[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 9]
[Senate]
[Pages 11145-11150]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




        NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2005

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the Senate will 
resume consideration of S. 2400, which the clerk will report.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       A bill (S. 2400) to authorize appropriations for fiscal 
     year 2005 for military activities of the Department of 
     Defense, for military construction, and for defense 
     activities of the Department of Energy, to prescribe 
     personnel strengths for such fiscal year for the Armed 
     Services, and for other purposes.

  Pending:

       Graham of South Carolina amendment No. 3170, to provide for 
     the treatment by the Department of Energy of waste material.
       Crapo amendment No. 3226 (to amendment No. 3170), of a 
     perfecting nature.

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Virginia.
  Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I am presenting this unanimous consent 
request, together with the distinguished Senator from Nevada, who will 
comment on it as soon as I have completed reading it.
  I ask unanimous consent that the pending amendments be temporarily 
set aside, and that following this consent, Senator Daschle be 
recognized in order to offer an amendment related to TRICARE. I further 
ask unanimous consent that when the Senate resumes the Defense bill on 
Thursday morning, tomorrow morning, the Senate proceed to a vote on 
adoption of the pending Crapo amendment No. 3226, to be followed by a 
vote on the adoption of the underlying amendment No. 3170, as amended. 
I further ask unanimous consent that Senator Cantwell be recognized to 
offer an amendment related to nuclear waste, and that there be 4 hours 
for debate equally divided in the usual form; provided further that 
following the use or yielding back of time the Senate proceed to a vote 
in relation to the Cantwell amendment, with no amendments in order to 
the amendment prior to the vote--before the Chair rules, I would 
announce it is my understanding that the pending Graham and Crapo 
amendments would not require rollcall votes and would be accepted by 
voice--provided further, I ask unanimous consent that following the 
disposition of the TRICARE amendment, the Senator from Virginia, Mr. 
Warner, be recognized in order to offer an amendment related to the $25 
billion contingent fund requested by the President.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Nevada.
  Mr. REID. I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. REID. There is a unanimous consent request pending.
  Mr. WARNER. I renew the request as stated.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. WARNER. I thank my colleagues for making this possible.
  I yield the floor, and I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. GRAHAM of South Carolina. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent 
the order for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Warner). Without objection, it is so 
ordered.


                           Amendment No. 3258

  Mr. GRAHAM of South Carolina. I ask unanimous consent I be allowed to 
offer the TRICARE amendment, and I send it to the desk at this time.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. The clerk 
will report.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       The Senator from South Carolina [Mr. Graham], for himself 
     and Mr. Daschle, proposes an amendment numbered 3258.

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

  (Purpose: To amend title 10, United States Code, to expand certain 
  authorities to provide health care benefits for Reserves and their 
                   families, and for other purposes)

       Beginning on page 134, strike line 18 and all that follows 
     through page 141, line 12, and insert the following:

     SEC. 706. EXPANDED ELIGIBILITY OF READY RESERVE MEMBERS UNDER 
                   TRICARE PROGRAM.

       (a) Unconditional Eligibility.--Subsection (a) of section 
     1076b of title 10, United States Code, is amended by striking 
     ``is eligible, subject to subsection (h), to enroll in 
     TRICARE'' and all that follows through ``an employer-
     sponsored health benefits plan'' and inserting ``, except for 
     a member who is enrolled or is eligible to enroll in a health 
     benefits plan under chapter 89 of title 5, is eligible to 
     enroll in TRICARE, subject to subsection (h)''.
       (b) Permanent Authority.--Subsection (l) of such section is 
     repealed.
       (c) Conforming Repeal of Obsolete Provisions.--Such section 
     is further amended--
       (1) by striking subsections (i) and (j); and
       (2) by redesignating subsection (k) as subsection (i).

     SEC. 707. CONTINUATION OF NON-TRICARE HEALTH BENEFITS PLAN 
                   COVERAGE FOR CERTAIN RESERVES CALLED OR ORDERED 
                   TO ACTIVE DUTY AND THEIR DEPENDENTS.

