National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017

Floor Speech

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Mr. TURNER. Mr. Chairman, I am going to try to make some sense of this.

We just had an amendment where we were debating providing the Authorization of Use of Military Force to the President, and we wanted to make certain that the President had the authority, and this is the portion of our bill where we actually provide authority. The word ``authority'' is throughout these sections that are, by this amendment, being asked to be deleted. But as Mr. Ellison stated, we should look to the commanders on the ground. So let's look at what they have said.

General Campbell, testifying about the Haqqani network, said that it remains the most capable threat to U.S. and coalition forces.

Now, what does threat mean? It means that they are trying to kill us and our coalition forces. It is a State Department-designated terrorist organization which harbors al Qaeda and is the most lethal actor on the battlefield. These provisions that will be deleted relate to our ability to fight them.

Approximately 30 percent of district centers are under Taliban control and influence or are at such risk, says General Campbell.

Now, General Nicholson, who is currently the commander, is doing his review. That is correct. But what we are doing in these provisions is providing the status quo. We are not presuming that he is going to come back and say: Let's cut; we can go do this with less troops. We are allowing that he would have the same resources that General Campbell had so that he would have an ability to defend our troops.

Basically, if you go down to these paragraphs that are being deleted, this comes down to some fairly easy decisions:

If you believe that ISIL is not a threat to our troops, vote for this amendment.

If you believe that ISIL is not a threat to our allies in the Middle East, vote for this amendment.

If you believe that the killings that were directed and inspired by ISIL in Brussels and Paris are not a threat to our Nation or our NATO allies, vote for this amendment.

If you believe that it is okay for the Taliban to control portions of Afghan territory, even though al Qaeda planned and directed 9/11 under Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, vote for this amendment.

If you believe that the U.S. and NATO troops should be responsible for Afghan security, and not Afghan security forces, vote for this amendment.

If you believe, however, that we have a responsibility for our national security and to our troops, vote against this amendment.

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Mr. TURNER. Mr. Chairman, when we read our newspapers, we certainly know that the world is becoming a much less safe place. The conflicts around the world and the ability of our military to respond are incredibly important. But also, if you read the newspaper, you understand that our military is at a critical juncture. The effects of sequestration have significantly undermined the readiness of our military.

The argument that Mr. Ellison is making about what pot of money funds come out of is kind of irrelevant in that his amendment isn't pure and that he doesn't take all of the money out of one pot and move it into another. He only takes a portion. The President does the same thing in this shell game of where dollars come from. It is not an issue of where do dollars come from. It is an issue of, where do they go?

If you read this bill, the issue of where these go, which is what Mr. Ellison wants to stop, is moneys that go to readiness. It goes to the ability of our military to be prepared.

The Admiral Vice Chief of Staff, General Daniel Allyn, recently explained that to build readiness ``the Army has been forced to cancel or delay military construction, sustainment, restoration, and modernization across our posts, camps, and stations. Additionally, the Army reduced key installation services, individual training programs, and modernization.'' In essence, readiness.

This amendment strips away funding from critical programs that have been identified by our military services that were not fully funded by the President's budget request that go to readiness. We are currently in a readiness crisis.

Marine pilots are having to cannibalize museum parts to get their F- 18s ready to deploy. Of the Marine Corps 271 strike aircraft, only 46 can fly. Of the most severe type of aviation accidents, Marines are 84 percent above their 10-year average. The Air Force maintainers are also cannibalizing museum parts to get aircraft in the air. Of the 20 B-1 bombers, which are workhorses in Iraq and Syria, only 9 can fly due to parts and maintenance shortfalls. Pilots are getting less than half of their training required during a time when our adversaries are becoming increasingly capable and technologically advanced.

The Air Force's Vice Chief of Staff, David Goldfein, recently stated during congressional testimony that lower than planned funding levels have resulted in one of the smallest, oldest, and least ready forces across the full-spectrum of operations in our history.

Voting for this amendment supports cutting our troops' strength, cutting training and maintenance, forcing our armed services to maintain crumbling facilities, and forcing our servicemembers to continue to rely on faulty and worn out equipment.

It is not an issue of what pot this money comes out of. It is a matter of where it goes. It needs to go for our servicemembers, so vote against this amendment.

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