National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008

Floor Speech

NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2008

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I thank the Senator from Arizona for helping us work through that.

More than 4 1/2 years into this war in Iraq, our troops are stretched thin, we all know the equipment is deteriorating, and the patience of the Nation is wearing out. We have now seen 3,700 of our servicemembers die and thousands and thousands more have been injured. Month after month, our fighting men and women are pushing harder and harder and our troops are leaving their loved ones behind for months and years and putting their lives on the line without complaint. We owe them the best treatment and the best training possible. Unfortunately, the Bush administration has continually fallen short in doing that.

Our country is home to some of the finest fighting forces in the world, and we can all be very proud of that. We need our military to remain the best trained, the best equipped, and most prepared force in the world. Tragically, however, the war in Iraq and the President's use of extended deployments are now undermining our military's readiness. The current deployment schedule hampers our ability to respond to threats around the world. We know it causes servicemembers to leave the military service early. It weakens our ability to respond to disasters at home. It unfairly burdens family members and intensifies the combat stress our servicemembers experience.

We do need to rebuild our military, and the first step is giving our fighting men and women the time they need at home to prepare and train for their next mission. So that is why I am on the floor today, to speak to the readiness challenges that threaten our military strength and ultimately our Nation's security.

Two months ago, I came to the floor and spoke those very same words in my effort to support the Webb amendment--virtually the same measure we are now, this afternoon, considering. Member after Member did the same, pleading with our colleagues to join us in this most basic effort to truly support our troops. Unfortunately, even though 56 Senators voted in favor, it was blocked by the Republican Senators. Now since that time, 2 months later, more of our troops have died, more have been wounded, and more have been subjected to 15-month deployments, without hope for the same amount of time at home. Meanwhile, the administration has told us 15-month deployments will continue, and they have maintained their plan to keep 130,000 troops in Iraq.

Today we have another chance--another chance to support our troops, to support their families, and to return some common sense to our troop rotations. We need a few more courageous Senators to join us.

Today I hope they will.

Sadly, our forces are being burned out. Many of our troops are on their third and even fourth tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. Months ago, the Department of Defense announced that tours would be extended from 12 months to 15 months. On top of all that, they are not receiving the necessary time at home before they are sent back to battle.

This is not the normal schedule. It is not what our troops signed up for. And we in Congress--those of us who represent these people--should not simply stand by and allow our troops to be pushed beyond their limits like this.

Traditionally, active-duty troops are deployed for 1 year and then they rest at home for 2 years. National Guard and Reserve troops are deployed for 1 year and they rest at home for 5 years. But that, as we know, is certainly not the case today. Currently, our active-duty troops are spending less time at home than they are in battle, and Guard and Reserve forces are receiving less than 3 years rest for every year in combat.

With the increasing number and length of deployments, this rest time is even more critical for our troops. Unfortunately, though, our forces are not receiving the break they need, and that increases the chances that they become burned out. But this administration has decided to go in the other direction, pushing our troops harder, extending their time abroad, and sending troops back time and again to the battlefield.

The current rotation policy not only burns out servicemembers, but it hurts our military's ability to respond to other potential threats.

For the first time in decades, the Army's ``ready brigade,'' that is intended to enter troubled spots within 72 hours, cannot do so; all of its troops are in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The limited time period between deployments also lessens the time to train for other threats. Numerous military leaders have spoken to us about this problem.

GEN James Conway said:

..... I think my largest concern, probably, has to do with training. When we're home for that seven, eight, or nine months, our focus is going back to Iraq. And as I mentioned in the opening statement, therefore, we're not doing amphibious training, we're not doing mountain-warfare training, we're not doing combined-armed fire maneuvers, such as would need to be the case, potentially, any other type of contingency.

Those were not my words; those were the words of GEN James Conway, who spoke before the Senate Armed Services Committee in February of this year.

GEN Barry McCaffrey said that because all ``fully combat ready'' active-duty and Reserve combat units are now deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan, ``no fully-trained national strategic Reserve brigades are now prepared to deploy to new combat operations.''

This current deployment schedule is making us less ready for other contingencies we need to be ready for. It is also making us less secure at home. The current rotation policy has left our Guard units short of manpower and supplies, and it has severely hindered their ability to respond to any kind of disaster they might face here at home.

