National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010

NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2010 -- (Extensions of Remarks - July 09, 2009)

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Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Mr. Chair, I rise in support of the National Defense Authorization Act of 2010. This important piece of legislation authorizes $680 billion for training, equipment, healthcare, and for important quality of life improvements for our troops and their families.

The rising cost of goods and services and rising unemployment is taking an especially serious toll on our men and women in uniform and their families. As military commanders demand more time in theater for active duty personnel and rely more on the contribution of reservists, many of whom leave higher-paying jobs to be activated, demands on the limited financial resources of military families increase. The National Defense Authorization Act of 2010 was crafted with the concerns and urgent needs of these dedicated public servants and their families in mind.

The legislation authorizes $135 billion for personnel needs and $27 billion for healthcare. It raises the basic pay of our service members at a time when a pay-raise is dearly needed and the bill helps fund re-enlistment bonuses for active-duty members and reservists. To enable service members to spend more time with their families between tours, the bill increases the maximum leave days that a service member can accumulate and carry over from one year to the next. And, to ensure that our service members have a safe and secure home to return to, the bill contains $2 billion for the construction and renovation of new and existing family military housing.

I am pleased to report to my constituents who have concerns about traffic congestion as the region prepares for the move of Walter Reed Hospital to Bethesda, that the bill instructs the Department of Defense to use all available resources to implement the Defense Access Road Program near the National Naval Medical Center.

The provisions and funds authorized by this act will help our men and women in uniform serving in the field, and help give them more peace of mind that their families back home are being cared for in their absence. I encourage my colleagues to join me in supporting the bill.

Today, there was also a vote on an amendment to this legislation offered by my colleague Massachusetts Representative JAMES MCGOVERN, which would require the Department of Defense to report an exit strategy for military forces in Afghanistan by no later than December 31st of this year. While I do not oppose the intent of my colleague's amendment, I did oppose the amendment on the grounds that President Obama has already laid out his strategy for Afghanistan in a speech delivered in March 2009. Like President Obama, I want to bring our troops home as soon as possible consistent with our national security needs.

As the President emphasized in his speech, Afghanistan is where the plot to attack the United States on September 11th, 2001 was developed and put into motion. It is of vital importance to U.S. national security that we do what is necessary to eliminate the threat posed to the American people from al Qaeda.

Madam speaker, I urge that we support the National Defense Act of 2010.

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