kennedy
     Kohl
     Landrieu
     Lautenberg
     Leahy
     Levin
     Lincoln
     Mikulski
     Murray
     Nelson (FL)
     Reed
     Reid
     Rockefeller
     Sarbanes
     Schumer
     Stabenow
     Wyden

                             NOT VOTING--14

     Campbell
     Carper
     Domenici
     Edwards
     Graham (FL)
     Hollings
     Inouye
     Johnson
     Kerry
     Lieberman
     Lott
     Pryor
     Santorum
     Shelby
  The motion was agreed to.
  Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I move to reconsider the vote, and I move 
to lay that motion on the table.
  The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.
  Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I am authorized by the majority leader to 
state that there will no more votes tonight. We have a series of 
amendments that we have agreed to accept by Senators Collins, Reed, 
Graham of South Carolina, Voinovich, and Murray. Some of these 
amendments are going to be proposed.
  I have an amendment I will introduce. Those are the amendments only 
that will be considered now. There will be no votes on those.
  I yield the floor.
  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that following the 
offering of the amendment by the two distinguished Senators from Maine 
and Oregon, Senator Daschle and Senator Graham be recognized to offer 
their amendment.
  Mr. STEVENS. We agreed to Jack Reed next.
  Mr. REED. I will go last.
  Mr. STEVENS. We have no objection.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.


                           Amendment No. 1820

  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Maine.
  Ms. COLLINS. I send an amendment to the desk and ask for its 
immediate consideration on behalf of myself, Senator Wyden, and others.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will report.

[[Page 24060]]

  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       The Senator from Maine [Ms. Collins], for herself, Mr. 
     Wyden, Mr. Enzi, Mr. Lieberman, Mr. Lautenberg, Mrs. 
     Feinstein, Mr. Akaka, Mrs. Clinton, Mr. Byrd, Mr. McCain, and 
     Mr. Levin, proposes an amendment numbered 1820.

  Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the reading 
of the amendment be dispensed with.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.
  The amendment is as follows:

 (Purpose: To limit the obligation and expenditure of funds for using 
   procedures other than full and open competition for entering into 
     certain contracts or other agreements for the benefit of Iraq)

       On page 39, between lines 2 and 3, insert the following:
       Sec. 3002. (a) None of the funds appropriated by this Act 
     may be obligated or expended by the head of an executive 
     agency for payments under any contract or other agreement 
     described in subsection (b) that is not entered into with 
     full and open competition unless, not later than 30 days 
     after the date on which the contract or other agreement is 
     entered into, such official--
       (1) submits a report on the contract or other agreement to 
     the Committees on Armed Services, on Governmental Affairs, 
     and on Appropriations of the Senate, and the Committees on 
     Armed Services, on Government Reform, and on Appropriations 
     of the House of Representatives; and
       (2) publishes such report in the Federal Register and the 
     Commerce Business Daily.
       (b) This section applies to any contract or other agreement 
     in excess of $1,000,000 that is entered into with any public 
     or private sector entity for any of the following purposes:
       (1) To build or rebuild physical infrastructure of Iraq.
       (2) To establish or reestablish a political or societal 
     institution of Iraq.
       (3) To provide products or services to the people of Iraq.
       (4) To perform personnel support services in Iraq, 
     including related construction and procurement of products, 
     in support of members of the Armed Forces and United States 
     civilian personnel.
       (c) The report on a contract or other agreement of an 
     executive agency under subsection (a) shall include the 
     following information:
       (1) The amount of the contract or other agreement.
       (2) A brief discussion of the scope of the contract or 
     other agreement.
       (3) A discussion of how the executive agency identified, 
     and solicited offers from, potential contractors to perform 
     the contract, together with a list of the potential 
     contractors that were issued solicitations for the offers.
       (4) The justification and approval documents on which was 
     based the determination to use procedures other than 
     procedures that provide for full and open competition.
       (d) The limitation on use of funds in subsection (a) shall 
     not apply in the case of any contract or other agreement 
     entered into by the head of an executive agency for which 
     such official--
       (1) either--
       (A) withholds from publication and disclosure as described 
     in such subsection any document or other collection of 
     information that is classified for restricted access in 
     accordance with an Executive order in the interest of 
     national defense or foreign policy; or
       (B) redacts any part so classified that is in a document or 
     other collection of information not so classified before 
     publication and disclosure of the document or other 
     information as described in such subsection; and
       (2) transmits an unredacted version of the document or 
     other collection of information, respectively, to the 
     chairman and ranking member of each of the Committees on 
     Governmental Affairs and on Appropriations of the Senate, the 
     Committees on Government Reform and on Appropriations of the 
     House of Representatives, and the committees that the head of 
     such executive agency determines has legislative jurisdiction 
     for the operations of such executive agency to which the 
     document or other collection of information relates.
       (e)(1)(A) In the case of any contract or other agreement 
     for which the Secretary of Defense determines that it is 
     necessary to do so in the national security interests of the 
     United States, the Secretary may waive the limitation in 
     subsection (a), but only on a case-by-case basis.
       (B) For each contract or other agreement for which the 
     Secretary of Defense grants a waiver under this paragraph, 
     the Secretary shall submit a notification of the contract or 
     other agreement and the grant of the waiver, together with a 
     discussion of the justification for the waiver, to the 
     committees of Congress named in subsection (a)(1).
       (2)(A) In the case of any contract or other agreement for 
     which the Director of Central Intelligence determines that it 
     is necessary to do so in the national security interests of 
     the United States related to intelligence, the Director may 
     waive the limitation in subsection (a), but only on a case-
     by-case basis.
       (B) For each contract or other agreement for which the 
     Director of Central Intelligence grants a waiver under this 
     paragraph, the Director shall submit a notification of the 
     contract or other agreement and of the grant of the waiver, 
     together with a discussion of the justification for the 
     waiver, to the Select Committee on Intelligence, the 
     Committee on Appropriations, and the Committee on 
     Governmental Affairs of the Senate and to the Permanent 
     Select Committee on Intelligence, the Committee on 
     Appropriations, and the Committee on Governmental Reform of 
     the House of Representatives.
       (f) Nothing in this section shall be construed as affecting 
     obligations to disclose United States Government information 
     under any other provision of law.
       (g) In this section--
       (1) the term ``full and open competition'' has the meaning 
     given such term in section 4 of the Office of Federal 
     Procurement Policy Act (41 U.S.C. 403);
       (2) the term ``executive agency'' has the meaning given 
     such term in section 105 of title 5, United States Code, and 
     includes the Coalition Provisional Authority for Iraq; and
       (3) the term ``Coalition Provisional Authority for Iraq'' 
     means the entity charged by the President with directing 
     reconstruction efforts in Iraq.

