Water Resources Development Act of 2016
Floor Speech
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Mr. DAINES. Mr. President, while I was home last weekend, I had a chance to visit with servicemembers at Malmstrom Air Force Base in Great Falls, MT, as well as the Montana Air National Guard, also in Great Falls. Every time I visit them, I am incredibly humbled by their character, their dedication, and their determination toward their mission.
The airmen of Malmstrom bear the great weight of standing ready with the world's most powerful weapons, employing them everyday as a vital component or our Nation's nuclear deterrent force. This is where approximately one-third of our Nation's intercontinental ballistic missiles reside. I have the utmost faith in the nearly 4,000 airmen at Malmstrom who operate, maintain, and provide security for the missiles that silently sit across North Central Montana. From the airman first class raised in Butte who stands armed and ready on his first 5-day post, to the senior leadership, I know those airmen will not fail our Nation.
However, as I speak today, my friends from across the aisle are blocking funds for these troops, for our troops, and have already six times blocked consideration of the Department of Defense Appropriations Act of 2017, denying our troops the proper funding and support they deserve. So today I am standing here with some of my freshmen colleagues imploring our friends and colleagues on the other side of the aisle to stop the political gamesmanship. Let's get back to work, and let's start with funding our military.
We see ISIS expanding into places like Libya and managing to influence people and attacking Western targets in Paris, in Belgium, and even in our homeland, in San Bernardino and Orlando. We must make sure our military forces have the tools they need to perform their job and defend against 21st-century threats.
A couple of months ago, I was en route to China. On the way over, I stopped at Pearl Harbor and had a briefing from Admiral Harris, the head of Pacific Command, and heard about the threats that are faced right now in the region--in North Korea, for example.
In fact, just Friday morning I was at a 9/11 remembrance ceremony at the chapel at Malmstrom Air Force Base with the airmen there. It was a very moving ceremony as we were remembering what happened 15 years ago. We saw the videos and the images of New York and the Pentagon.
Thursday night, as I am heading back to Great Falls for the Friday morning remembrance ceremony, I am seeing tweets about a 5.0 quake that occurred in North Korea as they tested their fifth underground nuclear bomb--a bomb that is now starting to rival the size of what was dropped on Hiroshima--or whether it is spending time in Alaska on the way home and hearing about the threats of Russia and the aggression we see from the Russians.
Five weeks ago I was in Israel hearing firsthand from the Israeli leadership of the existential threat of a nuclear Iran in the future, hearing about Hezbollah and how they now have over 100,000 rockets in Lebanon pointed at Israel, funded in large part by the Iranians.
There are the Hamas terror tunnels that came out of Gaza. There is nothing more chilling than crawling in one of those tunnels. There we were in our jeans and our hiking boots. It wasn't fancy. It was just outside Gaza in an agricultural area. You could look off and see tractors tending to their fields around us. In Israel there were tunnels built by Hamas, primarily funded and sponsored by the Iranians, where they had very extensive electrical systems, HVAC systems. They found syringes there. They were planning to kidnap Israeli solders and drug them and take them back as hostages.
And then going to the Syrian border in a Jeep and standing right on the border between Israel and Syria and glassing into ISIS-controlled villages 3 miles away. Looking across the security perimeter fence and seeing a black SUV, I asked my Israeli escort there--I said: What am I looking at there?
He said: Is there a black flag coming out of the back of it?
I said: There is not.
He said: That is an Al Qaeda vehicle.
This is why we must ensure that our men and our women in uniform have the resources they need to defend our Nation.
Whether it is our Nation's peace-through-strength strategy at Montana's Malmstrom Air Force Base or our Army and Air National Guard members who work to support our communities in times of emergency and respond to deployments overseas, Montana is playing a critical role in meeting our Nation's security and military needs.
At Malmstrom, the commander's coin that I was given a couple of years ago says this: ``Scaring the hell out of America's enemies since 1962.'' They do so because this body--the Senate, the Congress--chose duty over politics.
We must stand with our nearly 2 million members of the U.S. military who fight threats every day. That is why we are down on the floor today fighting on behalf of them. We must stand up for those who stand up for the rights and freedoms we enjoy, and we must make sure we are ready for the 21st-century threat.
I am very pleased to have one of my colleagues, Senator Rounds from South Dakota, here. Senator Rounds was the Governor of South Dakota before he was elected to the Senate, another freshman I have the privilege of serving with. Of course, he has Ellsworth Air Force Base there, the home of the B-1 Lancer. I am grateful that Senator Rounds has come down to the floor today--another freshman Senator--to discuss these very important issues.
