National Defense Authorization Act For Fiscal Year 2010

Floor Speech

NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2010 -- (Senate - July 16, 2009)

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Mr. REED. Mr. President, I rise in support of the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2010. First I wish to speak briefly about the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act. Unfortunately, we have seen far too many cases of these types of crimes of violence motivated strictly by prejudice and hatred of people. This amendment would simply extend the current definition of Federal hate crimes to include crimes committed on the basis of someone's gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, or disability. This amendment does not federalize all violent hate crimes. Rather, it authorizes the Federal Government to step in as a backstop, only after the Justice Department certifies that a Federal prosecution is necessary. It also supports State and local efforts to prosecute hate crimes by providing Federal aid to local law enforcement officials. This amendment affirms our commitment to the most basic of American values--the dignity of the individual and the right of that individual to be himself or herself. I am pleased to lend my support. That is an issue we will confront in the context of our armed services bill, and I think we should go forward and adopt it.

I wish to commend, with respect to the specifics of the armed services bill, my colleagues on the committee for their work, and the leadership of Senators Levin and McCain. I hope this is a bill President Obama can sign. During the committee's markup, I voted against an amendment to provide funding for additional F-22s and for the Joint Strike Fighter alternate engine. I remain opposed to these programs. We should not put this bill in jeopardy of a veto, so I urge my colleagues to vote, when it comes to the floor, for the Levin-McCain amendment to strike the F-22 funding, which I hope will be considered soon.

As evidenced by the F-22 issue, this bill is the product of many tough decisions. I commend Secretary Gates particularly for his very judicious, thoughtful approach to this budget, and his uniformed colleagues. They have thought long and hard about the new world of threats. They have thought long and hard about how we can provide the most necessary resources for our men and women in uniform. They have recommended to us a very sound approach. With certain exceptions, the legislation before us recognizes and accepts those recommendations.

The new administration and President Obama have also done a remarkable job in terms of trying to change strategic direction, change acquisition policies, and to develop a fighting force that will meet the threats of today and prepare ourselves for future possibilities. This Defense authorization bill contains many aspects which are critical to the success of our men and women in uniform. Let me suggest a few.

First, it once again recognizes the extraordinary service and sacrifice of these young Americans by authorizing a much needed 3.4 percent across-the-board pay raise. The extraordinary sacrifices they make every day can never be compensated by dollars and, indeed, their motivation is not financial. It is to serve the Nation and serve it with courage and fidelity. They do it so well. I have had the privilege to travel to Afghanistan and Iraq on numerous occasions and to witness the heroic and decent service of these remarkable people. This pay raise reflects, at least in part, the value we place on their service.

The legislation fully funds Army readiness and depot maintenance programs to ensure that forces preparing to deploy are properly trained and equipped. It also authorizes $27.9 billion for the Defense Health Program and permits special compensation for designated caregivers for the time and assistance they provide to servicemembers with combat-related catastrophic injuries or illnesses requiring assistance in day living. What we are seeing is success medically on the battlefield, where the mortality rates relative to the injuries have declined, as they have since World War II. But we have a significant population of very severely wounded young men and women. They need help, and the caregivers need help. This legislation recognizes that.

The legislation fully funds the President's budget request of $7.5 billion to train and equip the Afghan National Army and the Afghan National Police forces. The bill also includes a provision that emphasizes the need to establish measures of progress for the administration's strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan and to report to Congress regularly on efforts to achieve progress in that region. I saw the merits of this approach in my recent trip with Senator Kaufman to Pakistan and Afghanistan in April. In fact, as we observe the increased tempo of operations in southern Afghanistan, led by our marines and British forces, we also recognize the need to partner with more Afghani police and security forces and military forces. Our strategy can't be just an American presence. It has to be an American-Afghani presence, which ultimately will translate to an almost exclusive, if not exclusive, Afghan presence. To do that, we have to support the building and the professionalization of Afghan security forces.

There is within this budget funding for our Navy that is absolutely critical. It includes funding to complete the third Zumwalt class destroyer. This ship is critical to maintaining the technical superiority of our Navy that it enjoys across the oceans of the world. The future maritime fleet must be adaptable, affordable, survivable, flexible, and responsive. The Zumwalt class provides all these characteristics as a multimission service combatant, tailored for land attack and littoral dominance. It will provide an independent presence, allow for precision naval gunfire support of joint forces ashore and, through its advanced sensors, ensure absolute control of the combat airspace. All of this capability is based on today's proven and demonstrated technologies. We can't build the same ships we were building 20 years ago and hope to maintain our superiority and, indeed, hedge against the emerging threats of tomorrow.

This Zumwalt technology is also the transition to the next class of surface combatants, which are likely to be a new class of cruisers. The hope is that we can leverage what we learn on Zumwalt so that the next class of surface combatants will be even more capable and, we hope, extremely cost efficient.

I also note that the underlying legislation fully funds the continued procurement of the Virginia class attack submarine. These attack submarines are on the highest level of demand by area commanders. The CINCs, when they are asked what they need in terms of resources, invariably place very close, if not on the top of their list, additional submarines because of their stealth, their ability to operate intelligence areas, and their ability to have a forward presence without being recognized. These are critical, and I am pleased by the recognition of the administration and the committee in this regard.