       (a) Required Continuation.--(1) Chapter 55 of title 10, 
     United States Code, is amended by

[[Page 11146]]

     inserting after section 1078a the following new section:

     ``Sec. 1078b. Continuation of non-TRICARE health benefits 
       plan coverage for dependents of certain Reserves called or 
       ordered to active duty

       ``(a) Payment of Premiums.--The Secretary concerned shall 
     pay the applicable premium to continue in force any qualified 
     health benefits plan coverage for the members of the family 
     of an eligible reserve component member for the benefits 
     coverage continuation period if timely elected by the member 
     in accordance with regulations prescribed under subsection 
     (j).
       ``(b) Eligible Member; Family Members.--(1) A member of a 
     reserve component is eligible for payment of the applicable 
     premium for continuation of qualified health benefits plan 
     coverage under subsection (a) while serving on active duty 
     pursuant to a call or order issued under a provision of law 
     referred to in section 101(a)(13)(B) of this title during a 
     war or national emergency declared by the President or 
     Congress.
       ``(2) For the purposes of this section, the members of the 
     family of an eligible reserve component member include only 
     the member's dependents described in subparagraphs (A), (D), 
     and (I) of section 1072(2) of this title.
       ``(c) Qualified Health Benefits Plan Coverage.--For the 
     purposes of this section, health benefits plan coverage for 
     the members of the family of a reserve component member 
     called or ordered to active duty is qualified health benefits 
     plan coverage if--
       ``(1) the coverage was in force on the date on which the 
     Secretary notified the reserve component member that issuance 
     of the call or order was pending or, if no such notification 
     was provided, the date of the call or order;
       ``(2) on such date, the coverage applied to the reserve 
     component member and members of the family of the reserve 
     component member; and
       ``(3) the coverage has not lapsed.
       ``(d) Applicable Premium.--The applicable premium payable 
     under this section for continuation of health benefits plan 
     coverage for the family members of a reserve component member 
     is the amount of the premium payable by the member for the 
     coverage of the family members.
       ``(e) Maximum Amount.--The total amount that the Department 
     of Defense may pay for the applicable premium of a health 
     benefits plan for the family members of a reserve component 
     member under this section in a fiscal year may not exceed the 
     amount determined by multiplying--
       ``(1) the sum of one plus the number of the family members 
     covered by the health benefits plan, by
       ``(2) the per capita cost of providing TRICARE coverage and 
     benefits for dependents under this chapter for such fiscal 
     year, as determined by the Secretary of Defense.
       ``(f) Benefits Coverage Continuation Period.--The benefits 
     coverage continuation period under this section for qualified 
     health benefits plan coverage for the family members of an 
     eligible reserve component member called or ordered to active 
     duty is the period that--
       ``(1) begins on the date of the call or order; and
       ``(2) ends on the earlier of--
       ``(A) the date on which the reserve component member's 
     eligibility for transitional health care under section 
     1145(a) of this title terminates under paragraph (3) of such 
     section; or
       ``(B) the date on which the reserve component member elects 
     to terminate the continued qualified health benefits plan 
     coverage of the member's family members.
       ``(g) Extension of Period of COBRA Coverage.--
     Notwithstanding any other provision of law--
       ``(1) any period of coverage under a COBRA continuation 
     provision (as defined in section 9832(d)(1) of the Internal 
     Revenue Code of 1986) for an eligible reserve component 
     member under this section shall be deemed to be equal to the 
     benefits coverage continuation period for such member under 
     this section; and
       ``(2) with respect to the election of any period of 
     coverage under a COBRA continuation provision (as so 
     defined), rules similar to the rules under section 
     4980B(f)(5)(C) of such Code shall apply.
       ``(h) Nonduplication of Benefits.--A member of the family 
     of a reserve component member who is eligible for benefits 
     under qualified health benefits plan coverage paid on behalf 
     of the reserve component member by the Secretary concerned 
     under this section is not eligible for benefits under the 
     TRICARE program during a period of the coverage for which so 
     paid.
       ``(i) Revocability of Election.--A reserve component member 
     who makes an election under subsection (a) may revoke the 
     election. Upon such a revocation, the member's family members 
     shall become eligible for benefits under the TRICARE program 
     as provided for under this chapter.
       ``(j) Regulations.--The Secretary of Defense shall 
     prescribe regulations for carrying out this section. The 
     regulations shall include such requirements for making an 
     election of payment of applicable premiums as the Secretary 
     considers appropriate.''.
       (2) The table of sections at the beginning of such chapter 
     is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 
     1078a the following new item:

``1078b. Continuation of non-TRICARE health benefits plan coverage for 
              dependents of certain Reserves called or ordered to 
              active duty.''.

       (b) Applicability.--Section 1078b of title 10, United 
     States Code (as added by subsection (a)), shall apply with 
     respect to calls or orders of members of reserve components 
     of the Armed Forces to active duty as described in subsection 
     (b) of such section, that are issued by the Secretary of a 
     military department before, on, or after the date of the 
     enactment of this Act, but only with respect to qualified 
     health benefits plan coverage (as described in subsection (c) 
     of such section) that is in effect on or after the date of 
     the enactment of this Act.

