[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 13]
[Senate]
[Pages 17967-17973]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




  NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2009--MOTION TO 
                                PROCEED

  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Under the previous order, the 
Senate will resume consideration of the motion to proceed to S. 3001, 
which the clerk will report.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       Motion to proceed to S. 3001, a bill to authorize 
     appropriations for fiscal year 2009 for military activities 
     of the Department of Defense, for military construction, and 
     for defense activities of the Department of Energy, to 
     prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal year, 
     and for other purposes.

  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Hawaii is 
recognized.
  Mr. AKAKA. Mr. President, I rise today to speak on the motion to 
proceed to the National Defense Authorization Act. I ask unanimous 
consent that I be given 20 minutes to do so.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.
  Mr. AKAKA. Mr. President, I rise today to urge my colleagues to set 
aside bipartisan differences and vote in favor of the motion to proceed 
to the National Defense Authorization Act. This bill is critically 
important to ensuring that our troops have the equipment and support 
they need in order to fulfill their mission. Voting against the motion 
to proceed would have significant consequences for the men and women 
who have made so many sacrifices for this Nation, as well as their 
families. It would mean delays in pay increases, delays in benefits, 
and delays in authorities that are necessary to train and equip our 
soldiers.
  This bill authorizes the military construction projects that directly 
affect the quality of life of our armed services members by giving them 
new, safer, more effective facilities in which to work.
  Under the leadership of Chairman Levin, the Armed Services Committee 
has produced a carefully crafted bill that addresses the many complex 
issues facing today's military. This includes language in direct 
support of our armed services members and their families, such as a 
3.9-percent pay raise.
  Over the last 6 years, continuous combat operations have put a severe 
strain on our Nation's military capabilities. Consequently, one of the 
primary goals of this year's bill was to focus on restoring the 
readiness of our troops.
  As chairman of the Subcommittee on Readiness, I worked very closely 
with Ranking Member Thune on the readiness acquisition policy and 
military construction portions of this bill that are under the 
jurisdiction of my subcommittee. I would like to take this opportunity 
to thank Senator Thune for his hard work and cooperation during the 
markup of this bill. It was my privilege to work with him to advance 
the readiness of our Armed Forces.
  I also thank our personal staff members and the professional staff of 
the committees for their efforts, in particular Peter Levine, Mike 
McCord, Bill Sutey, Lucian Niemeyer, Greg Kiley, and Chris Paul.
  The Readiness Subcommittee has a broad mandate of policy oversight as 
well as jurisdiction over a substantial part of the DOD budget. In 
addition, it is responsible for the readiness and operation and 
maintenance provisions that support the essential requirements of the 
military services for the next fiscal year for the cost of normal 
operations. However, our goal remains simple: to maintain and, wherever 
possible, improve the readiness of our military.
  Altogether, this bill contains $162 billion for the programs within 
the jurisdiction of the Readiness Subcommittee, which represents over 
30 percent of the DOD budget. That amount is within one-quarter of 1 
percent of the amount requested.
  I believe all of us are concerned that our military forces have what 
they need to be trained and ready, but we are particularly concerned 
about the readiness of our ground forces. This bill fully funds the 
Army and Marine Corps readiness accounts, including the training and 
equipment maintenance request.
  With respect to revitalizing our defense facilities, this bill 
invests an additional $413 million above the budget request in our 
infrastructure to repair or replace our aging defense facilities and 
improve the quality of life and the productivity of our military.
  These military construction projects require both an authorization 
and an appropriation. I urge the Senate to pass both these important 
pieces of legislation--this authorization bill and the Military 
Construction and Veterans Affairs appropriations bill--as soon as 
possible.
  This year's Defense authorization bill also addresses the need for 
increased oversight of the acquisition programs and activities of the 
Department of Defense to ensure that taxpayers' dollars are well spent 
and not wasted. For example, this bill requires DOD to establish ethics 
standards to prevent personal conflicts of interest by contractor 
employees who perform acquisition functions on behalf of DOD.
  This bill ensures that private security contractors do not perform 
inherently governmental functions in an area of combat operations. It 
codifies existing DOD standards under which security operations are 
inherently governmental if they will be performed in highly hazardous 
public areas where the risks are uncertain.
  This bill prohibits contractor employees from conducting 
interrogations of detainees during or in the aftermath of hostilities. 
The provision has an effective date 1 year after the date of enactment 
to give DOD time to comply.
  This bill requires the military departments to ensure that urgent 
requirements documents developed by operational field commanders are 
presented to senior officials for review within 60 days of the time 
they are submitted. This is a response to reports that Marine Corps 
leadership failed to respond to requests for Mine Resistant Ambush 
Protected vehicles, known as MRAPs, and other critical requirements for 
several years.
  This bill codifies the requirement for boards to review and approve--
or disapprove--any new requirements that could add to the costs of a 
major weapon system.
  This bill requires DOD to ensure that a contractor does not receive a 
competitive advantage by using foreign subsidiaries to avoid the 
payment of U.S. payroll taxes for its workers.
  This bill requires DOD to establish a database of information 
regarding the integrity and contract performance of contractors, to 
ensure that this information is available to acquisition officials 
making key contracting decisions.
  This bill requires DOD to take steps to ensure that contractor 
employees who are the victims of sexual assault and other crimes in 
Iraq and Afghanistan receive the help they need and the investigative 
assistance they deserve.
  This bill requires the military departments to establish business 
transformation offices to serve as a central focus for the reform of 
their business and financial systems and processes.
  This bill ensures that the chief lawyer for the DOD inspector 
general, or IG, serves at the discretion of the IG and reports only to 
the IG.
  It is my hope that the Senate will strongly support these provisions.
  In addition to working to improve the readiness of our troops as 
chairman of the Readiness Subcommittee, I was pleased in my role as 
chairman of the Veterans' Affairs Committee to work to include language 
in this bill that will improve care for this Nation's wounded warriors. 
One such provision responds to the need for comprehensive care for 
wounded warriors and their families by requiring the Secretary of 
Defense to provide referrals for legal assistance when appropriate in 
order to help with legal issues related to long-term care needs.
  The necessity to encourage and promote the treatment of service-
related injuries was also addressed in this bill through the 
authorization of a pilot program to assess treatment approaches for all 
forms of traumatic brain injury and the establishment of a center of 
excellence for the treatment and rehabilitation of traumatic extremity 
injuries and amputations.

