National Defense Authorization Act For Fiscal Year 2014 -- Continued

Floor Speech

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Mr. President, I support the compromise National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2014 (NDAA). Though this bill has shortcomings, it will be good for our country and for Connecticut, and it will allow us to keep faith with the brave men and women who serve and sacrifice each day in our military.

As a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, I have the privilege and the important responsibility to honor our men and women in uniform by providing for them while they are training, when they are deployed, and if they are wounded. I voted for the NDAA in committee this year, and I will vote for it on the Senate floor because I know that it will support our servicemembers throughout their time in uniform and beyond. This bill funds the training and equipment our troops need to go into battle. It funds the critical weapons systems that they need to protect our Nation. And it provides for them after they return home--albeit less robustly than it should--through medical care and opportunities to build skill sets for civilian careers.

This bill is good for Connecticut as it supports both our Connecticut National Guard and Reserve and our State's hard-working defense manufacturers. Specifically, it funds two submarines a year. The NDAA maintains robust funding for the Ohio Replacement Program, the Virginia Class Submarine, the Heavy Lift Replacement Helicopter Program, and the Joint Strike Fighter. It funds advanced procurement for the Army's UH-60 Blackhawk M Model that will be used by the Connecticut National Guard, and it rightly does not authorize a costly and unnecessary round of base realignments and closures.

The NDAA will strengthen our commitment to eliminating the scourge of sexual assault from our military. It includes provisions from my bill to provide victims of an offense under the Uniform Code of Military Justice with the same rights to counsel and other protection afforded victims in civilian courts. It rightly eliminates the ability of a commander to dismiss a court martial or reduce a sentence, and it establishes minimum sentencing guidelines in cases of sexual assault. The bill also strengthens rights for victims of sexual assault at pretrial article 32 proceedings and ensures that they will have counsel present when interviewed.

I have been very concerned with properly providing for those wounded warriors who suffer the so-called signature wounds of these recent wars: post-traumatic stress and traumatic brain injury. Just this year, I was saddened by the loss of Connecticut veterans who fought long battles with these illnesses. Though I believe that more efforts are needed, the NDAA will help to provide improved outreach on suicide prevention to Reservists in Connecticut and across the country to hopefully reach additional wounded warriors in need of help.

I have also been very concerned with the lack of interoperability between Department of Defense and VA medical records. Right now, when someone separates from the military, the VA has no complete, automatic access to veterans' service-related medical records, even though the Department of Defense has those records. Defects in interoperability have contributed to the unconscionable backlog of veterans' claims. I have worked with Senator Nelson on a bill to mandate interoperable medical records between the Department of Defense and the VA, and I am pleased that provisions on this subject are in the NDAA. These provisions require the SecDef and the Secretary of VA to ensure the Departments' electronic health record systems are interoperable with integrated display of data, or a single electronic health record, and that each is compliant with national standards.

Additionally, I am pleased that the NDAA includes provision-enhancing mechanisms to correlate skills and training for military occupational specialties with skills and training required for civilian certifications and licenses or IT credentialing. By prioritizing training and certification, not only do we ensure that our military personnel have the appropriate skills to carry out their duties, but we also ensure that our veterans have a path to translate these skills to civilian life and find work that fits their skills once they leave the service.

Finally, this bill strengthens our commitment to ensuring that we do not contract with the enemy. It includes provisions I championed giving combatant commanders greater authority to terminate or void a contract with anyone supporting our enemies, and it prohibits funding to enter into contracts with Rosoboronexport--a Russian company financing Assad's cruel war against the Syrian people.

Overall, I am pleased to support this bill to keep our country safe and our military strong. I look forward to voting for this bill and to continuing to work with my colleagues in a bipartisan manner to support our national defense.

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