For years, those kinds of problems were the exception, not the rule. But I fear that the balance has shifted. Recently, USA Today reported that National Guard units in 31 States say 4 years of war in Iraq and Afghanistan have left them with 60 percent or less of their authorized equipment. Last month, LTG Steven Blum said the National Guard units have 53 percent of the equipment they need to handle State emergencies, and that number falls to 49 percent once Guard equipment needed for war, such as weapons, is factored in. In fact, Blum said:

Our problem right now is that our equipment is at an all-time low.

That is deeply concerning to a lot of us who worry about national disasters in our States. Out in the West, where I live, we face forest fires; along the gulf coast, we have seen the destruction of hurricanes this season; and in the Midwest, entire towns can be decimated by tornadoes in minutes. So we are deeply concerned about our Guard and Reserve being ready for a disaster here at home.

This problem is about more than equipment. It is about retention rates. It is about real people and real families. We all know military life can be very tough on our troops and their families. They go for months, and sometimes years, without seeing each other. Our troops--these men and women--need adequate time at home to see their newborns, to be a part of their children's lives, to spend time with their husbands or wives, and to see their parents. This current rotation policy decreases the time families are together, and that places a tremendous strain on everyone. Our troops, who are facing these early deployments and extended tours today, have spoken out. When the tour extensions and early deployments were announced, our troops themselves expressed their displeasure.

In Georgia, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

Soldiers of a Georgia Army National Guard unit were hoping to return home in April, but instead they may be spending another grueling summer in the Iraqi desert. At least 4,000 National Guard soldiers may spend up to 4 extra months in Iraq as part of President Bush's troop increase announced last month.

SGT Gary Heffner, a spokesman for the 214th, said news of the extension came as a ``little bit of a shock'' to the Georgians.

In the 1st Cavalry Division, according to the Dallas Morning News:

Eighteen months after their first Iraqi rotation, the 2nd Battalion, 5th Cavalry regiment, and the last of the Fort Hood, Texas-based 1st Cavalry Division, returned to Iraq in mid-November.

These are the words of Brandon Jones, a veteran from my State of Washington. He testified before a field hearing on mental health care that I held in Tacoma last month. He said:

In November 2003, I was called to full-time duty with the 81st Brigade. I was given very short notice that my unit was being mobilized. In that time, I had to give up my civilian job--an income loss of about $1,200 a month--and my wife had to drop out of classes at Olympic College to care for our children.

I went from living at home and seeing my children on a daily basis to living on base--just a mile from home--and visiting my children periodically. To my kids, I went from being their dad to the guy who drops by the house for a visit once in a while.

The 3 months of mobilization before my deployment were very stressful. We struggled financially. Although we reached out for help, we were told that the only financial resources available were strictly for active duty soldiers at Fort Lewis. It wasn't until we were threatened with eviction and repossession of our car that my wife was able to obtain a small amount of assistance generally reserved for active duty soldiers. Our families helped us make up the rest--about 60 percent of what we were in need of.

The stress made it difficult for my wife to keep a positive attitude, for our children to feel comfortable, and for me to concentrate on the mission ahead of me. When my wife and I reached out for marriage counseling prior to my deployment, we were made to feel that the few sessions we were given were a favor to us and that we were taking up a resource meant for active duty soldiers from the base.

Let me remind you that all of this happened before I was even deployed.

As Brandon said, that was before he was even deployed. Just imagine the sacrifice these families have made when they go through these 15-month deployments. To me, it is very clear that we need to pass the Webb amendment. We hear a lot of rhetoric on the floor about supporting our troops, but I believe this amendment is the opportunity we need to end the rhetoric and start with action.

Troops should be at home for the same amount of time as they are deployed. That seems to me like a basic commonsense requirement. I applaud our colleague from Virginia for being a champion for our troops and for crafting this bipartisan measure that he and the entire Senate can be proud of.

Our troops have sacrificed a lot. They have already gone above and beyond the call of duty. We need to institute a fair policy for the health of our troops, for the health and well-being of their families, and for our Nation's security and our ability to respond to disasters here at home. This amendment does all of those things. I urge our Senators to support this amendment.

I yield the floor.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source