[[Page 17968]]

  In order to ensure that the Department of Defense and Department of 
Veterans Affairs continue to carefully coordinate these efforts to 
improve the process for the care, management, and transition of wounded 
and ill servicemembers, this year's bill also provides for a 3-year 
extension of the Senior Oversight Committee.
  Let me end by restating how vitally important it is for us to move 
forward with the debate of this bill. A little over 3 weeks ago, I 
attended the deployment ceremony for the members of the Hawaii Army 
National Guard's 29th Infantry Brigade Combat Team who are headed to 
Kuwait in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom for their second 
deployment. It was my great honor and privilege to say goodbye to these 
soldiers who are leaving their homes, their jobs, and their families in 
order to fulfill a commitment to defend and protect our Nation. I 
remind my friends and colleagues that we have also made a commitment to 
work together to pass a bill that provides our troops with everything 
they need to come home safely. The first step in this process is to 
adopt this motion to proceed so that we can begin debate on this very 
important bill.
  I yield back the remainder of my time, and I suggest the absence of a 
quorum.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. AKAKA. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.
  Mr. AKAKA. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the time be 
equally divided between the two parties.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.
  Mr. AKAKA. I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. NELSON of Florida. I ask unanimous consent that the order for the 
quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Cardin). Without objection, it is so 
ordered.


                                 Energy

  Mr. NELSON of Florida. Mr. President, last week we heard chants, 
slogans--as if those slogans were going to solve the energy crisis--of 
drill, baby, drill. I think it is more appropriate to use the words of 
Tom Friedman: Innovate, baby, innovate. If we are going to solve this 
energy crisis, we have to have a comprehensive solution, and we need to 
unleash what America can do best, which is our intellectual capacity, 
our creativeness, our ingenuity. We need to unleash that capacity of 
America to get out and whip the energy crisis where we are addicted to 
oil. In fact, in this Senator's judgment, the single greatest threat to 
our security may well be our dependence on oil, not foreign oil but 
oil.
  We all have been hearing from our constituents about what is the 
possible path for us to break this addiction, and we need to break the 
addiction and become energy independent in 10 years.
  I caution against misguided rhetoric and hollow chants, as we have 
heard--of drill, baby, drill--as a seemingly swift and simple solution 
to high gas prices. It doesn't have any basis in reality. Remember the 
words of President Kennedy:

       Real solutions are not easily or cheaply obtained, nor are 
     they quickly and simply explained.

  So as we approach it in a comprehensive way, it is not easily and 
simply explained. Common sense ought to tell us, since the United 
States has only 3 percent of the world's oil reserves, and yet uses 25 
percent of the world's oil production, we can't drill our way out of 
the problem. Indeed, there are 65 million acres leased by the oil 
companies from the Federal Government, not one of which has been 
drilled. In the Gulf of Mexico itself--where the so-called gang of 10 
that is now called the gang of 16 seems to want to pick on my State of 
Florida and wants to drill all the way up to within 50 miles of the 
coast--there are 32 million acres under lease by the oil companies, and 
not one of those acres has been drilled. Yet they are leased from the 
Federal Government. As a matter of fact, that includes 8.3 million 
acres on which this Senator worked a compromise to try to solve this 
problem and got it into law 2 years ago, 8.3 million new acres kept 
away from the military mission line where we do our testing and 
training off of Florida, kept away from the shores of Florida. Not 1 
acre of that 8.3 million has been drilled since it was offered for 
lease.
  More leasing would not stabilize Iraq or guarantee Saudi Arabia's 
long-term friendship, nor would it end the unregulated speculation that 
drove oil prices to over $147 a barrel and pushed pump prices to more 
than $4 a gallon. More leasing of Federal lands will only delay 
America's freedom from oil. If we do drill, baby, drill, we will dirty 
and destroy Florida's economy. Even worse, if this so-called gang of 16 
puts it all the way up to 50 miles off of Florida, it will cut the 
heart and lungs out of the last area of unfettered military training 
for the U.S. military, the largest testing and training for the U.S. 
military in the world, which is the range in the Gulf of Mexico, all 
off of the coast of Florida.
  No matter what anybody says, when the United States only has 3 
percent of the world's oil reserves but uses one-fourth of the world's 
oil supply, drill, baby, drill is not going to work.
  Now, that is what this Senator has been saying for years. By the way, 
now even a Texas oilman is saying the same thing. T. Boone Pickens has 
all of these commercial ads on TV, and he says we cannot drill our way 
out of this problem.
  As a matter of fact, the White House report from 5 months ago that I 
have shared with the Senate several times says the same thing: That 
drilling in the Outer Continental Shelf of the United States will not 
change the price of gasoline one whit until the year 2030.
  So what do we do? Well, for the short term, we need to keep bringing 
gas prices down by not wasting so much oil and by banning the greedy 
speculation on the part of the oil traders and the profiteers. We have 
a Senate investigation that has reported that there is lax Federal 
oversight of these traders, and that is as a result of a loophole that 
was slipped in in the dead of night in December just before Christmas 
in the year 2000 at the behest of the infamous Enron Corporation. BP, 
Amoco, Goldman Sachs, and Morgan Stanley also were instrumental in 
getting this so-called Enron loophole through Congress. Afterward, the 
price of both oil and natural gas skyrocketed, despite reports that oil 
supplies were mostly adequate.
  Links between soaring oil prices and vast sums of money flowing into 
these unregulated commodities have been uncovered by the Senate 
Commerce Committee and the Homeland Security Committee. As a matter of 
fact, just last week, a report by the Washington Post pointed out, 
unbelievably, that of all the futures contracts for the oil 
commodities, 81 percent of all that trading was done by people who do 
not intend to use that oil. If true, done by the speculators: 81 
percent.
  We have had testimony in Congress by an ExxonMobil executive. We have 
had testimony from a Shell Oil Company executive who said that under 
normal supply and demand oil ought to be at $55 a barrel.
  But by any measure, this Enron loophole, which exempts the traders of 
energy contracts from Federal oversight, was an ill-conceived public 
policy. That is why a number of us have filed legislation to fully 
close that loophole and to stop the unchecked runups in speculation of 
crude oil and gasoline prices.
  Now, what do I mean by ``unregulated futures commodities markets''? I 
mean that a governmental entity, if it were regulated, would require 
them to put a substantial downpayment on the contract for future oil--
to put their money where their mouth is--or a regulated market would be 
that they would require the bidder for that future oil contract to be 
somebody who

