Water Resources Development Act of 2016
Floor Speech
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Mr. DAINES. Mr. President, just yesterday I joined a colloquy with my freshmen Republican Members on the importance of our national security, the importance of our troops, the importance of the threats that are currently facing our Nation. I was honored to be on the floor with my fellow freshmen Members, including Senators Rounds, Capito, Sullivan, Lankford, and Gardner. Today, Senators Ernst and Perdue will also join us.
I wish to take this opportunity to talk about the Republican freshmen class and describe who we are. We were all elected just about 2 years ago, in the fall of 2014. While each one does much more than these brief descriptions, I thought it might be important to share this: Senator Joni Ernst from Iowa is a retired lieutenant colonel in the Army National Guard, where Iowa, of course, is home to Camp Dodge National Guard Base. Senator Ernst was the first woman to serve in the U.S. Senate as well as see combat. Senator Dan Sullivan of Alaska, lieutenant colonel, U.S. Marine Corps Reserve. Senator Sullivan is a marine. My dad is also a marine. Of course, Alaska is home to Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson.
Senator Mike Rounds, the former Governor of South Dakota. He is a great businessman, and he resides in South Dakota, which is also the home of Ellsworth Air Force Base.
Senator Cory Gardner of Colorado serves on the Foreign Relations Committee. I served with Cory in the U.S. House. Of course, Colorado is proudly home to the U.S. Air Force Academy as well as NORTHCOM and NORAD.
Senator David Perdue of Georgia. Senator Perdue has over 40 years of business experience, including being a CEO. Of course, Georgia is home to many military operations but is the home of Fort Benning as well.
Senator Shelley Capito of West Virginia, the first woman ever elected to the U.S. Senate from West Virginia. I also served with Shelley in the U.S. House. West Virginia is proudly the home of McLaughlin Air National Guard Base.
Then, Senator James Lankford of Oklahoma. Again, I served with James in the House. Oklahoma is the home of Tinker Air Force Base and many others. Senator Lankford is on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, as well as serving on the Appropriations Committee with me, and we will talk more about that in a moment.
We are all new to the Senate, and I can tell you we are scratching our heads trying to understand why this institution is not funding the Department of Defense. Here are the facts: The Department of Defense appropriations passed the U.S. House of Representatives in June on a bipartisan vote of 282 to 138. Forty-eight Democrats were part of that vote in the affirmative. I sit on the Appropriations Committee of the U.S. Senate. We passed the Defense appropriations bill out of the Appropriations Committee on May 26. There are 16 Republicans and 14 Democrats on that committee, for a total of 30, and it passed 30 to 0. It was a shutout. Not one member on either side of the aisle opposed funding the Defense appropriations bill.
I ask my colleagues, what has changed? The other side has filibustered our troops a total of six times in the last year and a half.
Senator Capito raised a very good and simple question yesterday: Why? This past Friday, I visited Malmstrom Air Force Base in Great Falls, MT, home of 4,000 airmen in my home State, and I thought the same thing. Here we are having a 9/11 remembrance ceremony there in the beautiful chapel on Malmstrom Air Force Base. Here we are in the middle of Malmstrom Air Force Base that protects us and has responsibilities for 147 intercontinental ballistic missiles. Why can't my colleagues on the other side of the aisle vote to support the troops who keep us safe?
I can tell my colleagues one thing for certain. The world is a very dangerous place, and the defense of our country relies on properly and promptly funding the Department of Defense. Usually, the Defense appropriations is one of the easiest appropriations to get passed. It is the layup, if you will, that this body can do. I can tell my colleagues one thing. Our enemies aren't waiting around for Democrats to drop their political games. Why can't they support a bill that was voted out of committee unanimously on a bipartisan basis? Why can't they work with us to pass this very important bill that would provide the necessary funding for our military? What has changed?
I think I might have figured it out, and it is not a good answer. It is about political credit. The other side does not want to fund our military because they don't want the Republicans to take credit for funding our troops. That can't be, can it? I hope this body, the U.S. Senate--the great deliberative body of Congress--has not become a place where we hold up a noncontroversial bill that funds our troops because one side is playing politics.
I am very honored to have Senator Joni Ernst of Iowa join me. Senator Ernst is a great American. Senator Ernst is an officer, retired from the U.S. military; the first woman who has served in both the U.S. Senate and has been in combat.
It is an honor to stand with Senator Ernst on behalf of our troops, and I am looking forward to her comments.
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Mr. DAINES. I say thank you to Senator Ernst. As I listened to Senator Ernst, I was struck by the fact that here to my right I have Lieutenant Colonel Ernst, who proudly served in the Iowa Army National Guard, and to my left I have Lieutenant Colonel Dan Sullivan, U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, the Senator from Alaska.
So it is really an honor to be here between veterans who are speaking on behalf of our veterans about what is going on here in Washington and how broken it is. It is my honor now to introduce Senator Mike Rounds. Mike was the Governor of South Dakota. So he had the Guard reporting to him as the Governor. Montana and South Dakota share a fence line, as we say, Senator Rounds. So my good friend and my neighbor from South Dakota, Senator Rounds, thanks for joining us.
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Mr. DAINES. I say to Senator Rounds, thank you.