  Ms. COLLINS. The amendment my colleague from Oregon and I are 
offering tonight requires the use of full and open competition for the 
award of contracts under this bill to support our military or related 
to the reconstruction of Iraq.
  Competitive bidding ensures the taxpayer gets the very best value for 
his investment. It also enhances public confidence that contracts are 
awarded in a manner that is fair and transparent, a process that allows 
all qualified bidders to submit bids for the contract.
  This principle of full and open competition is enshrined in the 
Competition and Contracting Act, which is current law.
  Under that law, contracts must generally be bid under full or open 
competition unless one of seven exemptions is invoked.
  Unfortunately, however, some of the contracts that have been awarded 
to date, both to support our military in Iraq and to begin 
reconstruction efforts, have not been awarded using full and open 
competition. The contracting process has been curtailed.
  We want to make sure the general rule is competitive bidding, and, if 
there are cases where there are legitimate reasons for curtailing 
competition--say, for reasons of national security--then we believe 
there should be a process in place that requires a justification for 
curtailing competition and disclosure of that fact.
  Generally, under our amendment, if competition is not used in the 
award of a contract, the agency involved would have to justify the 
reason for invoking an exception to competition and report that in the 
Commerce Business Daily, the Federal Register, and to the appropriate 
committees of Congress. We recognize there may be a few cases where it 
is so secret, it is so classified, that disclosure in the Commerce 
Business Daily and the Federal Register would not be appropriate. In 
those cases, we provide for an alternative form of notifying Congress.
  Our amendment will bring accountability and sunshine to the 
competition and contracting process. I urge my colleagues to support 
our amendment.
  It has been a great pleasure to work with my colleague, Senator 
Wyden. We have made a number of efforts in this regard. I believe this 
amendment should enjoy widespread support.
  I reserve the remainder of my time and I yield to the Senator from 
Oregon.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Oregon.
  Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, I have enjoy working with my colleague from 
Maine over the last 5 or 6 months.
  This amendment is especially important because it would mean for the 
first time the Congress is going to restrict the funds under this 
effort for reconstruction to only those contracts let in an open and 
competitive bid, except in very narrow circumstances.
  In my view, much of the work to rebuild Iraq has been outsourced to 
private companies and it is now time, with this legislation, to end the 
outsourcing of accountability. What our constituents have said is: How 
much is this whole effort going to cost?

[[Page 24061]]

How long is it going to take? And how is this money going to be spent?
  As I have said, my view is that right now the contracting process 
looks a little like Dodge City before the marshall showed up. It seems 
very influential companies and others seem to write the rules that the 
United States is essentially in the dark. Then the news media comes out 
and highlights various concerns, most of which the Senate does not know 
much about, and there is a flurry of activity and people discuss 
whether or not the contract is going to be rebid.
  What Senator Collins and I would like to do is establish some 
bipartisan order and go back, as the Senator from Maine has said, to 
the principles that the Competition and Contracting Act have been all 
about. Yes, $87 billion is a jaw-dropping sum of money. The Coalition 
Provisional Authority, the World Bank, and the U.N. have estimated--it 
was in the Wall Street Journal today--that it will take $56 billion 
over just the next 5 years for rebuilding in Iraq.
  It seems to me it does not pass the smell test to allow this process 
where the Congress is in the dark, the American people are in the dark, 
and every Member of the Senate goes home and faces constituents who 
say, We want this process to work a little bit like our family finances 
do. Right now, a family makes purchases, they get a bank statement. For 
example, they spend X amount of dollars at Sears, they spend more at 
the grocery store, they pay for essentials, and get a bank statement 
showing what they spent. That is a process that is straightforward, 
that can be monitored. We look at the bank statement for Iraq; it is 
essentially devoid of specifics.
  Senator Collins and I have tried to approach this on a bipartisan 
basis. People may think it is a quaint idea, but we believe in 
competition. We believe that transparency and disclosure works and it 
gets taxpayers the most for their money.
  This amendment for the first time actually puts in place a funding 
restriction. In the past, Senator Collins and I have said we are 
willing to look at various approaches that involve reports after the 
fact. Now we are waiting for all of these investigations and inquiries 
to move at glacial speed.
  What Senator Collins has said is--and I agree with her point 
completely--what we need now is some legislation with teeth in it. This 
funding restriction for the first time provides that.
  We are very pleased to be able to come to the Senate, given the fact 
there have been a number of instances already where contracts were let 
without competitive bid or with only limited bidding. We have had a 
number of colleagues involved, colleagues from both parties.
  I particularly commend Senator Clinton, who has been my partner on 
the Democratic side. I also note that Senator Enzi has been very 
supportive of this effort. He joins this cause as well. Our thanks to 
Senator Clinton, Senator Enzi, and many other Senators who have been 
involved in this effort.
  Tonight, it seems to me, the Senate is saying: We will do it 
differently. We will draw a line in the sand. The Senate is no longer 
going to be in the dark with respect to this issue. I am very pleased 
we will be able to go home for this recess and say that at a time when 
the American people are looking for some concrete specifics with 
respect to the pricetag on this legislation and where the money exactly 
is going to go, we can say that because of this bipartisan amendment, 
for the first time the Senate is going to restrict these funds so as to 
promote open and competitive bidding and the kind of transparency that 
best makes free markets work.
  I reserve the remainder of any time I have remaining. I also thank 
the chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee who has had strong 
views on this issue and has worked closely with Senator Collins and me 
over almost 6 months. We appreciate the fact that now we have 
legislation with some real teeth in it to make sure the taxpayers get 
value for their money in the contracting process.
  Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, if I may speak for a moment.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Alaska.
  Mr. STEVENS. We will be happy to accept this amendment. It has been 
modified, as has been indicated. I want to state to the Senate, 
however, although the Senators are correct, this adds to existing law.
  Existing law at the current time requires competitive bidding on 
contracts. The contracts that are outstanding now that have been 
entered into by the United States and its entities in Iraq have been 
let on the basis of competitive bids. There have been lots of questions 
raised about that, but some of the contracts were outstanding before 
the contractors were sent to Iraq, and they were general services 
contracts, and those were extended to Iraq. But we are now putting, as 
the two Senators mentioned, additional emphasis on that, and I am 
pleased to accept the amendment on behalf of the Senate.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Is there further debate?
  Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, I yield back my time if the Senator from 
Oregon will also yield back his time.
  Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, I do.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. If there is no further debate, the 
question is on agreeing to the amendment.
  The amendment (No. 1820) was agreed to.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Alaska.
  Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, now Senator Daschle and Senator Graham 
will present their amendment.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from South Carolina.


