Transcripts For CSPAN2 Key Capitol Hill Hearings 20131212 :

CSPAN2 Key Capitol Hill Hearings December 12, 2013

Happen until the first part of the year. Some of them wou some of them would take place many february, some in march. But what would happen this question was asked by one of our fine senators, senator fischer from nebraska. She said, now, what would happen right now at the he happened of thiend of thisyear, december 31 . What provisions would we lose if we dont pass this bill . And the answer is there are several of them but ill just highlight a few of them here. One would be the session bonus for new officers in critical skills, the incentive bonus for conversion to military occupation specialty to ease personnel shortages. Those of us whove been in the military, thats called the mosss. The incentive bonuses for transfer between armed forces, someone whos transferred from one area to the other has the we have the obligation of paying those expenses or bonuses. We wouldnt be able to do it. Aviation officer retention. I mentioned a minute ago some of the what, onethird of the combat . Onethird of the combat squadrons were just deactivated, they were grounded, and the pilots with them. I talked about that and how general welsh gave us good documentation. That endured for three months. But at the end of that three months, the ability o amount oft was saved by grounding that equipment was far offset by the amount to get people back up to the right qualifications. Well, one of the things that would happen is the Aviation Office officer Retention Bonus thats to keep these guys in there it costs much less to retain a pilot than it does to retrain one and start from scratch. I know that. We have a couple of the ranges in my state of oklahoma, in Vance Air Force base, where i will be tomorrow. These thats one of the largest centers that we have training pilots. But right now our problem is a Pilot Shortage and one of the reasons is because what i just said, if theyre grounding these airplanes, these guys finally say, well, if i cant fly, im getting out of here. And there have been a lot of them who have left. Now, the only thing to hold some of them would be the existing Aviation Officer retention bon bonus. This gives a bonus for someone to reup. If anyone has been in the services, theyll remember, as i do, from the u. S. Army that when theyre trying to get people, encourage people to reup, recognizing its a lot cheaper to to retain someone than it is to retrain them, we give them a bonus. We did that when i was in the service. Well, thats a a bonus tha that that they would not get. And so i think with already a serious problem with the shortage of of of pilots, we have to do something about that. So thats and, by the way, that would stop december 31 abruptly. That means these guys that are making that decision, they may not even know this and they may decide theyre going to do it and then they find out they dont have a a Retention Bonus. The assignment paid for special duty pay. This would be for transfers. This would be something that you would not be able to do and the hardship would have to be borne by the military. Health care professionals bonus. This is kind of important. If you go out to walter reed and you see the great job thats being done by the professionals, with the with our wounded warriors, its just it just really does impress you to see whats going on. And im very, very excited that thats that thats a program thats been good. But these Health Care Professionals operate on a bonus or special pay. That would stop the 31st of december. I know theyre all committed, theyd stay as long as they could but some of them couldnt afford to do that. So that would this would stop on the 31st of january. Reenlistment bonus for active members, that would stop also. So i guess what im saying is, you know, we are going to have to do this this bill. Its absolutely necessary. And im not the only one that says that. If you look at general democrat sedempsey,talk about the deterig condition of our military right now, keeping in mind that through this president , starting 4 1 2 years ago, over this 10year budget, he has taken 487 billion out of the milita military. 487 billion. Now, if we have obama sequestration as its designed now, that will be another half trillion. Thats a total of a trillion dollars out. Now, what did general dempsey, as the top military person in in in the military, hes chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, he said, i will tell you personally, if ever the force is so degraded and so unready and then were asked to use it, it would be immoral to use the force unless its well trained, well led, and well equipped. Admiral winnifeld, hes the second in charge, hes the vice chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. He said, there could be for the first time in my career now, keep in mind this is an admiral could be the first time in my career instances where we may be asked to respond to a crisis and would have to say we cannot. Secretary hagel you know, i opposed his confirmation when he was in and i think actually i think hes improved so much more than i thought he would since that time. Hes not afraid to talk about these things. He he said, if these abrupt cuts remain now, here he is, secretary of the hes the top person there he said, if these abrupt cuts continue, we risk fielding a force that over the next few years is unprepared due to a lack of training, maintenance, and the latest equipment. Thats america hes