Tsunami Warning, Education, and Research Act of 2015

Floor Speech

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Mr. MORAN. Madam President, I come to the Senate floor to thank Chairman McCain for his efforts on the National Defense Authorization Act. Yesterday I was here talking about the Cures Act, and I know that is the business of the day, but I also want to recognize the importance of the NDAA and its assumed or hoped-for passage today or this week. I appreciate Senator McCain working with me and supporting my amendment to remove language that would allow the administration to expend taxpayer dollars on plans to close Guantanamo Bay detention facility.

As in previous years, the NDAA continues to prohibit the closure of Gitmo and the transfer of detainees to U.S. soil. Fort Leavenworth, in my home State of Kansas, has been a site under this administration's consideration. This administration and foreign countries have lost track of numerous detainees, which escalates the risk for military men and women if the detainee is returned to the battlefield. With the total reengagement rate at Gitmo detainees returning to that battlefield at more than 30 percent, this provision is a life-and-death matter.

This Defense authorization also halts troop reduction and increases end strength across our Active, National Guard, and Reserve Forces. In every Senate Appropriations Defense Subcommittee hearing this past year with Department of Defense officials, from service chiefs to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, I received answers that concluded our Armed Services would welcome more forces, not less.

I introduced the POSTURE Act, S. 2563, with my colleagues Senator Blunt and Senator Perdue, to reverse these force reductions, increase end strength in the Active Duty, National Guard and Reserve, and specifically increase levels for our ground forces in the Army and Marine Corps. I am pleased this defense legislation--the one we are considering this week--reflects the objectives of the POSTURE Act by stopping force reductions and increasing end-strength levels across the Armed Services.

There are many unknowns around the world, and to reduce the size of our defense force would be a mistake. We have been impacted already by budget decisions rather than based upon what our Armed Forces need to defend America. Readiness is paramount, and this NDAA allows for increased funding to make certain we are training, equipping, and readying our forces as challenges around the world unfold. As Chief of Staff of the Army GEN Mark Milley has repeatedly said, ``Readiness wins wars.''

The Big Red One--the Army's 1st Infantry Division located at Fort Riley in Manhattan, KS, near Junction City, KS, has deployed its headquarters to Iraq for a second time in less than 2 years. That kind of turnaround requires the highest levels of readiness.

This bill also authorizes critical military construction funding for Fort Riley, Fort Leavenworth, and McConnell Air Force Base, helping Kansas remain a stronghold for our military training and power.

As we head into the holidays, I am pleased that servicemembers and their families will receive, with the certainty of the passage of this bill, benefits which they have earned and that they deserve, which includes a 2.1-percent pay increase, which is the largest increase in 5 years.

75th Anniversary of the Attack on Pearl Harbor

As we pass this defense legislation to support our military men and women, those who serve our Nation, we must take a moment to also reflect upon the significance of this day--December 7, 1941--that horrific attack on Pearl Harbor 75 years ago. That day forever changed our Nation and our national defense. We should never forget those who perished in that attack, as they made that ultimate sacrifice: 2,008 naval men, 109 Marines, 218 Army men, and 68 civilians.

Shortly after I was elected to the U.S. Senate on December 7, 2010, I
had the distinct opportunity to present service medals to Kansans who had served and survived the attack on Pearl Harbor. It took us 69 years after they survived that attack, but I was honored to bestow U.S. Navy veterans Arthur Dunn and Paul Aschbrenner with their much deserved commendations. It was a special moment I will not forget.

Veterans Health Care and Benefits Legislation

To honor those who perished that day as well as those who survived, like Arthur and Paul, we must care for the 21.8 million veterans who live among us today and who deserve the best our Nation can offer. We have an opportunity to better care for our veterans with the passage of H.R. 6416, the Jeff Miller and Richard Blumenthal Veterans Health Care and Benefits Improvement Act of 2016, which has passed the House and is coming to the Senate.

This legislation includes 76 bipartisan provisions to improve VA health care, streamline disability compensation, and address other benefits and services that must be reformed to better serve our veterans. I thank the chairman of my committee, the Senator from Georgia, for his leadership in this regard.

I am particularly pleased that this legislation includes legislation that I, along with Senator Blumenthal, have diligently worked on for over the last several years. It is sponsored by 48 of our Senate colleagues. It is the Toxic Exposure Research Act. This legislation takes a significant step toward researching the potential health effects of toxic exposure to veterans and their descendants. To send a strong message to our veterans, we must pass this legislation.

I often meet with World War II veterans at the memorial that was built in their honor on the National Mall. The message I try to convey is one that I also shared with my dad upon my first

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visit to the memorial. I stepped away and called my dad at home in Plainville, KS, and I said: Dad, I should have said this a long time ago, but I thank you for your service, I respect you, and I love you.
That, we do again today. On this significant day in our Nation's history, with the passage of veterans legislation, with the passage of NDAA, we certainly can tell our service men and women and our veterans, those who served our country so diligently and so faithfully, that we thank you for your service, we respect you, and we love you.

Madam President, I yield the floor.

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