                           Amendment No. 1816

  (Purpose: To ensure that members of the Ready Reserve of the Armed 
 Forces are treated equitably in the provision of health care benefits 
     under TRICARE and otherwise under the Defense Health Program)

  Mr. GRAHAM of South Carolina. Mr. President, I call up amendment No. 
1816.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will report the 
amendment.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       The Senator from South Carolina [Mr. Graham], for Mr. 
     Daschle, for himself and Mr. Graham of South Carolina, Mr. 
     Leahy, Mr. Stevens, Mr. Bond, Mr. Burns, Mr. Warner, Mrs. 
     Clinton, Mr. DeWine, and Mr. Chambliss proposes an amendment 
     numbered 1816.

  Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that reading of 
the amendment be dispensed with.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.
  (The amendment is printed in today's Record under ``Text of 
Amendments.'')
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from South Dakota.
  Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, the Senator from South Carolina and I 
have been negotiating and working with the distinguished manager of the 
bill regarding an amendment we have been attempting to pass now over 
the course of this entire session of Congress.
  Our view has been from the very beginning that members of the 
National Guard and Reserves need the opportunity to have access to 
TRICARE health insurance. And now, on three occasions, the Senate has 
been on record--with increasing numbers--in support of this concept, 
this idea that TRICARE ought to be offered to members of the Guard and 
Reserves.
  We have been gratified with the strong bipartisan support that has 
been indicated with each one of the votes. Our concern, however, is it 
does not do us much good to continue to pass these measures on the 
Senate floor only to see the amendments dropped by the time they get to 
conference.
  We want to pass something into law. We want something to be provided 
to as many of these members of the Guard and Reserves as we possibly 
can this year. So in trying to figure out what might work best, and in 
working with the distinguished Senator from Alaska, we have concluded 
perhaps the best way to do this is to ensure we go to those people who 
need it the most, that is, those members of the Guard and Reserves who 
have no health insurance today, and that when members of the Guard and 
Reserves are called up to active duty, they also are compensated

[[Page 24062]]