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Mr. DAINES. I thank Senator Rounds for those thoughts. As a member of the Appropriations Committee myself, I am again struck by thinking that the Defense appropriations bill passed out of our committee by a vote of 30 to 0. Yet trying to bring it to the floor of the Senate just to debate on it, just to begin--let's bring it down and start having a discussion on this bill that we have stopped six times in a strictly partisan vote.
I am pleased to have another freshman Senator join us today, Mrs. Capito of West Virginia. Senator Capito is also a member of the Appropriations Committee. I am grateful Senator Capito is here as well. I know she has the McLaughlin Air National Guard Base, the airlift wing, in her State and is proud to represent the men and women who serve in the Guard in West Virginia.
I thank Senator Capito for sharing her thoughts today.
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Mr. DAINES. Senator Capito has made a very good point. After she spent 14 years in the House, this is the easy bill to pass. Funding our military, funding the men and women who wear the uniform of the United States--that is the easy bill.
In the Senate Appropriations Committee, there are 16 Republicans and 14 Democrats. As Senator Capito pointed out--another appropriator--it passed 30 to 0 out of the Senate committee on May 26, but we haven't had a response from the other side as to what has changed since May 26 when we passed it 30 to 0.
I thank Senator Capito for her thoughts.
I now welcome Senator Sullivan, another freshman Senator from Alaska. I wish to say something special about Senator Sullivan, U.S. lieutenant colonel, Marine Corps Reserve. We are grateful for his service to our Nation as a marine.
I am the son of a marine. I am standing next to a marine on the floor. Senator Sullivan, thank you.
By the way, Senator Capito and I both had a chance to visit Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson twice in the first 6 months of this year, various visits. It is an impressive operation. I am very proud, as I know you are, of those men and women who wear the uniform.
Senator Sullivan.
(Mr. GARDNER assumed the Chair.)
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Mr. DAINES. U.S. Marine Corps Lieutenant Colonel Sullivan, I thank you, and I appreciate those comments.
When Senator Sullivan talks about our colleagues saying no, what they are saying no to is over 1.2 million Active-Duty military and over 800,000 Reserve military. They are saying no to almost 10,000 troops engaged in combat in Afghanistan and the additional military in harm's way in places like Iraq, Syria, and other places around the globe.
We have been hearing from freshmen Senators from the Republican Party here today in this colloquy. We have another freshman from Oklahoma. I am very honored and grateful to serve with Senator Lankford from Oklahoma, the home of Tinker Air Force Base.
Senator Lankford, I thank you for sharing your thoughts today.
(Mr. SULLIVAN assumed the Chair.)
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Mr. DAINES. I thank Senator Lankford for his thoughts. As freshmen who are new to the Senate, we are scratching our heads, like the American people are, as this institution--our friends across the aisle are holding up funding our troops. At the same time, as Senator Lankford mentioned, the President is shipping $1.7 billion of foreign currency--because he can't do it in U.S. currency without breaking the law--to the Iranians.
I am glad to be joined now by Senator Gardner of Colorado. He is a dear friend, a great colleague, and a member of the Foreign Relations Committee as well. I thank him for joining us on this important topic.
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Mr. DAINES. I thank Senator Gardner. I know he is very proud as he is standing here representing the Air Force Academy--what an incredible institution--Cheyenne Mountain, NORAD. I thank him for coming down to the floor and making their voices heard here, speaking on behalf of them on the floor of the U.S. Senate.
To wrap up, we have had six of the new Republican freshmen speaking today in this colloquy. These are fresh eyes and fresh voices, looking at what is going on in Washington, DC, and saying: It is broken.
It is very simple: We must make sure our military forces have the tools they need to perform their job because I can tell you one thing-- our enemies are not waiting around for Senate Democrats to fund our military to make it a fair fight.
Maybe we should do this: Maybe we should stop funding Congress until we fund the military. I wonder if that would wake this institution. Why don't we put congressional pay in limbo? Why don't we see somebody filibuster congressional pay? I think we should. We should forfeit our paychecks until we fund the U.S. military.
The bottom line is, the world is a dangerous place. The defense of our country relies on properly and promptly funding the Department of Defense.
How can this institution--how can our friends across the aisle-- continue to stand here and say no to our U.S. military when so much is at stake? The U.S. House has passed this bipartisan bill; the Appropriations Committee of the U.S. Senate passed it 30 to 0--16 Republicans joining 14 Democrats on a 30-to-0 vote on the Defense appropriations.
We must say yes to our military who fight for us every day, who stand up, protect our rights and our freedoms that we enjoy every day.
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