[[Page 17969]]

was going to use the oil instead of just speculating on the price and 
running up the price. So if we do not do something about speculation, 
they can drive that up again, and we have to fully close that loophole.
  About 50 percent of the oil we use goes into our cars and trucks. So 
it should not take a rocket scientist to realize this ought to be where 
we ought to focus. It took us in the Congress more than 30 years to 
raise mileage standards to a paltry 35 miles per gallon, to be phased 
in over the next 15 years--35 miles a gallon. It was 25 miles a gallon 
back in the 1980s. But, oh, by the way, that exempted light trucks and 
SUVs. It is interesting that American car manufacturers sell cars in 
Europe and the cars over there already get 43 miles a gallon. Japan is 
approaching 50 miles per gallon. In other words, we are wasting 
billions of gallons of oil here at home. To stop it, we must enact 
serious conservation measures, such as 40 miles per gallon for our 
vehicles. We must provide bigger tax incentives for people to buy 
hybrid cars and plug-in hybrids.
  Now, what I have shared with you are not simple chants, simple 
slogans. They are real solutions for the short term. But for the long 
term, we need to unleash that American ingenuity and to rapidly build 
cars that run on batteries or hydrogen, not petroleum. We need to 
develop alternative fuels such as ethanol from things we do not eat.
  Our Government, led by the next President, must enact a national 
energy program to transition us from petroleum to alternative and 
synthetic fuels. It needs to be leadership by the next President in the 
memory of President Kennedy, when we had only flown Alan Shepard in 
suborbit, and President Kennedy had the vision and said: This Nation is 
going to go to the Moon and back in 9 years. That is the kind of 
leadership we need, and we now have to act with the same urgency.
  So we are going to have to pay attention to how we power our homes 
and industry. We are going to need to develop solar, wind, and thermal 
energy and safer nuclear power. We have a lot of innovative work.
  I see some colleagues are in the Chamber who wish to speak, and I 
will conclude.
  Let me say that I want everybody to know, including the Senator who 
is just walking onto the floor, this Senator is not going to allow 
Florida to be a sacrificial lamb for whatever is struck as an energy 
compromise, nor is this Senator, who has been protecting the interests 
of the U.S. Department of Defense for 25 years, ever since I was a 
young Congressman representing the east coast of Florida, going to 
allow drilling to cut the heart and the lungs out of the military 
mission area, which is our largest testing and training area, nor to 
threaten the interests of the State of Florida, by people succumbing to 
the simple slogan of ``drill, baby, drill'' when it ought to be 
``innovate, baby, innovate.''
  Mr. President, I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Alaska.


      International Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders Awareness Day

  Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, I rise very briefly to recognize 
tomorrow, Tuesday, September 9, as International Fetal Alcohol Spectrum 
Disorders Awareness Day. This is a day to bring a voice to the numerous 
children--many children--born with a continuum of serious, lifelong 
disorders caused by prenatal exposure to alcohol, which includes fetal 
alcohol syndrome, alcohol-related neurodevelopmental disorders, and 
alcohol-related birth defects. The lifetime health costs for people 
afflicted with fetal alcohol syndrome is at least $2 million, and the 
overall cost of fetal alcohol syndrome in the United States is 
estimated to be at least $6 billion. That was back in 2007. There is a 
great need for research, surveillance, prevention, treatment, and 
support services for individuals with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders 
and for their families.
  It is for these reasons I rise today to dedicate September 9 as 
International Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders Awareness Day and 
encourage all my fellow Americans to promote awareness of the effects 
of prenatal exposure to alcohol; to increase compassion for individuals 
affected by prenatal exposure to alcohol; to minimize further effects 
of prenatal exposure to alcohol; and, most importantly, to bring 
greater awareness to a disease that is absolutely 100 percent 
preventable.
  Communities around the world will observe a moment of silence at 9 
minutes after 9 tomorrow, on September 9, to remind women that no 
alcohol during pregnancy is safe. For the past 6 years, the Senate has 
passed a resolution highlighting and bringing awareness to this issue. 
It is my understanding that all resolutions are currently being 
blocked, so we may not have one this year. But today, on behalf of the 
millions of individuals suffering from the lasting and detrimental 
effects of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders, I encourage all Americans 
to observe a moment of reflection on the ninth hour of the ninth day of 
the ninth month to remind them that no amount of alcohol--none at all--
is safe during the 9 months of pregnancy.
  With that, Mr. President, I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Alabama.
  Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. President, I want to share a thought about the vote 
we will undertake. I know some of us were taking to calling the 
speculation bill our Democratic leader offered the ``no energy bill'' 
because it had nothing in it to produce any more energy for America--
American energy, which I think is a critical component of any 
successful policy to make us more energy independent, which, indeed, 
can make us energy independent if we do the right things as far as 
foreign oil and energy.
  I would say to my colleagues, some of whom are part of the so-called 
Gang of 10, who are trying to work out a compromise they think might 
produce some more energy for America that might change a few policies 
that would make us more energy independent and help our economy, which 
by any calculation is being pulled down by the increasing price of 
energy, the Cato Institute says electricity bills have doubled since 
2001. Electricity has already doubled.
  Before we get into some of the more extreme proposals for the 
regulation of utilities and requirements on utilities, I would say that 
gasoline prices have surged. The world price of oil hit 140-some-odd 
dollars per barrel. It has dropped some, to maybe the $107, $110 range 
per barrel, which is better, but it is still far above the $30 a barrel 
it was just a few years ago.
  So this is adversely impacting American families. We calculate it 
costs $57 more a month for a two-car family for gasoline each month 
than it did this time last year. It is also impacting adversely the 
American economy. I believe it is an absolute fact that this surge in 
energy prices is causing the economic slowdown we are facing today, and 
we have to do something about it.
  There are things we can do. So I want to say to my colleagues who are 
trying to work on something, I am for you. I want you to go ahead. I 
want you to push forward. I want to put some things in there that will 
work. That is my policy. I will support anything--efficiencies, 
conservation, innovation, creativity. It must include more production 
of American energy, of course. Anything else would be mindless. People 
do not seem to worry that we pay $130 a barrel for imported oil, but 
they want to constrict our ability to produce oil and gas here at home. 
So I just want to say that.
  I urge my colleagues who are discussing this issue to produce some 
things that will work, and you will have a willing supporter in this 
Senator. I am willing to do some things that may be even dubious if we 
can get some things that are good. For example, I understand they are 
talking about more offshore production. I think that is absolutely 
necessary. We need to have nuclear recycling. I am hopeful that will be 
part of any compromise package.
  I offered with Senator Domenici earlier this year, just a few months 
ago, the SMART Act, which would favor the nuclear recycling of waste, 
which

[[Page 17970]]

