Currency Exchange Rate Oversight Reform Act of 2011

Floor Speech

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

Mr. President, I rise today to address the majority leader's refusal to bring the Defense authorization bill to the floor. On Monday, the Majority leader came to the floor and acknowledged the importance of bringing the Defense authorization bill forward. He said, ``It is vital that we get to this bill and pass it.''

I could not agree more. That is why it is nothing short of outrageous that the majority leader is blocking this important bill from being debated and passed by the Senate based on misguided objections that the administration has raised to a bipartisan provision in the Defense authorization bill which addresses how we detain and treat terrorists who are captured under the law of war.

The American people and our military men and women deserve better. The 2012 National Defense Authorization Act addresses many essential issues for our warfighters. I want to mention just a few of the important measures that the majority leader is blocking from consideration by failing to bring this bill to the floor. The bill ensures that our warfighters have the weapons they need to win the fight, ranging from small arms and ammunition to tactical vehicles to satellites. Some examples include advanced helicopters and reconnaissance aircraft, as well as combat loss replacement. It helps ensure that our soldiers and their families have quality housing. The authorization gives our wounded warriors better access to educational opportunities.

The bill enhances the deployment cycle support system and reintegration for our National Guard and Reserve given how much they have done in sacrificing with the multiple deployments they have endured. It strengthens oversight of our taxpayer dollars that are being used for reconstruction projects in Afghanistan, and it ensures that our money does not continue to be funneled to our enemies.

What is so disappointing is that the majority leader is willing to prevent passage of the Defense authorization bill, which addresses these essential needs I have talked about for our warfighters and our soldiers, because the Obama administration does not like one provision of the bill, the detainee provision of the bill that was passed overwhelmingly by Senators from both parties who serve on the Armed Services Committee.

If the majority leader insists on preventing the Defense authorization bill
from coming to the floor this year, 2011 would be the first year since 1960 in which the Congress has not passed the Defense Authorization Act. In over 50 years, this would be the first time this bill has not been passed by this esteemed body.

Let me say that again. Here is where we are: in the midst of two wars, with our brave sons and daughters, husbands and wives fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan--and I am the wife of a combat veteran who served in Iraq--with our country facing a very serious threat from radical Islamist terrorists, this would be the first time in a half century in which we have not passed the National Defense Authorization Act.

It would be shameful to not bring forward the Defense authorization bill to the floor and to pass it, after robust debate, where Senators from both parties can amend it, we can talk about it, and we can let the American people know what is in this bill.

I met recently with the sergeant major of the Marine Corps. Sergeant Major Barrett shared with me the stories of several marines serving our country. I cannot discuss all of them, but I want to give a few examples. One is Sergeant Ramirez, a squad leader assigned to the 1st Battalion 5th Marines in Helmand Province in Afghanistan.

Sergeant Ramirez has a hook as a left hand. In February of 2006 Sergeant Ramirez lost his hand when he was wounded in action while serving in Iraq with the 3rd Battalion 5th Marines. Now he is leading patrols in Afghanistan. He wanted to go back and serve our country. Talk about bravery. Talk about courage.

There is also Sergeant Gill at Quantico and Corporal Pacheco at Camp Pendleton and thousands of other soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines who after being injured on the battlefield have continued to serve their country. They are doing their jobs with skill and courage in this 10th year that our country is at war. I just wish we would show half, even a quarter of the courage of our military men and women in taking up the important issues that need to be addressed to protect our country, and many of them are addressed in this Defense Authorization Act.

That is why I am on the floor today. I think it is so important this bill be brought forward and we have a debate over it; that we are allowed to amend it and allowed to pass it to make sure our military men and women know we are fully behind them.

I know the majority leader has said if we just drop the detainee provision in the bill that he would bring forward the Defense authorization bill. But this is not how this body is designed to operate. If Senator Reid and the administration do not like the detainee provision in the bill, Senator Reid should move to amend it or vote against the bill rather than prevent the entire Defense authorization from being considered. That is how the Senate is supposed to operate.