for the TRICARE insurance that would be provided to them while they are 
on active duty.
  Now, we will say from the very beginning this is not what we would 
like. We would like to do more, but we know that doing something is 
better than doing nothing if, in the end, that is what happens.
  So I first thank the distinguished Senator from South Carolina for 
his tenacity and persistence. He has done an outstanding job in working 
on this issue and has provided great leadership. He has been a very 
helpful partner. I also say there are Senators on my side of the aisle, 
Senator Leahy in particular, and Senator Clinton, who have been 
especially helpful in this effort. So I appreciate very much the 
Senator from Alaska working with us. I am satisfied this is a 
reasonable compromise.
  With that, I yield the floor.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from South Carolina.
  Mr. GRAHAM of South Carolina. Mr. President, I will try to be brief.
  We have a great team defending America right now. That team is made 
up of active-duty members who have made a decision to serve 4 years or 
maybe have a career in the military. But that team is supplemented by 
the Guard and Reserves. There are 224,000 Guard and Reserve members 
called up to active duty and, working together, they are doing a great 
job defending our freedom. It is time to look anew at the role the 
Guard and Reserves play.
  I say to Senator Daschle, I want to publicly thank him for making 
this possible because he has been great to work with, and Senator 
DeWine. I think we have been a pretty good team here on the floor. We 
disagree on a lot, and there will be a lot of fussing and fighting 
before this bill is over with, but that is the American way. It is OK 
to express our differences. It is great to be able to tell people you 
disagree. There are a lot of countries where there are not many ways to 
express your disagreements. But one of the things we have done tonight, 
and I think in the spirit of the country, is to come together to 
support our men and women who serve.
  So why do we need this? One-fourth of the Guard and Reserves are on 
active duty now, with more to come. We need to acknowledge the obvious. 
They will be asked to do more, not less, over the coming months and 
years. Why? The cold war model of having tanks in the Fulda Gap and a 
large nuclear deterrent force standing up against the former Soviet 
Union, that war, thank goodness, is in the history books for the most 
part.
  The new war, the war on terrorism, has a totally different dynamic. 
The Guard and Reserves, which were tangential, to be honest with you, 
in the cold war are in the forefront of this war on terrorism. Most of 
your military police are guards and reservists. Seventy-five percent of 
the aircrews flying C-130s--and I know our Presiding Officer knows this 
because we took nine trips in the theater of Afghanistan and Iraq. 
Eight of the crews are Guard crews, one is a Reserve crew. Seventy-five 
percent of the people flying C-130s are Guard and Reserves. Fifty-five 
percent of the people flying airlift to get the supplies and resources 
into the region to protect our troops and help them survive are 
reservists. Almost 90 percent of the intelligence service for the Army 
is in the Reserves, 90 percent is civil affairs Reserves. It is growing 
by leaps and bounds.
  What we are trying to do tonight is provide a better benefit package 
than they have had before because we are going to ask so much of the 
Guard and Reserves.
  Senator Stevens made this possible. We have passed two bills by 80-
plus votes, but there is no money behind it. For all those who follow 
the Senate, they know who is in charge of the money. Senator Stevens 
made this possible because we are putting money behind the bill.
  What does that mean? It is no longer talk. Twenty percent--2 out of 
10 people--who are Guard and Reserves are without health care. This 
bill immediately will allow them to have health care year round. They 
will pay a premium like a retiree would pay, but they will have health 
care by being a member of the Guard or Reserves.
  We need to do more, and we will. The problem of a Guard or Reserve 
family goes like this: If you are called up to active duty for a year, 
you go into the military health care system called TRICARE. If you have 
health care in the private sector, most times--almost all the time--
your physician network is replaced. You go from the private health care 
sector to the military health care sector. And when you get 
deactivated, you change, and there is no continuity of health care. 
Thirty percent of the people called to active duty were unable to be 
deployed because of health care problems.
  We are not done yet. There is more to do. It is my goal, my hope, my 
dream, for the Guard and Reserve forces that if you will join, and you 
will participate, and you will help defend America as a guard or 
reservist, we will offer you full-time health care. You pay a premium, 
but you and your family will be taken care of in the health care area. 
I think it is the least we could do. I think it is what we should do. 
And tonight is a huge step forward.
  I thank all of the Senators who made it possible. The fussing, the 
fighting yet to come on this bill is part of America. But let it be 
said at about 8:50 at night, Republicans and Democrats came together to 
help Guard and Reserve members. When you are in a war, they do not ask 
you if you are a Republican or a Democrat. They are asking you to do 
your job. So I am honored to be part of this effort.
  I ask unanimous consent that Senator Hagel and Senator Allen be added 
as cosponsors.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.
  Mr. GRAHAM of South Carolina. I thank the Chair.
  With that, I yield the floor.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from South Dakota.
  Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, I do not know--I haven't seen the list of 
cosponsors--but if they are not listed, I ask unanimous consent that 
Senators Leahy, Reid, and Clinton be added as cosponsors.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.
  The Senator from Alaska.
  Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, we have worked on this amendment. There 
is a vast problem out there among Guard and Reserve people. We have a 
total force now in our military. We passed the concept that the Guard 
and Reserves are replacements for the regular services when they are 
sent overseas. The Guard and Reserves are sent overseas almost as much 
as the regular members of our military. They have volunteered to defend 
us, as the Senators have said. Their families need the same protection 
that we offer to those who volunteer in the regular services.
  We have modified this amendment because we really basically want to 
see what happens when this change takes place. The cost of this 
amendment that we have put forward is approximately $400 million this 
year and by the following year it will be $500 million. We don't know 
how much it will really cost because we don't know how many will come 
forward and take this, as compared to what they are doing now as far as 
their medical is concerned. It is a contributory system for TRICARE, 
another experiment that we hope we will be able to get some track 
record on.
  As I have become more familiar with the National Guard, it is very 
strong, and the Reserves, also. We want to assure that people will 
continue to maintain an interest in joining the Guard and Reserves. 
Most people don't understand that the transition from Guard and 
Reserves to regular services has reversed history. In days gone by, 
people came out of the military and entered the Guard and Reserves. 
Today many people enter the Guard and Reserves and then decide they are 
going to try to become career military. This will be an added 
inducement to get more people to enlist in the Guard and Reserves. It 
might have a reverse effect and we are not sure of that yet. This will 
give us a track record.

[[Page 24063]]

  I am pleased to say that we have conferred with members of the Armed 
Services Committee on this amendment, and they have agreed we should go 
forward with it.
  I am pleased to accept the amendment on behalf of the Senate.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Is there further debate on the 
amendment?
  The Senator from South Carolina.
  Mr. GRAHAM of South Carolina. I want to add one thing. There was an 
article in USA Today yesterday: ``Army Reserve Fears Troop Exodus.'' 
The Army National Guard is 15,000 below its recruiting goal. ``Soldiers 
are `stressed' on yearlong deployments.'' I really honestly believe 
that this benefit made available will help retention and recruitment 
because the problems with these deployments are coming down the road. 
The further we can get ahead of this by beefing up the benefit package, 
the better America will be.
  I ask unanimous consent to print the article to which I referred in 
the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                    Army Reserve Fears Troop Exodus

                            (By Dave Moniz)

       If the United States is unable to recruit significantly 
     more international troops or quell the violence in Iraq in 
     the next few months, it could trigger an exodus of active and 
     reserve forces, the head of the U.S. Army Reserve said 
     Monday.
       Lt. Gen. James Helmly, chief of the 205,000-member Army 
     Reserve, said he and other Pentagon leaders will be 
     monitoring retention rates closely next year, when problems 
     could begin to become apparent for full-time and part-time 
     soldiers coming off long tours of duty in Iraq.
       ``Retention is what I am most worried about. It is my No. 1 
     concern,'' Helmly told USA TODAY's editorial board. ``This is 
     the first extended-duration war the country has fought with 
     an all-volunteer force.''
       Helmly described the war on terrorism as an unprecedented 
     test of the 30-year-old all-volunteer military. Historically, 
     he said, the National Guard and Reserve were designed to 
     mobilize for big wars and then bring soldiers home quickly.
       Today, he said, they have ``entered a brave new world'' 
     where large numbers of troops will have to be deployed for 
     long periods.
       Counting training time and yearlong tours in Iraq, some 
     Army Reserve soldiers could be mobilized for 15 months or 
     more. Helmly described the situation facing soldiers in Iraq 
     as ``stressed'' but said he could not characterize it as at a 
     ``breaking point.''
       The stresses facing the nation's reservists were 
     demonstrated again this week when the National Guard 
     announced it had alerted a combat brigade from Washington 
     state that it could be sent to Iraq next year if a third 
     block of international troops cannot be recruited to join the 
     British and Polish-led divisions now in Iraq.
       Guard officials said Monday that the 5,000-member 81st Army 
     National Guard brigade from Washington state has been 
     notified that it could be called to active duty.
       Helmly said a huge factor in Iraq will be the Pentagon's 
     ability to train an Iraqi army and security force.
       The Defense Department recently announced plans to 
     accelerate the development of an Iraqi army, pushing the goal 
     from 12,000 troops to 40,000 troops in the next year.
       The Army National Guard and Army Reserve have about one-
     fourth of their troops--nearly 129,000 soldiers--on active 
     duty.
       The active-duty Army and the Army Reserve both met their 
     recruiting goals for the fiscal year that ends today. The 
     Army National Guard, however, is expected to fall about 15% 
     short of its recruiting goal of 62,000 soldiers.
       Although the Guard and Reserve say their retention rates 
     have not suffered this year, the figures could be misleading. 
     Under an order known as ``stop loss,'' soldiers on active 
     duty are prohibited from leaving the service until their 
     tours end.
       Active-duty and Reserve commanders fear that when U.S. 
     soldiers on yearlong rotations come home next year, many will 
     choose to leave the service.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Is there further debate on the 
amendment?
  If not, the question is on agreeing to the amendment.
  The amendment (No. 1816) was agreed to.
  Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, I move to reconsider the vote.
  Mr. STEVENS. I move to lay that motion on the table.
  The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.