would reduce its toxicity dramatically and reduce the amount that would 
be needed and produce more uranium capable of creating electricity. It 
would increase, I understand, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's staff 
so we do not have unnecessary delays in approving new powerplants. We 
have not built one in 30 years, but France is building them. The Brits 
just announced plans to build five more. We need to get in that game. 
We have not done so in 30 years.
  I would note, however, there is nothing in this legislation that I 
can see that I am hearing about that would create energy from shale oil 
in the West. There has been no production from that 2,000 acres in ANWR 
that is part--that will be producing oil and gas out of an 18-acre 
region the size of the State of South Carolina. So those are things I 
hope we can have, before I yield the floor, in a compromise package and 
that would actually produce more energy for us.
  I would note I am honored to serve on the Armed Services Committee 
with Senator Levin and Senator Warner, our senior member. I see them 
both here to kick off this debate. It is a very good committee. It is a 
committee I have learned a great deal from serving on, and I think it 
is important that we be able to move forward with the Defense 
authorization bill.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Michigan is recognized.
  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, under the existing unanimous consent 
agreement, the Senator from Virginia is going to proceed for 15 
minutes, I understand.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Virginia is recognized.
  Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I first wish to congratulate my colleague 
of some 30 years that we have worked together on the Senate Armed 
Services Committee. Under his leadership this year, we passed the 2008 
bill unanimously by the committee in April. Here we are in September, 
and we are finally getting to the opportunity presented to our 
colleagues and, hopefully, this week we will act on this bill.
  Earlier this afternoon, the distinguished majority leader and the 
minority leader addressed the Senate on their express hope that this 
bill will be acted on expeditiously and done so within this week. That 
will require, however, in my judgment--and I speak only for myself--a 
unanimous consent request relating to the amendment process. We are 
anxious to receive amendments from our colleagues, but unless we 
maintain some order in terms of relevant amendments, I am fearful we 
will not be able to expeditiously handle this bill. That is a matter 
that is now being quite fairly and forthrightly worked upon by the 
respective majority and minority leaders, and certainly my 
distinguished colleague, Senator Levin, and I have discussed this 
together and have a joint recommendation for our leadership.
  I also wish to express my appreciation to our professional staff, 
both majority and minority, who have worked on this bill throughout the 
summer. Such that on the assumption that we can pass it and then get to 
a conference we will have beforehand reconciled some of the differences 
between--that is on an informal basis, but on a formal basis, we will 
be able to reconcile in a conference this bill and then bring it back 
in the form of a conference report.
  This will be the forty-third--bill No. 43--consecutive authorization 
bill adopted by the Senate. I am hopeful the unbroken record of 42 
consecutive times will now be the 43rd, and that puts the Senate 
clearly on record as supporting the men and women of the Armed Forces 
of the United States who most justly deserve all the support we can 
give them. I point out that we have a specific constitutional 
responsibility toward the men and women of the Armed Forces. It is this 
bill, coupled with such appropriations as may be acted upon by other 
committees--this is the discharge of our constitutional responsibility.
  We are at a very dangerous crossroads in the history of the world. 
Our forces today are fighting in two theaters--Iraq and Afghanistan--
and are standing watch on many other theaters and outposts across the 
world. They are facing the threats of militant extremists at home, 
worldwide, abroad, in all corners of the globe. We are also astounded 
by the performance of what heretofore we thought was a supporting 
partner in world affairs--Russia--by virtue of their aggressions in 
Georgia, and the instability in Pakistan, a major non-NATO ally but 
nevertheless a major ally. Hopefully, with the election of a new 
President, that country can begin to govern itself strongly because it 
is very important, with our forces on the border of Pakistan and our 
operations against the insurgents and the Taliban in Afghanistan, it is 
essential we have the strongest of working relationships with Pakistan. 
Then we have, unfortunately, the nuclear ambitions and the hostile 
behavior of Iran. All of those propose a profound and wide-ranging 
challenge for U.S. interests and our friends and our allies in the 
international community as a whole.
  We are fortunate today that the people in the United States of 
America are so supportive of our Armed Forces. I have had the privilege 
to observe this Nation in previous conflicts beginning in World War II. 
In World War II 16 million men and women of the Armed Forces were 
greeted when they returned home from a solid victory against the axis 
powers, as well as those of the Pacific. Then, following the Korean 
conflict, again I had the opportunity to observe firsthand the 
deterioration of the support in the many respects it was given to the 
Armed Forces who fought so bravely in that conflict. I pause to think 
that we have celebrated the 55th anniversary of that conflict. Over 
30,000 Americans--Americans in uniform--lost their lives in that 
conflict. Another 90,000 were wounded. Today, currently, 8,000 are 
still unaccounted for.
  So we have a different attitude today. In Vietnam, we likewise 
experienced a lot of antagonism against the men and women of the Armed 
Forces. Today, this country is united behind those men and women and 
giving support to their brave families.
  We have also had the good fortune for 35 years to have an All-
Volunteer Force. This bill is constructed to continue that support of 
the All-Volunteer Force. I can recall, in the Vietnam period, I was 
privileged to be Secretary of the Navy--Under Secretary for some 5 
years--that the constricted force experienced a lot of problems. It was 
during that period in 1973, I remember vividly that the then-Secretary 
of Defense, Melvin Laird, had the vision to have the All-Volunteer 
Force. It eventually came into law with the support of the Congress. It 
was a major gamble, I say to my colleagues--a major gamble. It was the 
first significant large military power in the world--the United States 
of America--to try and have this national security policy, this 
national security defended by all volunteers, but it has worked and 
worked well beyond the early concepts we had in mind. It has been a 
superb military force that has preserved America's freedom.
  We also have in this bill a reflection on the future needs of our 
Armed Forces. This bill will provide better compensation and first-rate 
health care to improve the quality of life of the men and women on 
Active Duty and in the National Guard and Reserve and their families. I 
will enumerate a number of provisions in this bill that address those 
issues.
  We also authorize Active Duty end strengths, increases for the Army 
to go to 532,000-plus and for the Marine Corps, 194,000-plus, 
respectively. We authorize an increase of 3,371 full-time personnel for 
the Army National Guard and the Army Reserve. We authorize the costs of 
special pay and allowances, death benefits, and permanent change of 
station moves. It authorizes $26 billion for the Defense Health 
Program. It requires the Secretary of Defense to develop a 
comprehensive policy to prevent, regrettably, the increasing rate of 
suicides.
  So I say to my colleagues, this bill is absolutely essential--
absolutely essential--and it provides the statutory authorities that 
our men and women of

[[Page 17971]]

