[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 15]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 21098]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




CONFERENCE REPORT ON H.R. 1540, NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR 
                            FISCAL YEAR 2012

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                          HON. MAZIE K. HIRONO

                               of hawaii

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, December 15, 2011

  Ms. HIRONO. Mr Speaker, I voted for the final version of the 2012 
National Defense Authorization Act because passage of this bill is 
important to the servicemen and women of our country and their 
families. The bill provides an average 1.6 percent pay increase for our 
troops and ensures that TRICARE premiums for military retirees will not 
be higher than the rate of increase in the cost-of-living.
  In addition, the bill authorizes $225 million in construction 
projects for Hawaii, including projects in Fort Shafter, Schofield 
Barracks, Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Kaneohe Bay, and Kalaeloa on 
Oahu and Barking Sands on Kauai. These projects will provide jobs and 
strengthen the economy.
  I do have reservations about the detainee provisions included in the 
bill. Although the provisions have been modified to provide protections 
for U.S. citizens, this issue deserves further consideration by the 
Congress.
  The bill does reject the broad House language on the Authorization 
for Use of Military Force (Section 1034), which many feared could be 
used by the current or a future president as an unlimited authorization 
to go to war.
  The final bill does not include provisions from the House-passed bill 
that would have discriminated against gay and lesbian service members. 
It also provides new protections for victims of sexual assault in the 
military. These are positive changes that improve the bill.
  In addition, the bill reauthorizes for six years the Small Business 
Innovation Research, SBIR, and Small Business Technology Transfer, 
STIR, programs, which I strongly support. The SBIR program provides 
grants as a way to increase participation by small companies in 
federally financed research and development activities. The related 
STTR program encourages commercial development by small companies of 
university and federal laboratory research projects.
  I introduced bills earlier this year to strengthen these programs by 
doubling the amounts of the Phase I (initial investigation phase) and 
Phase II (research and development) grants, which have been static 
since 1982. Under the reauthorization provided in this bill, the Phase 
I awards will rise from $100,000 to $150,000 and Phase II grants will 
increase from $750,000 to $1 million. The SBIR program has been 
especially important in Hawaii and has helped to nurture the growth of 
some of our most innovative companies, such as TREX Enterprises, 
Oceanit, Archionetics, and Cellular Bioenginnering, Inc., to name a 
few.

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