                           Amendment No. 1821

  Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I send an amendment to the desk and ask 
for its immediate consideration.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will report.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       The Senator from Alaska [Mr. Stevens] proposes an amendment 
     numbered 1821.

  Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that reading of 
the amendment be dispensed with.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.
  The amendment is as follows:

 (Purpose: To strike the requirement for the Department of Defense to 
describe an Analysis of Alternatives for replacing the capabilities of 
                       the KC-135 aircraft fleet)

       Strike section 309.

  Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, this is an amendment to delete a 
provision in the bill that required a report from the Department of the 
Interior. At the request of Senator McCain, I am removing that, and I 
ask unanimous consent to remove that from the bill before it goes to 
conference. I ask for its consideration.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Is there further debate on the 
amendment?
  If not, the question is on agreeing to amendment No. 1821.
  The amendment (No. 1821) was agreed to.


                           Amendment No. 1822

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, if my friend, the Senator from Rhode Island, 
will be patient, I send an amendment to the desk on behalf of Senator 
Murray.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will report.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       The Senator from Nevada [Mr. Reid], for Mrs. Murray, for 
     herself and Mr. Durbin, proposes an amendment numbered 1822.

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that reading of the 
amendment be dispensed with.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.
  The amendment is as follows:

    (Purpose: To provide requirements with respect to United States 
                  activities in Afghanistan and Iraq)

       On page __, between lines __ and __, insert the following 
     new section:

     SEC. __. REQUIREMENTS RELATING TO UNITED STATES ACTIVITIES IN 
                   AFGHANISTAN AND IRAQ.

       (a) Governance.--Activities carried out by the United 
     States with respect to the civilian governance of Afghanistan 
     and Iraq shall, to the maximum extent practicable--
       (1) include the perspectives and advice of--
       (A) women's organizations in Afghanistan and Iraq, 
     respectively;
       (2) promote the inclusion of a representative number of 
     women in future legislative bodies to ensure that the full 
     range of human rights for women are included and upheld in 
     any constitution or legal institution of Afghanistan and 
     Iraq, respectively; and
       (3) encourage the appointment of women to high level 
     positions within ministries in Afghanistan and Iraq, 
     respectively.
       (b) Post-Conflict Reconstruction and Development.--
     Activities carried out by the United States with respect to 
     post-conflict stability in Afghanistan and Iraq shall, to the 
     maximum extent practicable--
       (1) encourage the United States organizations that receive 
     funds made available by this Act to--
       (A) partner with or create counterpart organizations led by 
     Afghans and Iraqis, respectively; and
       (B) provide such counterpart organizations with significant 
     financial resources, technical assistance, and capacity 
     building;
       (2) increase the access of women to, or ownership by women 
     of, productive assets such as land, water, agricultural 
     inputs, credit, and property in Afghanistan and Iraq, 
     respectively;
       (3) provide long-term financial assistance for education 
     for girls and women in Afghanistan and Iraq, respectively; 
     and
       (4) integrate education and training programs for former 
     combatants in Afghanistan and Iraq, respectively, with 
     economic development programs to--
       (A) encourage the reintegration of such former combatants 
     into society; and
       (B) promote post-conflict stability in Afghanistan and 
     Iraq, respectively.
       (c) Military and Police.--Activities carried out by the 
     United States with respect to training for military and 
     police forces in Afghanistan and Iraq shall--
       (1) include training on the protection, rights, and 
     particular needs of women and emphasize that violations of 
     women's rights are intolerable and should be prosecuted; and
       (2) encourage the personnel providing the training 
     described in paragraph (1) to consult with women's 
     organizations in Afghanistan and Iraq, respectively, to 
     ensure that training content and materials are adequate, 
     appropriate, and comprehensive.


[[Page 24064]]


  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Is there further debate on the 
amendment? If not, the question is on agreeing to amendment No. 1822.
  The amendment (No. 1822) was agreed to.


                           Amendment No. 1823

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I send an amendment to the desk on behalf of 
Senators Stabenow, Durbin, Boxer, Johnson, and Schumer.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will report.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       The Senator from Nevada [Mr. Reid], for Ms. Stabenow, Mr. 
     Durbin, Mrs. Boxer, Mr. Johnson, and Mr. Schumer, proposes an 
     amendment numbered 1823.

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that reading of the 
amendment be dispensed with.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.
  The amendment is as follows:

 (Purpose: To provide emergency relief for veterans healthcare, school 
construction, healthcare and transportation needs in the United States, 
                     and to create 95,000 new jobs)

       At the appropriate place, insert the following:

     SEC. __. A MONTH FOR AMERICA.