talking about. This is the secretary of defen defense. Another thing general dempsey had said in fact, i carry a card around with me because a lot of people dont really believe this. General dempsey at one time in february of this year, he told the Senate Armed Services committee that were putting our military on a path where the force is so degraded and so unready that it would be immoral to use the force. So these are the things that are going on right now. General odierno, whos the general of the army, hes the commander of the army, he said, additionally, its unlikely that the army would be able to defeat an adversary quickly and decisively should they be called upon to engage in a single sustained major combat operati operation. Now, when you talk about a major combat operation, youre talking about one they used to call them the the combat operations where major contingencies on a regional basis. And so our policy since world war ii has been to be able to do this to defend america on two regional fronts. Well, thats weve gone out the window on that now and were not able to do that any more. Senator hagel also said, if sequesterlevel cuts persist thats what were talking about the second half trillion dollars that obama would be taking out of the military if sequesterlevel cuts persist, we risk fielding a force that is unprepared. I cant imagine hearing that from our own secretary of defense but, sure enough, its there. Now, let me just show you, mr. President , the that why it is that our choices are down to only one choice. I have a map i dont have do you have a big one of this . Okay. On this right here, if you look at december, it is now the 12th. Yeah, its the 12th. All right, the house leaves on at 11 00 on friday morning. Now, theyre gone. Theyre gone for the rest of the year. So anything we do that has to go to the house, they wont be there. It cant be done. We go for one more week starting the 16th, thats this coming monday, and we go all the way through here, where well be in session. Now, anything that we would do or pass or amend could not go back to the house and that means wed go into december 31st without any kind of a Defense Authorization bill. So just on that basis, its its significant and it shows that we actually have to do it. Now, the other thing is i think i mentioned this and i have a chart for this but i dont have it in front of me and that is to show that all over since 1970, our weve always had our Defense Authorization bill done before january. The only two exceptions to that was when they were vetoed by the president on two occasions and we had to override the veto. But nonetheless, thats why this this this month is the last chance that weve got to do it. I would mention that theres such Popular Support for this around the country that you have extremes not really extremes but you have publications generally considered to be on the progressive or moderate side and some conservative. This is one where both the Heritage Foundation and the Washington Post say, lets pass the defense deal, its got to pass. The Heritage Foundation has an excellent paper that, if theres time later on, i may make some quotes from that. But on on the from the Washington Post, it says, with the end of 2013 approaching, the congress has a year of rising above massive dysfunction and pass defense operations. The leader of the house and Senate Armed Services committee have managed to fashion a bipartisan version. Thats what were talking about when i said the big four. So this is what we are talking about. They say, it is a decent compromise that the leaders of both chambers ought to embrace and bring to a vote in the coming days. A failure to do so would be a new political low for this congress. The ndaa thats the Defense Authorization bill has been passed 51 consecutive years, even when much of the rest of the government had to make due with temporary authority. But much more than political symbolism is at issue. Though defense funding ultimately must be provided by appropriators, the authorization bill extends vital pentagon authorities and sanctions to new operations. If theres no bill and if its not approved by january 1st, combat pay and bonuses for troops in afghanistan and elsewhere would be suspended, work on major weapons systems, including a new aircraft carri carrier, would be halted at considerable cost, the and support for the afghan army and the disposal of syrias chemical weapons would be interrupted at a critical moment. The bill also contains important measures to combat and to combat sexual fines in the military. Well, we talked about that but this now . Being editorialized not by me on the floor of the senate but by the the Washington Post. And they talk about Guantanamo Bay. Said, in advance of the closure of Guantanamo Bay prison would take place or could take place in the absence of this legislation. Though a proposal was favored by senator Kirsten Gillibrand from new york providing for the prosecution of sex crimes outside the military chain of command, it is not included and did not receive the senate vote. Some three dozen other reforms in legislation would make the punishment of these crimes more likely while providing more protection for its victims. Let me just conclude on this editorial by reading the next to the last paragraph. It says, other measures in the bill ought to attract broad bipartisan support. The effects on defense of the socalled sequester would be eased by transferring money to operations and training from less essential