the Armed Forces need to succeed in combat and stability operations in 
Iraq and Afghanistan.
  We will authorize those funds necessary to seek to reduce our 
Nation's strategic risks by taking action to restore, as soon as 
possible, the readiness of the military services to conduct the full 
range of their assigned missions. I wish to correct that by saying by 
taking the action aimed at fully restoring, since much of our military 
is in a state of high readiness today.
  This bill will improve the efficiency of Defense Department programs 
and activities, promote the transformation of the Armed Forces to deal 
with the threats of the 21st century, and improve the ability of the 
Armed Forces to counter nontraditional threats, including terrorism and 
the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
  In addition, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 
2009 includes authorization of $24.8 billion in Division B for military 
construction, BRAC, and family housing programs. Because MILCON 
projects require a line item authorization by law, and considered new-
starts, DOD will not be able to carry out any new project in fiscal 
year 2009 if this bill is not enacted.
  Of the 24.8 billion, $11.7 billion is for military construction, $3.2 
billion for the construction and operation of family housing, and $9.1 
billion to implement the results of the 2005 BRAC.
  Within the BRAC account, 282 projects are at risk across the country, 
including critical construction to establish new hospitals at the Naval 
Medical Center, Bethesda, MD; Fort Belvior, VA; and Fort Sam Houston, 
TX, to facilitate the closure of inadequate facilities at the Walter 
Reed Army Medical Center, Washington, DC. Other critical BRAC 
construction at Fort Bliss, TX, and Fort Benning, GA, is required to 
facilitate the return of U.S. forces from overseas locations and the 
establishment of new modular units. Also BRAC construction at Eglin Air 
Force Base, FL, is required to support the joint Air Force and Navy 
training.
  In closing, this is an important bill that takes care of our troops 
and their families. It sustains a national treasure, the All Volunteer 
Force, and authorizes funding for the Department of Defense and the 
national security programs of the Department of Energy.
  I urge my colleagues to vote in favor of the motion to proceed to the 
Defense authorization bill for the sake of the men and women in uniform 
and in spirit of Article I, section 8 of the Constitution that assigns 
to Congress the powers ``to raise and support Armies'' and ``to provide 
and maintain a Navy.''
  Mr. President, I defer to our distinguished Chairman. Again, I 
congratulate the chairman on bringing this bill to the floor.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Whitehouse). The Senator from Michigan is 
recognized.
  Mr. LEVIN. Very briefly, I note the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. LEVIN. 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. LEVIN. Mr. President, first, I wish to thank my good friend from 
Virginia, Senator Warner. As he pointed out, he and I have been 
together in the Senate now almost 30 years. Hopefully, we could get 
this bill to the floor the way he and I and other chairmen before us 
have been able to get a Defense authorization bill to the floor and 
passed for, I believe, close to 50 years; somewhere in the mid 40s now 
we have had a Defense authorization bill. We have to have it under the 
law. There is mandatory spending in here. There are pay increases in 
here. There are benefit provisions in here. This is a must-do bill.
  Senator Warner, in his great leadership over the years, has made it 
possible for many of these bills to get to the floor. I look forward to 
all our efforts to get this bill done in the very few weeks we have 
remaining. If we do get it done--and I am optimistic--it will be 
because Senator Warner, as always, brings his managerial skills and his 
good nature and his other skills to the fore. I look forward to trying 
to get this bill done the way we have been able to do it for all these 
years.
  Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I thank my distinguished colleague for his 
kind remarks. I should also wish to join him in thanking the members of 
our committee. We have had an excellent committee, and we have a very 
bipartisan, professional staff. I am sure we can do the job. I will 
point out one additional feature--military construction. I daresay that 
almost every Member of this body has a provision somewhere in this bill 
relating to military construction. Without passage of the bill, that 
simply will not take place.
  Mr. LEVIN. I thank my friend. I want to make another point. In the 
weeks we have remaining, we not only have to get this bill passed, but 
we have to get it to conference and back in probably a record period of 
time. It is going to take all of the cooperation of the Members of the 
Senate. We are going to succeed. There are 100 reasons to do it, and 
all of them boil down to the men and women in uniform and their 
families and the security of this country. The incentive should be 
there for us to do it. Because of the long delay, we have to do it in 
record time. We have had wonderful cooperation from members of the 
committee on a bipartisan basis. We have tremendous staff members who 
have worked over the recess to get the work done so we can get this 
bill passed in a very short period of time and so that we would have a 
reasonable chance of getting this bill done in the number of weeks we 
have left.
  The committee approved this bill unanimously. More than 4 months ago 
now, on April 30, we tried to bring the bill to the Senate floor. At 
the end of July, we were unable to do so because we could not obtain 
cloture on the motion to proceed. There are many important nondefense 
legislative proposals that Members would like to bring before the 
Senate to get adopted. I am one of those Members. There are a number of 
things I would love to bring before the Senate and get adopted. But we 
cannot take out our frustration on our troops. I am prepared to give up 
a whole bunch of nondefense amendments that I hoped to be able to bring 
to the Senate's attention. I am willing to give them up. I hope other 
Members who feel the same way will ensure that we have a Defense bill 
this year.
  This bill is simply too important and the time available to us is too 
limited to be sidetracked by unrelated amendments, as important as they 
may be. As my dear friend from Virginia said, we have enacted a defense 
authorization act every year now for 4\1/2\ decades. During that time, 
there have been years when we had to invoke cloture to get final 
passage, years when we have had to enter unanimous consent agreements 
to expedite consideration of the bill, years in which the bill was 
vetoed and we had to start over again. There have been years in which 
we have spent weeks debating the bill on the Senate floor and months in 
conference with the House. We have had to address serious disagreements 
over issues such as base closures and missile defense. But we have 
always had a bill because Members have always understood that we have 
to do what it takes to do the right thing for our soldiers, sailors, 
airmen, marines, and their families.
  These authorization bills, which come annually, contain provisions 
that improve the quality of life for our men and women in uniform and 
give them the tools they need to defend our Nation and provide critical 
reforms to improve the operations of the Pentagon. That is the case 
with this bill. The bill reported by the Armed Services Committee 3 
months ago obtains many provisions of critical importance to our 
troops.
  First and foremost, the bill would increase military pay by 3.9 
percent, a half percent more than the President requested. It provides 
continued authority for the payment of enlistment and reenlistment 
bonuses, ascension

[[Page 17972]]