       (a) Veterans Healthcare.--For an additional amount for 
     veterans healthcare programs and activities carried out by 
     the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, $1,800,000,000 to remain 
     available until expended.
       (b) School Construction.--
       (1) In general.--For an additional amount for the Fund for 
     the Improvement of Education under part D of title V of the 
     Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 
     7241 et seq.), $1,000,000,000 for such fund that shall be 
     used by the Secretary of Education to award formula grants to 
     State educational agencies to enable such State educational 
     agencies--
       (A) to expand existing structures to alleviate overcrowding 
     in public schools;
       (B) to make renovations or modifications to existing 
     structures necessary to support alignment of curriculum with 
     State standards in mathematics, reading or language arts, or 
     science in public schools served by such agencies;
       (C) to make emergency repairs or renovations necessary to 
     ensure the safety of students and staff and to bring public 
     schools into compliance with fire and safety codes;
       (D) to make modifications necessary to render public 
     schools in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities 
     Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12101 et seq.) and section 504 of the 
     Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 794);
       (E) to abate or remove asbestos, lead, mold, and other 
     environmental factors in public schools that are associated 
     with poor cognitive outcomes in children; and
       (F) to renovate, repair, and acquire needs related to 
     infrastructure of charter schools.
       (2) Amount of grant.--The Secretary of Education shall 
     allocate amounts available for grants under this subsection 
     to States in proportion to the funds received by the States, 
     respectively, for the previous fiscal year under part A of 
     title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 
     (20 U.S.C. 6311 et seq).
       (c) Healthcare.--For an additional amount for healthcare 
     programs and activities carried out through Federally 
     qualified health centers (as defined in section 1861(aa) of 
     the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395x(aa))), $103,000,000 
     to remain available until expended.
       (d) Transportation and Job Creation.--
       (1) In general.--For an additional amount for 
     transportation and job creation activities--
       (A) $1,500,000,000 for capital investments for Federal-aid 
     highways to remain available until expended; and
       (B) $600,000,000 for mass transit capital and operating 
     grants to remain available until expended.
       (2) Priority.--In allocating amounts appropriated under 
     paragraph (1), the Secretary of Transportation shall give 
     priority to Federal-aid highway and mass transit projects 
     that can be commenced within 90 days of the date on which 
     such amounts are allocated.
       (b) Offset.--Each amount appropriated under title II under 
     the heading ``OTHER BILATERAL ECONOMIC ASSISTANCE--FUNDS 
     APPROPRIATED TO THE PRESIDENT--Iraq Relief and Reconstruction 
     Fund'' (other than the amount appropriated for Iraqi border 
     enforcement and enhanced security communications and the 
     amount appropriated for the establishment of an Iraqi 
     national security force and Iraqi Defense Corps) shall be 
     reduced on a pro rata basis by $5,030,000,000.
       (c) Sense of the Senate.--It is the sense of the Senate 
     that Congress should consider an additional $5,030,000,000 
     funding for Iraq relief and reconstruction during the fiscal 
     year 2005 budget and appropriations process.

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that this amendment 
be set aside for the offering of an amendment by the Senator from Rhode 
Island.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered. The amendment will be set aside.
  The Senator from Rhode Island.


                    Amendment No. 1812, As Modified

  Mr. REED. Mr. President, I call up amendment No. 1812 and send a 
modification to the desk.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will report.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       The Senator from Rhode Island [Mr. Reed], for himself, Mr. 
     Bayh, and Mr. Kennedy, proposes an amendment numbered 1812, 
     as modified.

  Mr. REED. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that reading of the 
amendment be dispensed with.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered. The amendment will be so modified.
  The amendment is as follows:

(Purpose: To increase the amount provided for the Army for procurement 
  of High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicles, to require an Army 
reevaluation of requirements and options for procuring armored security 
                  vehicles, and to provide an offset)

       On page 22, between lines 12 and 13, insert the following:
       Sec. 316. (a) Of the funds provided in this title under the 
     heading ``Iraq Freedom Fund'', up to $191,100,000 be 
     available for the procurement of up-armored High Mobility 
     Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicles in addition to the number of 
     such vehicles for which funds are provided within the amount 
     specified under such heading.

  Mr. REED. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that Senator Kennedy 
be added as a cosponsor.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.
  Mr. REED. Mr. President, I rise to offer an amendment to ensure that 
our troops in Iraq and other dangerous areas throughout the world, many 
of whom are Reservists and members of the National Guard, have the 
equipment they need to protect themselves. In particular, I would like 
to discuss the uparmored Humvees which soldiers need to protect 
themselves from the threat of RPGs and mines and weapons that are 
inflicting casualties today as we speak in Iraq.
  To effectively carry out the mission, Army officials have said that 
they need more Humvees, uparmored Humvees. I believe them. The 
administration in this bill failed to fully meet that request.
  My amendment is designed to meet the needs of the Army today as they 
face these numerous threats around the globe. The amendment is 
cosponsored by Senators Bayh and Kennedy. It would add funding to this 
supplemental request to buy additional uparmored Humvees and would also 
direct the Army to reevaluate its requirements for the armored security 
vehicle.
  The HMMWV, or high mobility multipurpose wheeled vehicle, better 
known as the Humvee, is the workhorse of the United States. It is being 
used around the globe today in conflicts from Afghanistan to Iraq to 
the Balkans. The uparmored Humvee is a variation of the basic vehicle. 
It was designed to offer increased protection to troops from small arms 
fire, rocket-propelled grenades, and blasts from mines.
  It was designed primarily for military police and special operations 
personnel, exactly the type of soldiers being called upon to do very 
dangerous missions in Iraq today.
  The armored security vehicle, or the ASV, is also a vehicle in the 
Army inventory. It is designed to complement the uparmored Humvee. 
There are very few of them, but it is a requirement that I believe the 
Army should study again.
  In July, I visited Iraq and had the opportunity to meet with my 
constituents from the Rhode Island National Guard, the 115th Military 
Police Company, and 119th Military Police Company, the 118th Military 
Police Battalion. It was on the tarmac at Baghdad International 
Airport. I got off the aircraft with my colleagues. I rushed over to 
the formation of these military police men and women. I began to

