Department of Defense, Military Construction and Veterans Affairs, and Full-Year Continuing Appropriations Act, 2013

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

MS. AYOTTE. Madam President, I come to the floor to speak about an amendment I made to the continuing resolution. This is a continuing resolution for appropriations bills which are pending on the floor right now, and we are spending over $1 trillion.

I filed an amendment, amendment No. 127, which would have struck the funding of $380 million for a missile to nowhere. This is funding for a program called the Medium Extended Air Defense System, otherwise known as MEADS. Up to this time, we have expended $3 billion for this system. Yet we will never receive a result our Army or our military can use. This is why it is a missile to nowhere.

The chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Senator Carl Levin, has said of the funding for this MEADS program: With regard to the committee, we feel strongly that it is a waste of money.

In the 2012 Defense authorization, the Senate Armed Services Committee made very clear this was going to be the last appropriation for this missile to nowhere. In the 2013 authorization, on a unanimous bipartisan basis before the Senate Armed Services Committee, the committee voted to say no more money for a missile to nowhere.

Right now, our military is facing great challenges with sequestration. We have heard this from our military leaders. These are difficult choices they must make to cut training for our troops and cut needed flying hours when our troops absolutely need to be prepared and ready. For equipment, an announcement was made we were going to withdraw a carrier, which sends the wrong message to Iran.

Despite all this, the continuing resolution, which is on the floor with the appropriations bill attached, contains $380 million for a missile to nowhere. This is something our military will never be able to use.

And why is it there? It is there because people are worried about their parochial interests, that their State builds part of this, and also because, apparently, they want to provide employment to the Germans and the Italians, because they are getting a substantial amount of this money. Yet we will never see anything our troops can use from it.

My amendment was very straightforward. The amendment would do this: It would take the $380 million and strike it from the MEADS Program, then take those resources and, instead of spending the $380 million on the MEADS Program, it would go to the operations and maintenance fund for our troops for real needs they have on the ground--whether it is equipment or training--rather than for a missile to nowhere that they do not need and don't want.

It seems to me we owe it to our troops to make sure our taxpayer dollars don't continue to be wasted on funding a MEADS Program we will never get a result from. In fact, we have had large unanimous agreement on a bipartisan basis about striking this MEADS Program. In fact, I mentioned the Senate Armed Services Committee has said we should prohibit funding for it. The House Armed Services Committee did the same thing and said we should prohibit funding for it, and the House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee zeroed out funding for MEADS. The only committee that allocated funding for it was the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee. Talk about a waste of money.

It is shocking to me, by the way, that this amendment makes so much sense, that it has bipartisan support, and yet I can't get a vote on the floor of the Senate to strike the money for this missile to nowhere and to apply the funds to where our troops need them so the funds can actually be used to make sure they have what they need to be prepared. It is appalling that I am being denied the right to offer this amendment, to bring it to the floor, to let people vote on it. At a time when we face great fiscal challenges, it is absolutely appalling to me that here in the Senate we can't strike $380 million in funding for a missile to nowhere when we are almost $17 trillion in debt. This is what is wrong with Washington. It is appalling we cannot be in a position to get a vote that is germane to fund a program that the Concerned Veterans for America has said is wasteful, in support of my amendment; that the Citizens Against Government Waste agrees as well and supports my amendment; and that I have bipartisan support for my amendment. In fact, Senators Begich and Shaheen are cosponsors of my amendment. So this is not a partisan issue, this is about not wasting taxpayer dollars. I can tell you this sort of thing is what is appalling to the American people, that we cannot and we will not strike wasteful spending. We can't even get a vote on it here in the Senate.

I am going to continue to fight to end the funding for this program and other wasteful spending programs and to make sure the money we have and the taxpayer dollars, particularly in the Pentagon but in every area of government, go for what they are intended--for things our troops need, and not a missile to nowhere where we are protecting, apparently, parochial interests that people are worried about more than they are worried about the overall fiscal state of the country.

This is something that has been very disappointing to me. I think it is appalling we wouldn't allow a vote on such a relevant, germane amendment on a bill in which we are going to spend over $1 trillion. I don't know why we continue to fund things such as the missile to nowhere when there are real needs our troops have. I know this amendment had bipartisan support in the past. Both sides of the aisle do not want to spend money on a missile to nowhere when there are real needs our troops have.

I appreciate the opportunity to speak on this issue on the floor today.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Ms. AYOTTE. Madam President, in a minute I am going to call up an amendment that I was speaking about on the floor of the Senate over the last few days. Essentially, this is an amendment that is pending to the bill--the continuing resolution and appropriations bills--that would strike $380 million of spending for the MEADS program. It is essentially a missile to nowhere that our troops will never be able to use in theater. We want to transfer that money to the operations and maintenance funding for the troops so we can make sure there are resources they can use to, obviously, make sure they have what they need for the very best equipment and training--particularly in light of sequestration and what we are facing. I know there is an agreement that is being worked out, and I hope my amendment is included in that agreement.

At this time I ask unanimous consent to set aside the pending amendment so I may call up my amendment, amendment No. 127.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source