Of course, the irony is that in a place where we rarely agree on anything, the detainee provision that is holding up this bill the administration has objected to actually received overwhelming support in the Armed Services Committee--25 out of 26 members of the Armed Services Committee voted for this detainee compromise. That rarely happens around here. I think it shows this was a thoughtful compromise and that members of both sides of the aisle worked hard to address this important issue.

This compromise was actually a compromise put together by Chairman Levin of the committee, ranking member John McCain of the committee, and Senator Lindsey Graham, who also has substantial experience in the Guard as a Judge Advocate General attorney.

The overall Defense Authorization Act passed out of the

Armed Services Committee 26 to 0. How often does that happen around here, that every single member of the Armed Services Committee from both sides of the aisle, Republicans and Democrats, and Senator Lieberman an Independent, that we all voted to pass this bill? Yet this bill that is so important to our national security and to our warfighters is being held up right now from being considered and brought to the floor.

In this era of partisanship, the American people want us to work together, and that is what we did. As a result, not a single member, as I mentioned, voted against the final bill. That is not to suggest that every member of the Armed Services Committee got what they wanted in that compromise. I was someone who fought hard in the committee for the compromise to be tougher on terrorists.

But I respect that we came together as colleagues to come to this compromise and to move forward on the Defense Authorization Act so it could be brought for full consideration for every Member of the Senate. If the majority leader were to bring this compromise to the Senate according to normal and well-understood procedures, every Member of this Senate, including the majority leader and myself, would have the opportunity to debate it, to amend it, and to vote on the Defense authorization bill, including the detainee compromise I just referenced.

I may be new around here, but I must ask: Why isn't the majority leader bringing this forward? I know he is clearly doing the administration's bidding on these detainee issues. But why would he prevent the American people from hearing this important debate? Why would giving terrorists greater rights to our civilian detention and court system, which seems to be the administration's position, be more important than ensuring that our warfighters have the right weapons and equipment, or ensuring that our wounded warriors get better access to educational opportunities, and all of the other important issues that are addressed in the Defense authorization bill related to both our national security and to our warfighters?

I believe those issues deserve to be addressed by debating and passing this bill. I also believe the American people deserve to know all of the facts about where we are with respect to our detention policy with terrorists.

I have to tell you, as a new member of the Armed Services Committee during the last 8 months and having our military leaders come before that committee, when I have asked them about our detention policy and how we are treating terrorists we have captured, how we are gathering intelligence from them, what we are doing to protect the American people, I have been shocked to learn that 27 percent of the terrorists we have released from the Guantanamo Bay detention facility have actually returned to the battle or we suspect have returned to the battle to harm us and our allies.

Too many former Guantanamo Bay detainees are now actively engaged in terrorist activities and are trying to kill Americans. Former Guantanamo detainees are conducting suicide bombings, recruiting radicals, and training them to kill Americans and our allies. Said al-Shihri and Abdul Zakir represent two examples of former Guantanamo detainees who have returned to the fight and have assumed leadership positions in terrorist organizations that are dedicated to killing Americans and our allies.

Said al Shihri has worked as the No. 2 in al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula. Abdul Zakir now serves as a top Taliban military commander and a senior leader in the Taliban Quetta Shura.

Can you imagine having to tell a mom or a dad that their son or daughter was killed in Afghanistan by a terrorist whom we released from Guantanamo Bay?

Given the facts, I understand why the majority leader and the Obama administration don't want to talk about our detention policy, but as John Adams said, facts are stubborn things. The American people deserve to hear this debate and to have us address this issue through the Defense Authorization Act.

Under our Constitution, we have a fundamental duty to protect the American people and to provide for our warfighters.

We owe it to our military men and women to take up the Defense Authorization Act right now. Majority Leader Reid, as the leader of this esteemed body, should allow that to happen so we can fulfill our responsibility to the American people.

Let me conclude by urging the majority leader to bring the defense authorization bill forward for debate, for amendment, and for passage. In the midst of two wars, it is time Congress does its job and provides for our warfighters and their needs.

Sergeant Ramirez, Sergeant Gill and Corporal Pacheco and the thousands of
other soldiers, marines, sailors, and airmen of our All-Volunteer Force deserve no less.

I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum.

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