  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Sessions). The Senator from South 
Carolina.
  Mr. GRAHAM of South Carolina. Mr. President, before we get started 
discussing the substance of the amendment, I think it is important that 
I make a comment about how the amendment came about, and that this is 
the Daschle-Graham amendment. Senator Daschle has been gracious enough 
to let me offer the amendment, but the truth is, without his support it 
would never have happened.
  I have enjoyed tremendously working with him and others to try to 
find some common ground in terms of helping our Guard and Reserve 
communities facing unprecedented problems from the war on terrorism. 
They are doing a terrific job, just as are our active-duty troops. This 
has been a bipartisan effort. We worked on this last year. Senator 
Daschle offered the amendment last year. We made some progress. There 
was a compromise reached for the uninsured Guard and Reserve members to 
have $400 million to allow them to have full-time health care through 
the military health care system. That program was not implemented to my 
satisfaction. I doubt if Senator Daschle was pleased, but at least we 
did make some progress.
  Chairman Warner has been very gracious in allowing us to offer this 
amendment and has tried to work with us at every turn. Senator Clinton 
was one of the original cosponsors, along with Senator DeWine. I could 
make a fairly lengthy list of Republicans and Democrats who tried to 
find some common ground when it comes to the Guard and Reserve 
community and their participation in the war on terrorism. What we have 
before the Senate today is a result of that bipartisan effort.
  I listened to Senator Daschle talk about his visit to South Dakota. I 
had a similar visit in South Carolina when people kind of urged us to 
get our act together and do more in common, find some common ground up 
here. I think we found that today.
  Guard and Reserve members, most Americans would assume, are covered 
in terms of military health care, but they are not. I think most 
Americans find it surprising that if you join the Guard or Reserve you 
are not entitled to military health care unless you are activated. The 
truth is, if you are a Guard or Reserve member, you have to work at 
least one weekend a month and 2 weeks a year. But the big joke among 
the Guard and Reserve is, ``What a heck of a one weekend a month, 2 
weeks a year job'' because so many of them have been called to active 
duty for extended periods.
  By the end of this year, 40 percent of the people serving in Iraq and 
Afghanistan will be members of the Guard and Reserve, called to active 
duty for probably a year or more. The reason that is so is because the 
Guard and Reserve community possesses unique skills that are essential 
to winning the war on terror. Mr. President, 75 percent of the people 
flying the C-130 in Afghanistan and Iraq come from the Guard and 
Reserve community. These air crews come from Air Guard units and Air 
Reserve units.
  The C-130 is an indispensable asset in the war on terrorism. It is a 
four-engine prop plane. It was not the leading edge weapons system in 
the cold war. But when it comes to the war on terrorism, it can land in 
short spaces and take off in short spaces and haul people and cargo 
under some pretty adverse conditions. When I toured Iraq last

[[Page 11147]]