We have heard from a lieutenant colonel, Senator Ernst. We have heard from a former Governor, Senator Rounds.
I say to Senator Rounds, I could see the passion. This is not just in our head, it is in our heart. You looked in the eyes of the troops. You have wished them the very best as they deployed--going into harm's way to protect our freedoms in this country--as the Governor of South Dakota. I am honored to stand here today with you and to push this institution to fulfill its duty on behalf of our men and women who serve in the Armed Forces and are performing their duty.
Speaking of executive leadership, I am honored now to ask Senator Perdue of Georgia to share his thoughts on this. Senator Perdue served 40 years in the private sector, rising to the highest level in the corporate world, to CEO. He brings that business experience, that focus on results, that accountability that Washington, DC, so desperately needs.
Senator Perdue has the Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay, one of the two submarine bases that support the sea leg of our nuclear triad. In Montana, we have the ICBMs, the land leg. Senator Perdue has the sea leg, one of the three legs of that very important deterrent that we have, a nuclear deterrent.
I say to Senator Perdue, thank you for joining us today.
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Mr. DAINES. I say to Senator Perdue, thank you. Your clear eyes in bringing that clear-headed perspective and 40 years of experience in the private sector are so badly needed here. I am grateful for your love for our country and your experience here and fighting on behalf of our veterans in Washington, DC.
The Senator mentioned that the world is more dangerous than it has ever been before. I was flying back home to Montana late Thursday night, flying Delta Air Lines through Minneapolis back to Great Falls, MT, to be at Malmstrom Air Force Base, with the airmen there, on Friday. We often have Wi-Fi on planes today. I was watching my Twitter feed, and I saw the reports of the 5.0 quake that was reported in North Korea because they had conducted their fifth test--their most powerful test yet of an atomic bomb.
Six weeks ago I was in Israel. We talked about Iran, spoke about nuclear threats and existential threats to the world. We spoke to the Israeli leadership, to Prime Minister Netanyahu and the Israeli intelligence, about the threat from Iran. We crawled in the terror tunnels that came out of Gaza that Hamas had built--Hamas largely funded by Iran. We stood on the northern border of Israel staring into Lebanon at 100,000-plus rockets from Hezbollah pointed at Israel today that are primarily funded by Iran.
I agree with Senator Perdue--the world is more dangerous today than it was on September 11, 2001, when you look at the threats and, as he pointed out, the cyber threats as well.
I am very privileged and honored to stand with Senator Dan Sullivan of Alaska. My father is a marine. He served with the 58th Rifle Company out of Billings, MT. To have a lieutenant colonel of the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, Lieutenant Colonel Sullivan--Senator Sullivan, it is an honor to have you with us here today. Thank you for sharing your thoughts.
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Mr. DAINES. I thank Senator Sullivan. I am not sure whether to call him Senator Sullivan or United States Marine Corps Lieutenant Colonel Sullivan, but his humility as a soldier, as someone who served in the United States Marine Corps leads me to brag about him. He is bringing the voice of the troops, as he is one--a reservist--to the floor of the Senate. He is a voice for those whose voices are not being heard right now. We are making that clear today, and I thank him again for bringing that voice to the floor.
I also think about Senator Sullivan when he talks about Russia. It is one thing being a Montanan and speaking about Russia, but when you are an Alaskan speaking about Russia--well, Alaska is on the doorstep of a resurgent Russia. I know this threat is particularly meaningful to him as an Alaskan, and he is proud of the men and women from Alaska who serve regarding that threat.
I am now looking forward to hearing from Senator Gardner. I think we are going to have Senator Sullivan preside over the Senate so Senator Gardner can come and share his thoughts.
Senator Gardner is a dear friend. He also resides in a Rocky Mountain State. He is from Colorado, and I am from Montana. We share a love of the West and our beautiful States. I have been so impressed with Senator Gardner's leadership as a freshman here in Washington, DC. We served together in the House, and then we came to the Senate. Senator Gardner has been a leader on the threat of North Korea and helped to pass a bill with strong bipartisan support as a member of the Foreign Relations Committee.
I am grateful for his leadership and what he is doing for our country in coming to the floor today and speaking on behalf of our troops. I thank him.
(Mr. SULLIVAN assumed the Chair.)
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Mr. DAINES. I thank Senator Gardner for those great thoughts.
This struck me: What if the Members of Congress were dependent upon the members of the U.S. military to vote on whether we got our paychecks or not? Maybe we ought to turn around the tables. Maybe we should halt paying this body until our troops get the assurance that they are going to get paid. Let's put the accountability right back on this institution.
I thank the Senator for standing up on behalf of the men and women who wear the uniform of the United States of America military.
I spent 28 years in business before I came to Capitol Hill. I spent one term in the House, and now this is my first term in the Senate. When I came here with my freshman class in January 2015, we came in here with our loved ones. Our friends and family were up in the Gallery, near where we stand here and sit here today. About 30 feet from where I am standing right here, we all stood on that step, and the Vice President, right there, administered an oath to us. We raised our right hand and took the oath. In that oath that I was honored to give that day after I was elected by the people of Montana, I swore and said: ``I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter: So help me God.''
What has happened? We all took that same oath. It is time we started acting like it.
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