[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 9]
[Senate]
[Pages 12497-12498]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




  PASSAGE OF THE FISCAL YEAR 2007 DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION 
                                  BILL

  Mr. FEINGOLD. Mr. President, first and foremost, I want to thank the 
members of the U.S. Armed Forces for their service to our country. 
These servicemen and women are performing admirably under difficult 
circumstances all over the world. Our soldiers, sailors, airmen, and 
marines, along with their families, are making great sacrifices in 
service to our country. I am pleased to support a Defense Department 
authorization bill that will help these people who are serving the 
country with such courage.
  I supported a number of good provisions in the Senate bill, such as 
the rejection of the President's proposal to increase TRICARE 
enrollment fees and co-payments, increased funding for training 
programs for our nation's authorized Weapons of Mass Destruction Civil-
Support Teams, and increased funding for nonproliferation programs. 
Another aspect of the bill that I strongly support is the increased 
funding for force protection equipment. I have heard from a number of 
Wisconsinites over the years that they or their deployed loved ones 
were fighting for their country in Iraq without the equipment they 
needed. This situation is unconscionable, and my colleagues and I have 
worked hard to address it. The additional $950.5 million for force 
protection equipment, including $559.8 million for additional up-
armored humvees and $100 million for counter-IED vehicles, in this bill 
above what was requested in the President's proposed budget further 
ensures that our troops have the equipment they need to perform their 
duties on the ground.
  I am pleased that the Senate approved the Military Family Support Act 
amendment that I offered with Senator Jeffords. This amendment is 
designed to assist military families struggling with the long-term 
absence of a family member. Under this legislation, the Office of 
Personnel Management is directed to administer a pilot program 
authorizing Federal employees, who have been designated ``caregivers'' 
by a member of the Armed Forces, to use their earned leave time in a 
more flexible manner while a family member is deployed overseas. This 
amendment also encourages the Department of Labor to solicit private 
businesses to voluntarily offer more accommodating leave time to 
caregivers affected by these deployments.
  This bill also authorizes funding for a provision I authored in last 
years' Department of Defense authorization bill establishing the 
Civilian Linguist Reserve Corps, CLRC, pilot project. It became very 
clear after the attacks of September 11, 2001 that the U.S. Government 
has a dearth of critical language skills. The 9/11 Commission report 
documented the disastrous consequences of this deficiency which, 
unfortunately, we still have not made enough progress in addressing 
over 4 years after the 9/11 tragedy. I am pleased that this bill 
included the CLRC pilot project.
  I am also pleased that I was able to pass a Buy American Act 
reporting requirement for the Department of Defense. This reporting 
requirement is similar to the reporting requirement that I have worked 
to enact for the past 3 years through the appropriations process and 
requires the Department of Defense to report annually the dollar value 
of any items purchased that were manufactured outside of the United 
States; an itemized list of all applicable waivers granted with respect 
to such items under the Buy American Act; and a summary of the total 
procurement funds spent by the federal agency on goods manufactured in 
the United States versus on goods manufactured overseas. Additionally, 
the amendment requires the Department of Defense to make this report 
publicly available to the maximum extent possible. I will continue to 
work to ensure a similar permanent reporting requirement is extended to 
all Federal agencies.
  I also authored successful amendments to the bill that require the 
administration to develop a comprehensive strategy for establishing 
stability and fighting terrorism in Somalia and to study of the 
feasibility of establishing an United States regional combatant command 
for Africa. In addition, the bill includes an important amendment I 
offered to strengthen the Special Inspector General for Iraq.
  Unfortunately, I was not able to get other amendments of mine 
adopted. I filed a straightforward amendment that would have made life 
a little easier for our servicemembers and their families when they are 
called up to duty or transferred. When this happens now, servicemembers 
often face cellular phone early termination fees or the prospect of 
paying the monthly bill for a cell phone they cannot use until the end 
of their contract--up to 2 years. My amendment would have treated these 
cellular phone contracts the same way that we already treat residential 
and automobile leases--give the servicemember the right to terminate 
the contract without being charged an additional fee. Despite the

[[Page 12498]]

support of the National Guard Association of the United States, the 
Enlisted Association of the National Guard of the United States, and 
the Military Officers Association of America, I was not able to get 
this amendment adopted. While I was disappointed in this result, I will 
continue to fight to make sure that servicemembers are not financially 
punished for volunteering to protect this country.
  I was also disappointed that another amendment of mine was not 
accepted that would have extended the Department of Defense's ability 
to purchase fruits and vegetables from local farms. My amendment would 
have helped both servicemembers and schools served by the Department of 
Defense programs and local farms and communities benefit from the 
programs.
  I also introduced amendments to the authorization bill that mirrored 
a bill I introduced last year; the Veterans Enhanced Transition 
Services Act, VETS Act. This bill includes provisions that would help 
ensure that all military personnel have access to the same transition 
services as they prepare to leave the military to reenter civilian 
life, or, in the case of members of the National Guard and Reserve, as 
they prepare to demobilize from active duty assignments and return to 
their civilian lives and jobs or education while remaining in the 
military.
  The VETS Act is supported by a wide range of groups that are 
dedicated to serving our men and women in uniform and veterans and 
their families, and I was pleased to honor this support by introducing 
the amendments to the Defense authorization bill. We should ensure that 
our troops receive the benefits to which their service in our Armed 
Forces has entitled them, and while these amendments were unfortunately 
not included in the final version of the bill, I will continue to work 
to see that these provisions become law.
  I will also continue to fight for the redeployment of our forces in 
Iraq so that our country can refocus on fighting the terrorist networks 
that attacked us on 9/11. I offered an amendment with Senator Kerry 
that would have required U.S. forces in Iraq to redeploy by July 1, 
2007. While the amendment failed, I was pleased to be joined by 12 of 
my colleagues in addressing the fact that the President's policies in 
Iraq are damaging our country's national security. I am glad that more 
and more of my colleagues are recognizing what the American people 
already know--that we need a plan to redeploy our troops from Iraq.
  Mr. President, I must note with disappointment that this bill 
continues the wasteful trend of spending billions of dollars on Cold 
War era weapons systems while at the same time not fully funding the 
needs of the military personnel fighting our current wars. I also think 
the Senate missed some opportunities when it rejected amendments that 
could have made the bill better. However, on balance, this legislation 
contains many good provisions for our men and women in uniform and 
their families and that is why I supported it.

                          ____________________