[[Page 24065]]

speak with them. The first request that I got was repeated several 
times over: We need uparmored Humvees. We are in a dangerous situation. 
We are patrolling the roads of Iraq. We see other units with these 
vehicles. We need them.
  When I came back to the United States, I was convinced that we needed 
more uparmored Humvees. In the intervening weeks, the Rhode Island 
National Guard, 115th Military Police Company, has lost three soldiers. 
Two were killed when an improvised explosive device, a 155-millimeter 
shell, exploded underneath their regular Humvee. No one can determine 
whether or not an uparmored Humvee would have saved the lives of these 
two soldiers, Staff Sergeant Joseph Camara and Sergeant Charles 
Caldwell. I know having such a vehicle would add to the confidence and 
security of the troops.
  A few days ago Specialist Michael Andrade of the 115th Military 
Police was killed, again in a Humvee in an accident involving a convoy 
operation in which a tanker truck crashed into his vehicle. Last Monday 
evening I was there in Rhode Island when they brought Specialist 
Andrade's body home to his family. This Saturday he will be buried in 
Rhode Island. I know you can't determine whether or not this type of 
vehicle would have saved this young soldier's life. But I can tell you, 
if they had a choice, all of our military police, all of our soldiers 
in Iraq would prefer to be in an uparmored Humvee than a Humvee without 
the armor, and their families would make that choice, also.
  It is clear that we need more. This bill contains more vehicles. I 
commend the President for that proposal. I believe we need more than 
even what is included in this bill.
  When I returned from Iraq, I wrote to Secretary Rumsfeld. I also 
called the Army. At that time I was verbally told by the Army that the 
requirement for additional Humvees was about 500. But then as the 
summer wore on, several things became apparent. This insurgency was 
extremely serious and extremely lethal. Also that the requirement for 
uparmored Humvees was going up. Indeed, I believe--I have said this 
before--that we could be involved and will likely be involved in Iraq 
for years, not months, stretching perhaps to 10 years. These are the 
types of vehicles that are crucial to effective operation in an 
occupation force as we have in Iraq.
  Now, my initial response from the Army was that they need 500 more. 
By September 8, the Army sent a formal response indicating that the 
requirement now is 1,723 uparmored Humvees and 1,461 will be sent 
immediately to the theater. I commend the Army because they have tried 
their best to move as many available vehicles into the theater of Iraq 
as possible.
  Now, 619 vehicles were coming off the assembly line and being sent 
directly to Iraq; 430 were being pulled from units in the United States 
and Europe; another 412 were pulled out of the Balkans. So we are 
trying to meet the need in Iraq, but we are doing it by taking these 
vehicles from other potentially dangerous areas, such as the Balkans. 
Also, vehicles were taken from the units in the United States--we hope 
they are training on these vehicles in preparation to go overseas.
  I believe indeed that this requirement will increase, and in fact 
what we have seen throughout the course of the last several months is 
the Army and the Department of Defense seriously reevaluating the need 
for uparmored Humvees. They have concluded that these uparmored Humvees 
are indeed necessary.
  We have received information that the Army in fact has a requirement 
in excess of 3,400 vehicles. Again, just a few weeks ago, the 
requirement was 1,700; now the requirement is 3,400 vehicles. They say 
the best way to accommodate future funding for increased production 
would be to use the Iraqi Freedom Fund. I propose to do that. In fact, 
OSD has concurred with this approach. The Secretary of Defense has 
concurred. What we are waiting on is a validation of how many of these 
vehicles can be produced at the assembly point.
  So my amendment is straightforward. It requests additional money in 
the amount of approximately $191 million from the Iraqi Freedom Fund to 
buy 800 additional vehicles, or so many as may be acquired with that 
money. In fact, I hope we can, in the next year, buy even more. The 
analysis by myself and my staff suggests this money would be sufficient 
to fully operate the production line and get all the vehicles possible 
that we need.
  The Iraqi Freedom Fund in this bill contains $1.9 billion, so there 
are sufficient resources. I believe we should do this and we should do 
it promptly. The indication from the Army is that they need the 
vehicles, and also if we act in this appropriations bill, we can speed 
those vehicles to Iraq.
  As I said earlier, there is another aspect of this, and that is the 
armored security vehicle. We are asking the Army to look back at this 
requirement and reevaluate it.
  I will conclude by taking the advice of Secretary Rumsfeld that it is 
not necessary to listen to the media but listen to the soldiers. I have 
a letter from a young lieutenant in Afghanistan. Here is what he 
writes:

       I am the leader of one platoon of many here trained 
     Stateside for dismounted missions and handed uparmored 
     Humvees upon arrival at our firebases. My strong NCO's have 
     adapted and worked hard to train on this different platform. 
     I feel it is criminal, however, to have sent so many units 
     here without Stateside training on either the . . . uparmored 
     Humvee or its complementary weapon, the MK-19 auto grenade 
     launcher and M2 .50 caliber machine gun.

  He goes on to say:

       Our mechanics, for example, have no experience with the 
     uparmored Humvees and are too few to fix vehicles which have 
     been driven hard for at least 18 months on the awful 
     ``roads'' here. Without vehicles, we have no mobility. 
     Without mobility, we cannot either protect the reconstruction 
     teams or interdict terrorists/criminals intent on rocketing 
     our bases and mining the roads.

  That is the viewpoint of one of these magnificent young soldiers in 
Afghanistan working with the vehicles. He appreciates the value of the 
vehicles. I think every soldier, every squad that has missions like 
this, whether in Afghanistan or Iraq, should have these vehicles, and 
that is the intent of this amendment. Further, I will add that one of 
the suggestions to me in his letter is:

       Purchase new uparmored Humvees for Afghanistan to replace 
     the ones about to die or send qualified mechanics with the 
     requisite parts to fix them.

