[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 5]
[Senate]
[Pages 6809-6810]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




  NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2017--MOTION TO 
                                PROCEED

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I move to proceed to Calendar No. 469, 
S. 2943.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the motion.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       Motion to proceed to Calendar No. 469, S. 2943, a bill to 
     authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2017 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.


                             Cloture Motion

  Mr. McCONNELL. I send a cloture motion to the desk.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The cloture motion having been presented under 
rule XXII, the Chair directs the clerk to read the motion.
  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, 
     do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the motion to 
     proceed to Calendar No. 469, S. 2943, a bill to authorize 
     appropriations for fiscal year 2017 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.
         John McCain, Thad Cochran, Lindsey Graham, Joni Ernst, 
           James M. Inhofe, Tom Cotton, Kelly Ayotte, Richard 
           Burr, Cory Gardner, Jeff Sessions, Thom Tillis, Mike 
           Rounds, Dan Sullivan, Orrin G. Hatch, Tim Scott, John 
           Cornyn, Mitch McConnell.

  Mr. McCONNELL. I ask unanimous consent that the mandatory quorum call 
be waived.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The Senator from Arizona is recognized.
  Mr. McCAIN. Mr. President, I am sure that all of our colleagues made 
note of the latest tragedy, which is most likely a terrorist attack, 
and that is the airliner that disappeared, and now they are finding 
pieces of that airliner. We don't know positively what happened, but it 
has all the earmarks of a terrorist attack.
  I know that many of my colleagues know that the Director of National 
Intelligence, General Clapper, testified before our committee and said 
that there are most likely going to be additional attacks in Europe and 
in the United States, either the type that took place in San Bernardino 
or attacks that--Mr. Baghdadi has sent his people into the refugee flow 
to commit attacks on the United States of America.
  We just finished up a couple weeks ago--a few days ago a defense 
authorization bill. That bill is a very large bill, and it contains 
reforms and changes in the way we do business. It changes a whole lot 
of things. It also takes care of the men and women who are serving in 
the military. It provides them with greater capability to fight this 
virus of radical terrorist Islam, which is threatening the United 
States of America in a way that has been unprecedented in 70 years.
  We are subject to attacks like San Bernardino, like what we just saw 
with the airliner, which is most likely--I am not positive, but it has 
all the earmarks. I have seen enough to know that this is most likely a 
terrorist attack. Meanwhile, ISIS is metastasizing Libya. It is 
committing attacks in Baghdad which are killing hundreds of people. We 
see the terrible atrocities committed by ISIS or Daesh--whichever one 
you call it--all over the world, in Africa and other parts.
  So we need this legislation. We need this legislation for the men and 
women who are serving. The former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of 
Staff, General Dempsey, said that what we are doing now puts us on the 
``ragged edge'' of being able to defend this Nation. The Commandant of 
the U.S. Marine Corps said the same thing. The Chief of Staff of the 
United States Army said: ``We are putting the men and women in the 
military at greater risk.'' Those are his exact words. ``We are putting 
the men and women in the military at greater risk.''
  So what are we doing here? We are not moving forward with the bill. 
For some reason, the majority leader is having to file cloture, and 
then we wait a number of days, and then we take up the bill, and then 
maybe we don't finish the bill while we go into recess. Don't we owe 
the men and women in the military better than that? Shouldn't we take 
up this bill and dispense with it, do a conference with the House and 
send it to the President's desk so that the President of the United 
States will sign it and the men and women in the military will be 
better equipped, better trained, better able to defend themselves and 
this Nation, or are we going to go through some kind of foolishness of 
having the majority leader having to file cloture and then we wait 48 
hours? It is being totally divorced from the reality of what is 
happening in the world. Just a few days ago, a brave young SEAL was 
killed in Syria, a young man named Keating. I happen to know his family 
very well.
  The President of the United States still will not say we are in 
combat, but the fact is, we are dramatically increasing our presence, 
both in Syria