This year I was once again extremely fortunate and honored to serve as the chairman of the Emerging Threats and Capabilities Subcommittee. I particularly thank and commend Senator Wicker and his staff. They were true collaborators. Their cooperation was significant in terms of improving the quality of our subcommittee report. We have worked together very well. I, again, particularly commend and thank Senator Wicker for his insights, his energy, and for his great collaboration in this effort. The Emerging Threats and Capabilities Subcommittee is responsible for looking at new and emerging threats to our security and considering appropriate steps we should take to develop new capabilities to face these threats. In preparation for our markup, Senator Levin provided guidelines for the work of the committee including the following two items: Improve the ability of the Armed Forces to counter nontraditional threats, including terrorism, the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, and their means of delivery; and, second, enhance the capability of the Armed Forces to conduct counterinsurgency operations.

In response, our subcommittee recommended initiatives in a number of areas within our jurisdiction. These areas include supporting critical nonproliferation programs and other efforts to combat weapons of mass destruction; supporting advances in medical research and technology to treat such modern battlefield conditions as traumatic brain injuries and post-traumatic stress disorder; increasing investments in new energy technologies such as fuel cells, hybrid engines, and alternate fuels to increase military performance and reduce cost; increasing investments in advanced manufacturing technologies to strengthen our defense industrial base so that it can rapidly and efficiently produce the materiel needed by the Nation's warfighters; and increasing investments in research at our Nation's small businesses, government labs, and universities so that we have the most innovative minds in our country working to enhance our national security.

Specifically, some notable actions in this bill that originated in the Emerging Threats and Capabilities Subcommittee include: authorizing full funding for the Special Operations Command and adding $131.7 million to meet unfunded equipment requirements identified by the commander of our Special Forces to enable them to conduct counterinsurgency operations and to support ongoing military operations; authorizing full funding requested for the Joint IED Defeat Organization, JIEDDO. This is particularly important as we read about the increasing IED attacks against our forces in Afghanistan since our offensive began in Helmand Province weeks ago. These IEDs are the No. 1 threat to our forces in the field and our allied forces in the field. This very sophisticated organization uses the information technology, innovation, communication, and new techniques, working closely with battlefield commanders, to protect our forces and our allied forces. They have a critical role and a critical mission. We fully support both in this legislation.

We authorize the Cooperative Threat Reduction Program, providing an additional $10 million for new initiatives outside the former Soviet Union. We provide $3 million for chemical weapons demilitarization in Russia and elsewhere, and $7 million for strategic offensive arms elimination. We have to recognize that these weapons are distributed too broadly in many respects, and our efforts to restrict them and to, we hope, dismantle them have to be broad also.

We added $50 million to nonproliferation research and development for nuclear forensics and other R&D activities and required the development of an interagency forensics and nuclear attribution program. One of the hopes--and this must be based on very calculable scientific and technological research--is that if we can identify the source of a nuclear detonation positively, we would have an extraordinarily powerful deterrent card which we could use diplomatically to indicate that if any nation, particularly covertly, attempts, directly or through terrorist groups, to deploy a nuclear weapon anywhere in the world, we could trace it back and respond immediately. That could give us, again, an enhanced deterrence. This depends upon the progress we make in research, but we must begin with energy research. We have that in the legislation.

The bill also highlights the importance of a strong manufacturing industrial base. The bill would create a new position, the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Manufacturing and Industrial Base, to oversee the Department's policies and programs for our Nation's industrial base. Further, the bill increases funding for manufacturing research in DOD by roughly $100 million to support the defense industrial base and reduce the cost of production of weapons systems and our ability to meet surge requirements demands of operating forces.

This bill also reauthorizes the DOD's Small Business Innovation Research program, in coordination with the efforts of Senator MARY LANDRIEU, chairman of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship. To support investments in next-generation technologies and advanced military capabilities, this bill would increase the Department's funding for innovative science and technology programs by over $480 million for a total of $12.1 billion.

The bill authorizes the full funding that was requested for chemical and biological defense programs and the full amount requested for chemical weapons demilitarization in the United States. This funding totals over $3 billion.

With regard to counterdrug programs, the bill fully funds DOD drug interdiction and counterdrug activities. It also includes a provision that would extend the authority to use counterdrug funds to support the Government of Colombia's unified campaign against narcotics cultivation and trafficking and against terrorist organizations involved in such activities. It also recommends a $30 million increase in funding for high priority National Guard counternarcotics programs.

This issue of narcotics is particularly central to our efforts in Afghanistan. When I was there in April, we were in Helmand Province which was covered, literally, with opium poppies. The opium trade provides support for opponents of the Taliban. If we disrupt that trade and we are able to reduce the flow of resources to the Taliban but also provide legitimate family farmers with the opportunity and the profitability to grow alternate crops, then we can make a successful dent in the power and the presence of the Taliban there. These counternarcotics programs, not only in Colombia but also in Afghanistan, are absolutely important.

This is a good bill. It is, I think, wise legislation, with the exceptions I noted. Members of the committee and the committee staff have worked many hours to get this bill to the floor. We are a nation engaged in two conflicts and an ongoing struggle in many parts of the world to intercept, interdict, and preempt terrorists. We need to support our military forces, and I urge my colleagues to work together to pass it so we can quickly have a conference with the House and send it to the President for his signature.

With that, Mr. President, I yield the floor.

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