  That could be written by any soldier in Afghanistan or Iraq, and 
indeed there are many in Iraq, particularly, that do not even have 
access to uparmored Humvees. I will conclude by thanking the chairman 
and the staff for their assistance on this amendment. I also thank the 
chairman sincerely not only for this effort but for almost $900 million 
of additional funding for the Army, for vests, for a host of equipment. 
I also understand from our discussion that he feels as strongly as I do 
about this issue and will do his best in conference to ensure these 
additional Humvees are provided.
  I yield the floor.
  Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, the Senator is correct. We funded in this 
bill what we thought were a number of these upgraded Humvees that could 
be produced and were the stated demand of the Army at that time. This 
demand keeps going up as it is realized how much these Humvees need to 
be modernized. We have changed to deal with the circumstances in Iraq. 
They are very interesting modifications. We have both been briefed on 
them. Some of the modifications are still classified.
  It is our intention to fund it. Coming out of conference, I will do 
my utmost to fund the number of Humvees that can be upgraded in a 
reasonable period ahead of time so we can meet this demand so that 
every group of the military that needs Humvees for their protection 
will be modernized and upgraded for self-protection. They do have to 
have some additional items. There are methods some of the terrorists 
have used to destroy Humvees that can't be defended against.
  So it is our intention to modernize these Humvees. They were not 
defective. Some of the methods terrorists use are unique. We need 
additional protection from above, and from the side,

[[Page 24066]]

and from the rear, and underneath the Humvees. We cannot turn them 
completely into shockproof tanks, but we are going to do our best. This 
is a No. 1 priority for the Senate, as far as I am concerned--that and 
the problem of finding these weapons caches and destroying them, or 
really making certain that the usable weapons, particularly hand-held 
weapons, are put under guard and assured that they will not get in the 
wrong hands.
  I thank the Senator for his willingness to accept our modifications, 
and I assure him we will keep on top of this. We will confer with the 
Senator because I know of his distinguished Army career. We are pleased 
to have his assistance on this matter.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The question is on agreeing to the 
amendment.
  The amendment (No. 1812), as modified, was agreed to.
  Mr. STEVENS. I move to reconsider the vote and I move to lay that 
motion on the table.
  The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.


                           Amendment No. 1808

  Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I send an amendment to the desk for Mr. 
Voinovich and Mr. Lott.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will report.
  The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       The Senator from Alaska [Mr. Stevens], for Mr. Voinovich 
     and Mr. Lott, proposes an amendment numbered 1808.

  The amendment is as follows:

    (Purpose: To require a report on efforts to increase financial 
 contributions from the international community for reconstruction in 
    Iraq and the feasibility of repayment of funds contributed for 
                    infrastructure projects in Iraq)

       On page 38, between lines 20 and 21, insert the following 
     new section:
       Sec. 2313. Not later than 120 days after the date of the 
     enactment of this Act, the President shall submit to Congress 
     a report on the efforts of the Government of the United 
     States to increase the resources contributed by foreign 
     countries and international organizations to the 
     reconstruction of Iraq and the feasibility of repayment of 
     funds contributed for infrastructure projects in Iraq. The 
     report shall include--
       (1) a description of efforts by the Government of the 
     United States to increase the resources contributed by 
     foreign countries and international organizations to the 
     reconstruction of Iraq;
       (2) an accounting of the funds contributed to assist in the 
     reconstruction of Iraq, disaggregated by donor;
       (3) an assessment of the effect that--
       (A) the bilateral debts incurred during the regime of 
     Saddam Hussein have on Iraq's ability to finance essential 
     programs to rebuild infrastructure and restore critical 
     public services, including health care and education, in 
     Iraq; and
       (B) forgiveness of such debts would have on the 
     reconstruction and long-term prosperity in Iraq;
       (4) a description of any commitment by a foreign country or 
     international organization to forgive any part of a debt owed 
     by Iraq if such debt was incurred during the regime of Saddam 
     Hussein; and
       (5) an assessment of the feasibility of repayment by Iraq--
       (A) of bilateral debts incurred during the regime of Saddam 
     Hussein; and
       (B) of the funds contributed by the United States to 
     finance infrastructure projects in Iraq.

  Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, this is an amendment we discussed earlier 
on the floor. I was ready to offer it earlier but was prevented. The 
amendment would require a report from the President concerning the 
efforts of the United States to increase resources that are available 
in Iraq from other countries, and to do other matters, such as a 
description of the bilateral impact on the Iraq action, the question of 
forgiveness of debts, and other items that we believe are substantial 
and on which we should have a report from the administration. These 
reports request no later than 120 days.
  I will state for the information of the Senate, there are several 
amendments we are looking at that deal with reports. It is my hope that 
the conference committee will have a report section. I see in some of 
these amendments not a conflict but an overlapping of requests, and the 
timing of them is different. I do not believe we should put a 
requirement on these people to report one week on one item, another 
week on another item, and another week on another item when they are 
all related. We should have quarterly reports from the administration 
on what is going on with both sections of this bill and how the money 
is being handled.
  This is a bill that has considerable discretion because it is a 
supplemental bill. It is in addition to the enormous bill we passed and 
the President already signed. Therefore, there is a lot of discretion 
as to where the money goes. It is a mechanism to avoid what has been 
done in the past, as I have said repeatedly.
  In the past, Presidents have dipped into the money available to the 
Department of Defense and have used it in other places. We have taken 
the occasion to provide the money in advance and have allowed 
discretion of the President to put it in the places where it is needed 
and tell us 5 days before that happens and report to us later on how 
the money was actually used. Those reports will come to us. I am sure 
we will keep very good track of the people's money as we proceed.
  Mr. President, so far as I am concerned, that is the last item to be 
considered tonight.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Is there further debate on the 
amendment? If not, the question is on agreeing to amendment No. 1808.
  The amendment (No. 1808) was agreed to.
  Mr. STEVENS. I move to reconsider the vote, and I move to lay that 
motion on the table.
  The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.
  Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, the leader will shortly make a statement 
concerning the bill. As the manager of the bill, we have an 
understanding that tomorrow there will be a period during which 
Senators may bring amendments to the floor and offer them so they will 
be in the queue, so to speak. There will be no consideration of any 
amendment tomorrow and no vote on any amendment tomorrow.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Michigan.
  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, I voted for the McConnell amendment, as 
modified, because I believe that it is appropriate to recognize and 
commend the men and women of our Armed Forces for their bravery, 
professionalism and dedication during the military campaigns in 
Afghanistan and Iraq; to honor the sacrifice of those who died or were 
wounded and to convey our deepest sympathy and condolences to their 
families and friends; and to support the efforts of communities across 
the Nation who are honoring our troops.
  Although I voted for the amendment, I want to make clear that I have 
some reservations about some parts of it. For example, I do not believe 
that the planning for the post-Saddam portion of the military campaign 
in Iraq was done well. Additionally, I want to note my concern that 
there may be unacceptable profiteering by some contractors in the post-
Saddam period in Iraq.

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