year with fellow Senators, we had nine C-130 flights going in and out 
of Iraq and Afghanistan. All nine flights were manned by Reserve crews.
  Ninety percent of the people in the civil affairs component of the 
military are Reserve or Guard members. What do the civil affairs folks 
do? They are the ones who go around to Afghanistan and Iraq and teach 
democracy. They help local government organize at the equivalent of a 
city or a county level. They are helping judicial systems start. They 
are civilian lawyers and judges and administrators who leave small 
towns and big towns and they offer their service to the military. That 
service is being offered in Afghanistan and Iraq and is completely 
indispensable. We will never win the war on terror unless we get some 
democratic principles in the Mideast, and the civil affairs units are 
the leading edge folks providing that service.
  Another group that is highly valuable that is heavily laden in terms 
of Guard and Reserve participation is military police. I know our 
Presiding Officer is a former member of the Reserve component, legal 
officer. He probably has a lot of MPs from Alabama who have been called 
from active duty to go to Afghanistan and Iraq and Bosnia and perform 
that function.
  The military police force has a way to go. Major combat operations 
are over, but we know from our PC screens, what we read and hear from 
what is reported from our troops, Iraq and Afghanistan are very 
dangerous places. What we are trying to do is create order out of 
chaos. The military police are not only trained in combat skills but 
policing skills. High numbers of the military police units that are 
being activated to thwart the war on terrorism come from the Guard and 
Reserve communities. Most of them have civilian connection to law 
enforcement. They come from small towns all over America--from Alabama, 
South Dakota, and South Carolina. They are two of the five cops 
deployed because they are military police Reserve or Guard units.
  The point of this discussion is to try to inform the body that the 
reason the Guard and Reserve community is so heavily utilized is 
because it has unique assets and skills which are essential to win the 
war on terror. The commitment from this group will continue to grow 
probably over time--not less.
  It is now time for the Senate, the House, and the administration to 
work together to upgrade the benefits of the Guard and Reserve 
community.
  One of the big problems we find from the war on terror is about 25 
percent of the people called to active duty from the Guard and Reserve 
community are unable to go on active duty because of health care 
problems. That percent of the people in the Guard and Reserve do not 
have health care insurance in the private sector.
  In my State, our adjutant general, Stan Speers, who has done a 
wonderful job leading our National Guard, says about 50 percent of the 
people in the National Guard in South Carolina have no health care in 
the private sector. What happens when you are called up? You have 
rigorous military standards in terms of being activated and sent off to 
war. The leading disqualifier for going onto active duty after being 
called from the Guard and Reserve is dental problems.
  When you think about it, a lot of private health care plans have very 
limited dental coverage.
  What we have been working on for well over a year is to provide full-
time access to Guard and Reserve members and their families to military 
health care called TRICARE. If you are called to active duty from the 
Guard or Reserve, or if you join the Active-Duty services, you will 
became a member of TRICARE. Our chairman, Senator Warner, is the father 
of TRICARE. It was through his initiative that we created this large 
network of hospitals and doctors that go beyond the limits of the base. 
We signed up doctors and hospitals all over the country and the world 
to provide health care to our military members and their families. 
TRICARE is getting better every year. It is a free benefit.
  But for those who serve in the military, you earn what you are 
getting because nothing is really free. You are risking your life for 
our freedom. But there is no contribution required of Active-Duty 
personnel.
  What Senator Daschle, myself, and others have tried to do is cover 
this problem for the Guard and Reserve community in a creative fashion. 
Let us allow them to enroll in TRICARE. What would be the benefit of 
that for their country?
  Number one, our Guard and Reserve would have continuity of health 
care. They would be in a health care system that is providing quality 
health care. It would be a great recruiting tool. If you join the Guard 
or Reserve, you and your family would be eligible for military health 
care. That would be a good attraction to get new people to come in. It 
would be a great retention incentive for people to stay in who have 
already signed up because they could get their health care through the 
military. It would be a great relief to employers.
  The unsung hero of this whole operation in terms of the Reserve 
community is employers. If you go without your employer for a year or 
greater, many employers pay the difference between active and civilian 
pay.
  More times than not, when a person is called to active duty, they get 
a cut in pay. Their military pay is less than their civilian pay. Their 
families suffer because the military members stand in harm's way. The 
support network for the Guard and Reserve is not nearly what it is for 
Active-Duty people. They get a cut in pay.
  We are trying to lessen the effects on hardships on families. We are 
trying to make it an incentive for Guard and Reserve participation.
  Here is how the program would work. If you join the Guard or Reserve, 
you and your family would be eligible to enroll in TRICARE, if you 
chose to. You would be asked to pay a premium. Unlike your Active-Duty 
counterparts who receive this without any cost sharing, you would be 
asked to pay a premium. I think that is fair. The premiums we set up, 
mirror what Federal employees have to pay in terms of their match for 
their health care. It is a good deal for the Guard and Reserve members 
and their families. It lessens the cost. It would be a shared 
responsibility, for the member would have to contribute and the 
Government would have to contribute.
  I didn't know this until I got into this debate. If part-time Federal 
employees work 16 hours a week for the Federal Government, they are 
eligible for full-time participation in our health care plan. If you 
are a temporary employee, after a year you are eligible for full-time 
participation without a Government match. I think that is a good idea. 
I think this is fair and balanced for part-time Federal employees.
  I think it would be a shame for a part-time citizen soldier not to at 
least have that benefit. We are not talking about a normal job. 
Everyone who serves this country by working for the Government is doing 
a good thing. People in the Guard and Reserve are not only serving 
their country in a positive way, but they are literally risking their 
lives. They take a cut in pay. They go from home into harm's way. Last 
month, the casualty rate among the Guard and Reserve community had a 
tremendous bite because there are more and more Guard and Reserve 
people in Iraq and Afghanistan. That is going to stay the same or get 
worse over time because we can't win the war without these people.
  This amendment would allow, if the members chose, a chance to join 
TRICARE for themselves and their families. They would pay a premium, 
and the Government would pick up the match.
  The committee markup allows the Guard member to join and pay a 
premium. It requires the employer to pay the remaining amount of the 
TRICARE premium.
  I appreciate that effort, but the reason I think that misses the mark 
is because a lot of Guard and Reserve members don't have a private 
health care plan with which to cost share. You are going to have a very 
convoluted system. And at the end of the day, I feel

