National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017

Floor Speech

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Mr. PETERS. Mr. Chairman, I oppose this amendment.

In January of this year, the Pentagon issued a directive saying: ``The Department of Defense must be able to adapt current and future operations to address the impacts of climate change in order to maintain an effective and efficient U.S. military.''

This followed a DOD report to Congress released last July that said: ``Climate change is an urgent and growing threat to our national security, contributing to increased natural disasters, refugee flows, and conflicts over basic resources such as food and water . . . and the scope, scale, and intensity of these impacts are projected to increase.''

From 2006 to 2010, Syria experienced overwhelming refugee flows that DOD characterized as a climate-related security risk creating negative effects on human security and requiring DOD involvement and resources.

In 2014, the Pentagon reported that the impacts of climate change may increase the frequency, scale, and complexity of future missions, while at the same time undermining the capacity of our domestic installation to support training activities.

The readiness of our military depends on being able to train and equip the most advanced force in the world, but the threat of rising sea levels from escalating temperatures and melting icecaps could put dozens of military installations at risk.

San Diego is home to the largest concentration of military forces in the world. With seven military installations in my district alone, rising sea levels, drought, and finding reliable energy sources all pose challenges. San Diego military installations are investing in energy security and increasing water and energy efficiency. We should not undermine those efforts.

This amendment is an attempt by top politicians to prevent the Department of Defense, which is tasked with maintaining a strong military, keeping all Americans safe, and protecting our global interests from addressing what they call an urgent and growing threat to our own national security. But national defense is not about politics or ideology. It is about security, readiness, and continuing to field the most dynamic and effective military in the world. We cannot have that if we ignore science and the concerns of the brightest military minds in the United States of America.

I oppose this reckless amendment, and I urge my colleagues to do the same.

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Mr. PETERS. Mr. Chairman, I rise to support two amendments that we have in the en bloc, the first on veteran hiring, a sense of Congress amendment.

I rise to support a simple, but important effort that everyone in this Chamber can agree on. My amendment adds to this bill a sense of Congress that the Department of Defense should seek ways to maximize the number of veterans employed to build military construction projects.

We are talking about good jobs here that can help our veterans make the transition to civilian life. In places like San Diego, we have already had a number of contractors employing highly skilled veterans to do this work.

Many Members of this Chamber, on both sides of the aisle, champion the cause of hiring veterans. It is a policy we have incentivized the private sector to implement.

I hope Members will support this amendment and join in showing that our military readiness can be built by those who know personally how important that readiness is when fighting for our freedom.

I also want to speak on integrated missile defense. Mr. Chairman, Iran is a chief sponsor of international terrorism, and regularly threatens to obliterate Israel, our most important ally in the region.

Those who supported agreement last year to keep Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon understood that the JCPOA does not eliminate all of Iran's threats to the United States and our partners in the Middle East.

My amendment would take further steps to support our allies in the region and crack down on Iranian aggression.

By vocalizing our support for working with Israel, the Gulf Cooperation Council, Jordan, and Egypt, to build an integrated missile defense system, we can build off of the successes of Israel's existing missile defense network.

I support the funding authorizations included in this year's defense budget that will continue to support Israel's missile defense program. Through a smart, targeted approach with our partners, we can continue to counter Iranian aggression and promote security.

I urge my colleagues to support this amendment.

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