and retention bonuses for servicemembers with critical skills who are 
assigned to high-priority units, and bonuses and incentives to reward 
our troops to make sure we can retain our people. It provides new 
incentives to military psychologists and the nursing students to 
address the ongoing shortages we have in these critical specialty 
areas.
  At a time when thousands of our troops are deployed around the world 
and our voluntary military is strained to meet the requirements of 
ongoing conflicts, while remaining prepared for other contingencies 
these are steps that we simply must take.
  When our men and women in uniform are in harm's way, there is nothing 
more important for us to do. The bill would increase the end strength 
of the Army, Marine Corps, Air National Guard, and Army Reserve to 
reduce the incredible stress on our troops. It would establish and 
extend critical authorities needed by the DOD for current operations. 
For instance, it would provide the Department of Defense the 
authorization to use funds for quick turnaround construction projects 
needed to support our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. It will extend 
the DOD's authority to provide training and funds and stabilization in 
security assistance, which are so essential to the well-being of our 
troops.
  The bill includes numerous other measures to improve the quality of 
life for our service men and women, retirees, and their families. For 
instance, the bill ensures that wounded and injured servicemembers will 
not be charged for meals received at military treatment facilities. It 
is so unbelievable that some of those facilities make these current 
charges, so I should repeat it. This bill will ensure that wounded and 
injured servicemembers will not be charged for meals received in 
military treatment facilities. It will provide supplemental impact aid 
for schools with large populations and military children. It authorizes 
funds for military construction projects, military family housing, and 
BRAC-related construction to ensure that our troops have the housing 
they deserve and our military has the facilities it needs for the 
national defense.
  The bill will build on last year's National Guard Empowerment Act by 
requiring the Secretary of Defense, in consultation with the Chairman 
of the Joint Chiefs and the Chief of the National Guard Bureau, to 
develop a strategic plan to enhance the rule of the National Guard and 
Reserves, taking into account the recent report of the Commission on 
National Guard and Reserves.
  The bill will provide funding for critical initiatives, including $3 
billion for the Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization. 
That is the ongoing effort of that organization to defeat the threat of 
these explosive devices. There are over $100 million in investments in 
advanced energy and power technology to support defense missions, such 
as hybrid engines, military fuels research, and battery technology, and 
more than $120 million to combat the proliferation of weapons of mass 
destruction and improve our ability to reduce and respond to threats of 
weapons of mass destruction, both at home and abroad.
  Another thing this bill does is something I think every American who 
has heard about the fact that we are spending taxpayer dollars for the 
reconstruction of Iraq, while the Iraqis have about $80 billion in 
surplus funds in banks, including ours, drawing interest from the 
American taxpayers, to go to the Iraqi Government to build 
infrastructure in Iraq while they are charging us $120 a barrel and we 
are paying $4 a gallon for gasoline. When the American public focused 
on that a few weeks ago, the reaction was what we would expect. They 
were astounded that 5\1/2\ years later, $11 billion a month is going 
out of our taxpayers' pockets, while the Iraqis have a huge oil surplus 
based on the revenues they get from $120- or $130-a-barrel oil, and 
with all that money in the bank, we are still paying significant moneys 
for Iraqi reconstruction. It is unconscionable.
  We have a provision in this bill that will require the Iraqis to use 
their own oil revenues rather than U.S. taxpayer dollars to pay for the 
large infrastructure projects and also for the training and equipping 
of their own military. We all remember Deputy Defense Secretary 
Wolfowitz, at the beginning of the war, who said Iraq would be able to 
``finance its own reconstruction through oil revenue.'' But that has 
not proven to be the fact. U.S. taxpayers, so far, have paid $48 
billion for stabilization and reconstruction activities in Iraq.
  Again, the Iraqi Government has generated more than $100 billion in 
oil revenue since the war began and spent only a fraction of that 
amount on its own reconstruction. Under these circumstances, it is 
inexcusable and unconscionable for U.S. taxpayers to have to foot the 
bill for projects that the Iraqis are fully capable of funding 
themselves. The bill addresses that problem. We should not have to have 
legislation on that. The President ought to call the Prime Minister of 
Iraq and say: Folks, you have $80 billion. Reimburse us for the 
reconstruction. Surely, the ongoing construction should be paid for by 
Iraq's surplus. But, apparently, that is not going to happen. So this 
legislation is needed.
  The bill also includes a number of measures to ensure the proper 
stewardship of taxpayer dollars. These include provisions that would 
institute improved cost control for the acquisition of major weapons 
systems, require program managers to incorporate energy efficiency 
requirements and performance parameters for such systems, and ensure 
that private security contractors don't engage in combat and combat-
related activities on the battlefield. This is a reform that has been 
needed for a long time. We have these contractors that are hired to 
perform Government functions, with combat-related duties. We simply 
have to make sure these private security contractors don't engage in 
combat-related activities in these battle zones. We have to increase 
oversight and accountability for housing privatization initiatives, and 
the bill does all that. Our acquisition system is in deep trouble. This 
bill addresses that issue.
  Since the beginning of 2006, nearly half of the 95 largest 
acquisition programs of the Department of Defense have exceeded the so-
called Nunn-McCurdy cost growth standards that were established by 
Congress to identify seriously troubled programs.
  I wonder if I might inquire of the Chair about the time remaining 
that I control.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator has 30 seconds remaining.
  Mr. LEVIN. I will yield back.
  Mr. WARNER. I yield my time to my colleague. I think I have 2 minutes 
remaining.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator has 3 minutes 15 seconds.
  Mr. LEVIN. I thank my friend. I am happy to share that with him. I am 
appreciative.
  As I was saying, almost half of our largest acquisition programs have 
exceeded the Nunn-McCurdy standard to identify seriously troubled 
programs. These major defense acquisition programs are known as MRAPs. 
They have exceeded their R&D development by an average of 40 percent, 
and we have seen their acquisition costs grow by an average of 26 
percent and experience an average delay of almost 2 years. The GAO 
tells us the cost overruns on these major defense acquisition 
programs--just on these programs--now total almost $300 billion over 
and above the original program estimates. This isn't the cost of these 
programs. This is the cost of the programs above what they were 
supposed to cost--$295 billion. That is true even though we have cut 
quantities in those programs and reduced performance expectations on 
many programs in an effort to hold costs down.
  I want to put into context what the $295 billion cost overrun could 
buy for us. This is what we could buy at current prices: two new 
aircraft carriers at $10 billion each, eight Virginia class submarines 
at $2.5 billion each, 500 V-22 Ospreys, 500 Joint Strike Fighters, and 
10,000 MRAPs--all of that, not either/or but all of it--and we could 
still pay for the total cost of our future combat system program, which 
is $130 billion.