[[Page 11148]]

very strongly we should not outsource the health care needs of the 
Guard and Reserve family--to be shared by the military member and the 
private sector alone.
  I think it is very important for us in the Senate and in the House to 
say this is a government responsibility also, that it is fair to ask 
the Guard and Reserve family and member to contribute. But I think it 
is incumbent upon us to also have the Government contribute.
  I have yet to find a taxpayer who is upset with the idea that we are 
going to pick up some of the health care costs for our Guard and 
Reserve members and their families for protecting our freedom.
  The cost of the program: It depends on who you ask. But the latest 
CBO estimate is about $5.4 billion over a 5-year period. I think there 
are ways to lessen that cost, and I will be very openminded to that. 
But we are talking about a $2.2 trillion budget, and a defense budget 
approaching $400 billion.
  My question to the body is, Is that $1 billion a year a wise expense 
of money? The question is, Can we afford not to? This is about two-
tenths of 1 percent of the entire military budget; 300,000 families 
would be affected. These families are being called upon to do more as 
Guard and Reserve members than at any other time in the history of the 
Nation. They don't have health care provided to them by the Government, 
even though they are fighting to make sure we are all free. That is an 
inequity we need to fix. A cost-sharing arrangement between the 
Government and the military member is the way to go. It would help our 
employers greatly.
  If you hire a Guard or Reserve member, and if they can sign up for 
military health care, it is less expensive for you to hire them and 
they became a more valuable employee. The employer community has 
suffered greatly in this war. They have gone without key employees for 
well over a year's time. They have been paying the bills as if the 
person were still there, and they need some relief.
  I hope we can, in a bipartisan fashion, pass this amendment that 
Senator Daschle, myself, and others have worked on for well over a 
year. This amendment, simply stated, would allow Guard and Reserve 
members and their families access to full-time military health care, so 
when they are called they will be fit to fight, that they will have the 
security that continuous health care provides families, and they will 
not be bouncing around from one group to the next.
  This is what often happens. If you are in a health care plan in 
civilian work, you are called to active duty, you leave that health 
care plan to go into TRICARE. On one of the C-130 crews I was flying 
with, there were two first-time dads on the crew. One of them had a 
private plan with Southwestern Bell that continued health care for the 
family voluntarily. They do not have to do that. The other was a 
realtor who had private health insurance. When he was called to active 
duty, his wife had to change doctors and hospitals. That was very 
traumatic.
  We can lessen that trauma. We can give an option to the military 
member and their family, the Guard and Reserve military member, to have 
the same set of doctors and hospitals year round. They do not have to 
bounce from one group to another. When they are called off active duty, 
they lose their TRICARE eligibility within less than 6 months and have 
to change doctors and hospitals twice. It creates a serious disruption. 
Twenty-five percent have no health care in the private sector. This 
would solve that problem.
  In terms of the money, it is the best deal you will ever find to 
defend America. It will save money. If 25 percent of the people called 
to active duty cannot be utilized because of health care problems, a 
small investment in their health care makes good sense from a business 
equation.
  If necessary, we will find offsets.
  I hope the Senate today, in a bipartisan fashion, will extend TRICARE 
health care benefits to every Guard and Reserve member who chooses to 
sign up in a cost-sharing fashion to make sure those people are ready 
to go to war when called, that their families are better taken care of, 
and that the concerns of continuity of health care will finally be 
addressed forever.
  This is affordable. It is the right thing to do. Our Guard and 
Reserve families and members have earned it. They have earned this 
benefit.
  I yield for my colleague, Senator Daschle.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Ms. Murkowski). The minority leader is 
recognized.
  Mr. WARNER. Will the Senator yield?
  Mr. DASCHLE. I yield.
  Mr. WARNER. To frame what this debate is about, if I might ask my 
distinguished leader to let me interject on my time period, there is no 
stronger proponent of Reserve benefits than this humble Senator from 
Virginia. I served in the Marine Corps Reserve for some 12 years. I 
have some basic understanding of the tremendous and vital importance of 
our Reserve Forces and the need to try to give them as much possible 
care. Our bill has gone a long way to do that.
  I will go into the details of the $700 million--$300 million 
increased expenditure by the administration on behalf of the Reserve 
and $400 million by the Senate Armed Services Committee. However, my 
distinguished colleagues from South Carolina and South Dakota wish to 
add into this bill a $700 million cost. It is not offset in any way. 
Consequently, if this amendment is adopted and we go to conference, we 
have roughly $700 million already in the bill, which improves the life 
of the reservists, and on top of that, they are suggesting an 
additional $700 for this fiscal year, but the outyear bills are just 
enormous. It would be $700 million in the fiscal year 2005 and $5.7 
billion over 5 years and $14.2 billion over 10 years. We are talking 
about a very significant, permanent entitlement for the reservists 
which is extremely costly. From where do those dollars come? Out of 
readiness, new equipment, and other needs of the Armed Forces.
  Essentially, that would be my basis for the objection.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The minority leader.
  Mr. DASCHLE. Madam President, I appreciate the comments of our 
distinguished Chair and compliment him on his leadership and the effort 
he has made to put this bill before the Senate. I will come to the 
reservations he has raised in a moment.
  Let me begin by thanking my colleague from South Carolina, Senator 
Graham, for his tremendous leadership on this issue. It has been a true 
pleasure for me to have had the opportunity to work with him these past 
18 months on this legislation. We come from quite different 
backgrounds, different approaches and philosophies, but on this issue 
in particular, I have enjoyed immensely the opportunity to work with 
him. I compliment him on his statement just now and on the remarkable 
work he has done to date.
  Let me also compliment and thank Senators Leahy and Clinton for their 
work and role on our side, and certainly Senator DeWine and others on 
the Republican side for their involvement.
  As Senator Graham noted, this is a strong bipartisan effort involving 
many Senators on both sides of the aisle. The votes that have been 
taken already indicate the depth of support and enthusiasm for the 
amendment Senator Graham and I are offering again this afternoon.
  I am sure most of our colleagues had the same experience I did last 
Monday. We spoke at Memorial Day events. We recalled the sacrifices 
made by our men and women in uniform now for more than 220 years. I am 
sure many of our colleagues in particular focused on the commitment 
made by our men in uniform today. Now, more than 800 men and women have 
been killed in Iraq in recent years; 122 have lost their lives in 
Afghanistan; more than 5,000 have been injured.
  I have been to Walter Reed Army Medical Center on numerous occasions 
to visit the injured who are from South Dakota. If my colleagues shared 
my same experience, they were moved by the patriotism, by the depth of 
feeling