[[Page 6810]]

and Iraq and now Libya. These men and women need equipment to fight 
with. They need to have a military that is the best we can provide them 
with. So why shouldn't we do it now? Why should we wait a couple of 
days? There is no justification for not moving to this bill right now.
  I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate 
consideration--the immediate consideration--of Calendar No. 469, S. 
2943, the National Defense Authorization Act.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  The Democratic leader.
  Mr. REID. Mr. President, reserving the right to object, as I have 
stated on the record many times, I have great admiration for the 
Senator from Arizona. We came together to the House, came together to 
the Senate. But I have to say, it is obvious my friend has a short 
memory. These bills take a long time. That is traditionally how it has 
worked around here. For weeks, we work on these bills.
  I understand the bill as reported complies with the budget agreement. 
I appreciate that. But the Senator from Arizona, I have been told, 
wants to offer an amendment to expand military spending without doing 
anything to address the middle class. The fight against terrorism, the 
fight for security in our country is more than bombs and bullets; it is 
the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security; it is what we are doing 
to fight the scourge of drugs. All of those things are important for 
the security of this Nation.
  There is nothing being done in this bill to fight ZIKA. Is that a 
security issue? Yes, it is. There is nothing being done to fight 
opioids. Is that a security issue? It sure is. During the time we have 
had this little exchange, there will be a number of people who will die 
across America as a result of the overuse of opioids. Flint, MI, has 
been going on for months. Those poor people have been ravaged with lead 
in the water.
  So I would have to say that my friend, as I have indicated, has a 
very short memory. I don't know how many times he has voted not to 
proceed to a piece of legislation. We need to address those issues that 
I have talked about.
  I think the people of Arizona, the people of this country, want us to 
do our jobs. You would think that one thing we could do is look at this 
bill. This bill is not 64 pages long, not 164 pages long; it is 1,664 
pages long. What makes it even more concerning to me and my colleagues 
is the fact that it was basically done in secret. It was a closed 
hearing.
  So for heaven's sake, let's be brought back to reality. We have been 
very clear. We think we should take care of the middle class as we take 
care of the military. We are obligated to do both. The President will 
veto any bill that violates that principle.
  So before we begin consideration of this bill, it wouldn't be bad if 
we read it. It wouldn't be bad if we had a chance to study this. It 
wouldn't be a bad idea if we had our staff give us some information on 
this bill of 1,664 pages.
  So, without any question, I object.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection is heard.
  Mr. McCAIN. Mr. President, let me just say, the bill was reported 
from the committee by a vote of 24 to 3. So what the Democratic leader 
is saying is that because we don't fund the IRS, we then should not 
proceed with defending this Nation. That is a remarkable statement.
  If the Democratic leader is interested in money for the FBI, Homeland 
Security, and others, I would be more than happy to consider that, to 
authorize some additional funding for those agencies of government that 
protect the government.
  But what my colleagues have just heard is that we will not move 
forward to provide for the well-being of the men and women who are 
serving, their ability to defend us, take them out of risk as much as 
possible by providing them what they need--which, by the way, 95 
percent is input and requests from the executive branch, the Defense 
Department. So we are not going to move forward on this because we 
don't include the other agencies of government. That is now putting our 
Nation's security and other functions of government on exactly the same 
plane and totally disregards the fact that we are being attacked. We 
are being attacked by cyber. There are plans to attack the United 
States of America. The Director of National Intelligence said there 
will be attacks on the United States of America. Where is the 
Democratic leader? What is he thinking? What could he be thinking?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The time of the Senator from Arizona has 
expired.
  Mr. McCAIN. We need to move forward with this legislation. We need to 
move forward with it now for the sake of the men and women who are 
serving and defending this Nation and putting their lives on the line. 
This is disgraceful.
  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, will the Senator yield for a question?
  Mr. McCAIN. I will be glad to.
  Mr. McCONNELL. How many Democratic Senators on the Armed Services 
Committee voted against this bill?
  Mr. McCAIN. None. I am unhappy to say that the three votes against 
happened to be on this side of the aisle.

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