[[Page 17973]]

  That is just the overruns in those programs which have exceeded their 
cost estimates. These overruns happen because of fundamental flaws that 
are built into our acquisition system.
  I will conclude because it is now time for us to vote. I am very 
hopeful that every Member of this Senate will vote to proceed to this 
bill. We cannot justify again delaying consideration of this Defense 
authorization bill. The men and women in uniform deserve for us to act. 
There is no way that we can look their parents, their families, their 
loved ones in the eyes and justify a failure to adopt this bill this 
month.
  Again, I thank all the members of the committee and my good friend, 
Senator Warner, for everything he has done to make it possible for us 
to at least have a good chance to pass this bill.
  Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, my understanding is at the hour of 5:30 
p.m. the vote will commence.


                             Cloture Motion

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. By unanimous consent, pursuant to rule XXII, 
the Chair lays before the Senate the pending cloture motion, which the 
clerk will report.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

                             Cloture Motion

       We, the undersigned Senators, in accordance with the 
     provisions of rule XXII of the Standing Rules of the Senate, 
     hereby move to bring to a close debate on the motion to 
     proceed to S. 3001, the National Defense Authorization Act 
     for Fiscal Year 2009.
         Carl Levin, Christopher J. Dodd, E. Benjamin Nelson, John 
           F. Kerry, Claire McCaskill, Joseph R. Biden, Jr., Bill 
           Nelson, Blanche L. Lincoln, Richard Durbin, Daniel K. 
           Akaka, Robert Menendez, Kent Conrad, Sherrod Brown, 
           Jack Reed, Jim Webb, Charles E. Schumer, Harry Reid.

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. By unanimous consent, the mandatory quorum 
call is waived.
  The question is, Is it the sense of the Senate that debate on the 
motion to proceed to S. 3001, an original bill to authorize 
appropriations for fiscal year 2009 for military activities of the 
Department of Defense, for military construction, and for defense 
activities of the Department of Energy, to prescribe military personnel 
strengths for such fiscal year, and for other purposes, shall be 
brought to a close?
  The yeas and nays are mandatory under the rule. The clerk will call 
the roll.
  The legislative clerk called the roll.
  Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from Delaware (Mr. Biden), 
the Senator from New York (Mrs. Clinton), the Senator from Hawaii (Mr. 
Inouye), the Senator from Massachusetts (Mr. Kennedy), the Senator from 
Louisiana (Ms. Landrieu), the Senator from Missouri (Mrs. McCaskill), 
the Senator from Maryland (Ms. Mikulski), the Senator from Illinois 
(Mr. Obama) and the Senator from Oregon (Mr. Wyden) are necessarily 
absent.
  Mr. KYL. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator 
from Kansas (Mr. Brownback), the Senator from North Carolina (Mrs. 
Dole), the Senator from Nevada (Mr. Ensign), the Senator from South 
Carolina (Mr. Graham), the Senator from Arizona (Mr. McCain), the 
Senator from New Hampshire (Mr. Sununu), the Senator from Louisiana 
(Mr. Vitter) and the Senator from Mississippi (Mr. Wicker).
  Further, if present and voting, the senator from North Carolina (Mrs. 
Dole) would have voted ``yea.''
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Are there any other Senators in the Chamber 
desiring to vote?
  The result was announced--yeas 83, nays 0, as follows:

                      [Rollcall Vote No. 197 Leg.]

                                YEAS--83

     Akaka
     Alexander
     Allard
     Barrasso
     Baucus
     Bayh
     Bennett
     Bingaman
     Bond
     Boxer
     Brown
     Bunning
     Burr
     Byrd
     Cantwell
     Cardin
     Carper
     Casey
     Chambliss
     Coburn
     Cochran
     Coleman
     Collins
     Conrad
     Corker
     Cornyn
     Craig
     Crapo
     DeMint
     Dodd
     Domenici
     Dorgan
     Durbin
     Enzi
     Feingold
     Feinstein
     Grassley
     Gregg
     Hagel
     Harkin
     Hatch
     Hutchison
     Inhofe
     Isakson
     Johnson
     Kerry
     Klobuchar
     Kohl
     Kyl
     Lautenberg
     Leahy
     Levin
     Lieberman
     Lincoln
     Lugar
     Martinez
     McConnell
     Menendez
     Murkowski
     Murray
     Nelson (FL)
     Nelson (NE)
     Pryor
     Reed
     Reid
     Roberts
     Rockefeller
     Salazar
     Sanders
     Schumer
     Sessions
     Shelby
     Smith
     Snowe
     Specter
     Stabenow
     Stevens
     Tester
     Thune
     Voinovich
     Warner
     Webb
     Whitehouse

                             NOT VOTING--17

     Biden
     Brownback
     Clinton
     Dole
     Ensign
     Graham
     Inouye
     Kennedy
     Landrieu
     McCain
     McCaskill
     Mikulski
     Obama
     Sununu
     Vitter
     Wicker
     Wyden
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. On this vote, the yeas are 83, the nays are 0. 
Three-fifths of the Senators duly chosen and sworn having voted in the 
affirmative, the motion is agreed to.
  Mr. REID. Mr. President, for the benefit of Members, cloture has been 
invoked on the motion to proceed. We are now waiting to see if we are 
going to require the use of 30 hours. We hope that is not the case. The 
two managers of the bill are ready to start legislating whenever they 
can.
  We have worked all afternoon trying to figure out a way to move 
forward on this bill, and I hope we can do that very quickly. This is 
an extremely important piece of legislation. This is the way we take 
care of our troops. There is a 3.9-percent pay increase in this bill, 
and there are a lot of other good efforts to help the Nation's 
military, so I hope we can move as quickly as possible. But we will 
wait for the Republicans to tell us if they are going to require the 
use of the 30 hours postcloture.
  There will be no more votes today, Mr. President.
  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 the order for the 
quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

                          ____________________