[[Page 11149]]

and support for our troops and our country as we gathered to 
commemorate Memorial Day again this year.
  Over and over again, I saw cars with bumper stickers proclaiming 
``support our troops.'' I propose that supporting our troops entails 
more than expressions of support from the heart, as important as they 
are. We need to support our troops emotionally and rhetorically with 
our bumper stickers, but if we mean what we say, supporting our troops 
also must go to supporting their needs.
  That is what Senator Graham and I are again proposing with this 
amendment: to support our troops in a realistic and meaningful way that 
matters to them. That really is what this amendment does. It recognizes 
a need.
  It also recognizes today an inequity. As my colleague from South 
Carolina noted, 40 percent of those boots on the ground today in Iraq 
are reservists, members of the Guard and Reserves. Madam President, 
there are 160,000 Reserve troops--1,200 from South Dakota--now on 
active duty. That is a dramatic departure from past practice.
  In the past, it was active duty personnel who performed these roles. 
In the past, it was active duty personnel, augmented at times through 
history by the draft, who gave us the manpower we needed to do the job 
wherever it may have been required. But in the post-Cold War period, 
our military practices have changed dramatically. Now we are turning to 
our Guard and Reserves. We are saying: You need to fill the gap. You 
need to defend your country.
  Now it is more than just a weekend commitment each month. Now it is a 
year, and in some cases 2 years of your life, giving up your job, 
giving up your time with family, exposing yourself to life-threatening 
circumstances. Now you are doing it.
  Madam President, 40 percent on the ground--that is vastly different 
than what it was just a few years ago. So this amendment attempts to 
deal with the inequity of troops on the ground fighting for their 
country in Iraq: one troop sitting right here with full health 
insurance for himself and his family; the other troop, right here, with 
absolutely no health insurance coverage at all. How in the world today 
could that be fair? And how in the world, in the name of supporting our 
troops, can we accept that?
  I want to see those ``Support Our Troops'' bumper stickers, but I 
want it to mean something. I want it to mean what we say. We are 
supporting our troops and their needs. And this is their greatest need.
  I acknowledge the work done by the chairman of the Armed Services 
Committee and the ranking member. They have addressed this issue. I 
acknowledge the support they have shown. We have come some way, some 
distance in the last 12 months, but there are five crucial differences. 
For the record and for the information of our colleagues, I want to 
walk through those differences, if I can, just briefly, because it is 
our argument for why we need the amendment offered by Senator Graham 
and myself and others.
  First is coverage. Under the committee bill, only those reservists 
who can gain the consent of their employer will be allowed to 
participate. We believe the fate of reservists in the private sector 
should not be determined by their employer's attitude.
  Why should they have to get approval from their employer to get 
health insurance from their Government--fighting for their country, as 
they now do in Iraq, Afghanistan, and around the world? To me, that 
does not connect. Employer support is helpful, but employer approval to 
get Government benefits does not seem, to me, to be the approach we 
want to subscribe to, and I think it sets a very dangerous precedent.
  The second is cost. The committee bill requires the reservist's 
private-sector employer to pick up 72 percent of the cost of the 
reservist's health care premium. So unless the reservist's employer is 
prepared to pay 72 percent of the premium for the reservist, that 
employer is not going to sign off on the health care coverage. The 
employer is going to say: I would love to do it, Joe, but I can't 
