Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2010

Floor Speech

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2010 -- (Senate - December 18, 2009)

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Ms. KLOBUCHAR. Mr. President, I come to the floor today to voice my support for the Department of Defense appropriations bill we are currently considering and my disappointment that some of my colleagues have chosen to hold up this important legislation for reasons completely unrelated to anything to do with this bill.

We have been debating health care in this Senate for months, and in the coming days we will continue to debate health care. There are many honest disagreements about the best ways to reform our Nation's health care system. They deserve discussion.

I will say, hearing my colleague from Maine speak, that I am concerned about Medicare as well. I am concerned because Medicare is going in the red in 2017 if we don't do anything about it. I look at my mom, who is 82 years old, who wants to make sure she stays on Medicare. I look at friends who are in their fifties and who want to make sure they get Medicare when they are 65. We need to make sure we put in place those cost reforms that are going to give us the high-quality kind of care we have in Minnesota.

But what I want to talk about today is the Defense appropriations bill. Whatever disagreements we may have on health care, they have absolutely nothing to do with the Defense spending bill. Funding for our troops in Iraq, Afghanistan, and around the world, as well as for defense health and other critical programs should not be dragged into this debate. We should be able to separate the two issues and pass this Defense bill swiftly and overwhelmingly.

Senator Inouye and several of my other colleagues have already discussed the importance of this bill's funding provisions to our ongoing operations in Iraq, Afghanistan, and to our Nation's overall defense. I would like to spend a few minutes on the importance of this bill to my home State of Minnesota and where the Acting President pro tempore also resides.

There are currently over 1,300 members of the Minnesota National Guard deployed in Iraq. These deploying members are with the 34th Infantry Division, the famous Red Bulls--the longest serving unit in Iraq. They assumed command of all U.S. forces in Iraq's southern quadrant in May of this year, taking over from the New York-based 10th Mountain Division. This means these Minnesota National Guard soldiers have command responsibilities for 9 of Iraq's 18 provinces. For the last 7 months, they have overseen the continuing transfer of security responsibility to Iraqi forces, which will ultimately enable the responsible withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq. In order for these Minnesota National Guard soldiers to successfully complete their mission and return home to their families early next year, as scheduled, we need to provide them the funding included in this bill.

I know all of my colleagues share my belief that we have a responsibility to the brave men and women we send overseas to provide them with the resources they need to carry out their mission. And there is simply no reason for delay.

In addition to providing our troops with what they need when they are overseas, we also have the responsibility to take care of them when they return home.

As the Chair knows, in Minnesota, we are proud to have created the Beyond the Yellow Ribbon reintegration program. This groundbreaking initiative, pioneered by the Minnesota National Guard, helps soldiers make the transition from their life as a soldier to civilian life through counseling and other services.

Due to its overwhelming success in Minnesota, this program now serves as a model for the national Yellow Ribbon program that I have worked with my colleagues to authorize and fund in recent Defense bills. The bill on the floor right now includes funding that will continue the Minnesota Yellow Ribbon program, as well as funding for similar reintegration programs in States across the Nation.

These are soldiers who don't have a base to come home to. They come home to small towns all over the country. The idea here is to bring them in to meet with their commanders again, to see if they have a job, to see if they have the right health care, to see if they have their education benefits set. That is the idea with Beyond the Yellow Ribbon.

When the 1,300 Minnesota National Guard soldiers return home early next year, they and their families need the funding in place in this bill in order to resume civilian life. Any delay makes it harder for commanders to have the necessary resources in place.

When our brave soldiers signed up to fight for us, there wasn't a waiting line. When they come home to the United States of America, there shouldn't be a waiting line. When they need health care, when they need their education or they need a job, there shouldn't be a waiting line. When they signed up to fight, there wasn't a delay, and there shouldn't be a delay in Washington, DC, when it comes to funding for our troops.

I urge my colleagues on the other side of the aisle to support this bill and get this voted on as soon as possible--in fact, immediately.

I yield the floor.

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