afford it. You are telling me to do something I would love to do.
  My colleagues and I know how these things work. I have talked to a 
lot of awfully good employers, awfully good small employers, who 
virtually break down when they tell me how it hurts for them to make a 
decision between offering employment and offering benefits and 
recognizing they cannot do both. We have thousands of employers in 
South Dakota who would give anything if they could offer benefits to 
their employees. But to tell those employers they are going to have to 
pay 72 percent of the cost, I guarantee you, almost 100 percent of the 
employers will say they can't do it or they would have done it by now.
  Now, as it relates to cost, yes, the chairman is correct. The cost of 
this program in the first year is $696 million. Madam President, $696 
million sounds like a lot of money, and it is--$5.7 billion over 5 
years. But, as the Senator from South Carolina said so well, do you 
know what that amounts to in terms of the percent of the defense 
budget? In percentage terms, for the defense budget, this represents 
two-tenths of 1 percent. That is what we are talking about, two-tenths 
of 1 percent, to follow through with the commitment that we, as a 
nation, must make when we say: ``Support Our Troops.''
  I think we can afford two-tenths of 1 percent. And, as Senator Graham 
said so well, we cannot afford not to. I will get to that in a moment.
  The third difference is reimbursement. Under our amendment, if a 
reservist's family opts to retain their personal doctor rather than 
enroll in TRICARE when the reservist is activated, the family can do 
so. We want to give the family the option of choosing the best coverage 
for themselves, and the Defense Department would simply pick up a 
portion of the family's private health care premium. That is all we do. 
You choose. You are not going to be penalized for whatever choice you 
make.
  The fourth difference is the amount of the annual premium. Under our 
amendment, an individual reservist can obtain health coverage for about 
$1.37 a day. The reservist with a family could obtain coverage for 
about $4.90 a day. The committee bill does not specify how much a 
reservist would have to pay, and they leave it to DOD.
  I think reservists will tell you: We like the certainty of knowing, 
as we make our choice, what it is going to cost. And $1.37 a day is 
$1.37 more a day than Active-Duty personnel pay. And $4.90 a day is 
$4.90 a day more than Active-Duty personnel pay for family coverage. So 
the reservists are already paying more than what their counterparts 
right next to them in the line of battle are required to pay today, 
even though they are both defending this country.
  Finally, the last difference has to do with deductibles and 
copayments for doctor visits. Unlike the committee bill, we ensure that 
the reservist would not face an annual deductible or copayment for 
doctor visits. The committee bill does.
  So those five specific differences are why we have come to the floor. 
We acknowledge the commitment and the effort made by our chairman and 
ranking member and others on the committee to address this issue. But I 
have to say, for two-tenths of 1 percent of the entire defense budget, 
we will be able to say to our reservists: We are not only going to 
support you rhetorically, we are going to support you with what you 
have told us is your single greatest need and concern today.
  There are three reasons I think we need to adopt this legislation: 
First, because it is the right thing to do. I don't know how you 
explain, today, to a member of the Guard or the Reserves, who soon 
could be stationed in Iraq for perhaps 2 years that even though he is 
required to pay for his health insurance and his Active-Duty 
counterpart is not, that we are not even going to give him even that 
chance at coverage, but we want him to defend his country. I do not 
think that is right. That is inequitable, that is unfair, and this 
amendment addresses it.
  The second is retention. Senator Graham mentioned this so well. We

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have some very serious concerns about retention in our Guard and 
Reserves, for good reason. For a lot of them, this is not what they 
bargained for; this is not what they were told. We have the best Guard 
and Reserves we have ever had, the best we have ever had in history. If 
we do not want to go back to those bad old days, in my view, of the 
draft--and we have a bill pending, S. 89. I get asked all the time: 
Will there be a draft?
  I tell them: No, I don't think you have to worry about a draft. Why? 
Because the volunteer Army has worked. Why? Because the Guard and 
Reserves are filling that void, that gap that we used to call upon the 
draft to do. But if we see the attrition and the erosion in support and 
the reduction in the enrollment and re-enlistment, we are going to pay 
a very heavy price. I cannot think of a better inducement for re-
enlistment than this.
  Finally, the third reason is simply the need. You can check the 
category, but across the board, one out of every five of our members of 
the Guard and Reserves has absolutely no health insurance today. In the 
age groups below 30, it is even higher, almost 40 percent. So there is 
a need that we need to address.
  So I enthusiastically join my colleague, the distinguished Senator 
from South Carolina, Mr. Graham, in asking our colleagues, once again, 
to do what they have done in the past: Support the effort to provide 
this needed benefit. It is needed, not only for purposes of addressing 
an inequity that I think has been long overdue, but also real concerns 
about retention and parity. If we are all going to do what we said we 
were going to do last Monday, during our Memorial Day speeches--
``support our troops''--let's do it more than with bumper stickers and 
rhetoric.
  Let's do it immediately. Let's help them. Let's provide them the 
assistance they tell us would mean more than anything else we could do 
for them right now.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Virginia.
  Mr. WARNER. Madam President, I ask my colleagues for no more than 2 
minutes.
  I listened intently to our distinguished Democratic leader as he 
outlined his proposal. Correct me if I am wrong, but I understood him 
to say that when a reservist goes on active duty, he has to worry about 
his costs.
  Could I direct the Senator to title 107(4)(a) entitled ``Medical and 
Dental Care'' which explicitly says for anyone, reservist or guardsman, 
on active duty for 30 days or less, they are entitled to it. There is 
no problem. They are treated exactly as the Active-Duty individual. So 
may I ask the Senator to refer to that statute and review the remarks 
that he made to the Senate.
  Mr. DASCHLE. Madam President, if I may respond to the distinguished 
Senator from Virginia, I would simply say that he reads and interprets 
the law correctly. He said it just as the law reads. While on active 
duty for that 30-day period, there is no difference. But what about 
before and after? What about the families and what about the 
opportunities accorded those families when the need arises? There isn't 
any accommodation. I think we have to take into account the universe of 
support we provide through health benefits for Active-Duty personnel.
  I stand by my statement concerning the disparity that exists today. I 
don't want to take anything away from Active-Duty personnel. They 
deserve every dollar of support we provide them through good health 
insurance. All I am saying is that today, given the dramatic change we 
have seen in the makeup of our military and the role now that the Guard 
and Reserves play, the Guard and Reserves, for a personal commitment 
that I outlined in my remarks a moment ago--$1.37 a day for 
individuals, $4.90 a day for families--ought to be entitled to that 
same level of confidence. Today the law denies that.
  I thank the Senator for asking the question.
  Mr. WARNER. Madam President, I appreciate that the Senator at least 
clarified that point. I would like to point out also that in the 
existing bill, we have added 6 months after demobilization in a 
transition to civilian life. They are entitled to these same benefits. 
It isn't as if we drop them the day they walk out of the gate, having 
served with distinction in his or her service on active duty.
  I think we are framing this debate correctly. We have to look at the 
associated costs with this permanent entitlement program which is being 
proposed. Bear in mind, particularly to my colleagues who have had 
experience in the military themselves, we are narrowing the gap between 
the benefits for reservists and guardsmen and those who commit to 
enlistment for 5 years or those who aspire to be careerists for 20-plus 
years. Pretty soon people are going to say, why should I become a 
regular member of the U.S. Army and sign up for commitments of many 
years when I can stay in the Reserve and just about get all the same 
benefits that a regular gets? Once we start that breakdown, I dare say, 
my dear friends, we will have a lot of difficulty recruiting for the 
Active Forces and much less difficulty recruiting for the Reserve and 
the Guard.
  I believe the Senate is under an order.

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