accounts, such as construction and staffing in office headquarters. The pentagon is still vulnerable to a 50 billion sequester cut in january unless a separate budget deal could be headed off. But passage of the authorization act would prevent the worst disruptions from being ongoing. So it goes on to say that this is over in the house right now and the house very likely is going to pass it over here to the senate, and they strongly support it. Well, lets see what the we have letters here from from all the Armed Services to us and to the leader, senator harry reid, saying, you know, this would this one is from martin dempsey, hes urging us to pass this thing. So its not just me and a handful of senators. This is the military speaking. Hes the top military personnel. He said, i write to urge you to complete the national Defense Authorization act this year. The authorities contained therein are critical to 9 Nations Defense and are urgently needed to ensure we all keep faith with the men and women, military and civilian, selflessly serving in our armed forces. He goes on to say, this is the most significant concern that we have right now, that we may not be able to pass this bill. We have a letter from general welsh, and general welsh, if you remember, hes the chief of the air force. Hes the one who was so upset with the fact that we grounded some of our combat squadrons. He says, in fiscal year 2014, the ndaa contains critical authorities that enables us to protect the American People while keeping promises to our active duty guard, reserve and civilian airmen. If this important legislation this is what were talking about here is not enacted, i worry about significant impacts to the air force operations that could jeopardize the missions we are tasked to perform. And he goes on to say how important that is. Its a matter of life and death to to to manufacture the e airmen that are out there. We have the same thing from general amos of the marine corps who says that our hardworking games in 29 palms and atlanta would be threatened in the next generation of the aircraft carrier. The u. S. S. Gerald ford will stop. And passage of this authorization will prove to our airmen and sailors our unwavering support. Thats what were talking about because these guys are out there with the and i would repeat, i see my good friend from arizona, senator mccain, on the floor, and i would say that ive been talking about the condition, the degraded positi position condition of our military right now and how much worse its going to be if were not able to do the this bill that ive outlined in some detail and hopefully it will be successful in doing that. The presiding officer the senator from arizona. Mr. Mccain mr. President , i ask unanimous consent to engage in a colloquy with my friend from oklahoma. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Mccain first of all, id like to thank the senator from oklahoma for his leadership and his dedication to getting this authorization bill passed, and i think that my friend from oklahoma would agree with me that there is no reason why we are where we are today. Isnt it true that this bill was passed out of the out of the Armed Services committee in may, and here we are now in december, and we are now contemplating bringing it to the floor of the senate. Mr. Inhofe i would say thats true, but also over in the house, they did it the pay it should be done. They passed it out of committee, debated it, took it to the floor and passed it. Ours was passed by a huge margin, we only had three or four votes against it, a bipartisan margin. That was way back in i think it was may the last of may, first of june, and it should have been done back then instead of waiting until a week before were were out of here. Mr. Mccain so in all due respect, one has to wonder about the priorities of the of the group and the leader that set the agenda for the United States senate. One of the real advantages of being in the majority is you set the agenda. And so rather than take the bill to the floor, as we have for 51 years, 51 years, the congress of the United States has taken up and passed the Defense Authorization bill. We are now here in december. The house of representatives going out tomorrow, out of session, and we are faced with a really unsavory parliament situation where were having to maneuver in a way that a message message a quote message, from my friend from oklahoma is correct, a message that cannot be amended. Otherwise, it would have to go back to the other body which is going out of session, which would then take us into january. Id ask my my friend from oklahoma, isnt that where we are . And isnt that a commentary on the concern that my friends on the other side of the aisle, that the majority leader has, about the men and women who are serving in the military . And we will talk a little bit about what a failure to pass the Defense Authorization bill is. We are now in a situation which is a disservice, not only to the men and women who are serving but to all of us, to every one of the 100 senators because every one of these senators would want to have an amendment to make this bill better that have that will impart to the rest of the body their knowledge, their expertise and their priorities. So what are we doing . Were asking members on this side of the aisle and the other side of the aisle to accept a piece of legislation without a single amendment to it. That, my friends, when were talking about the defense of this nation, is absolutely outrageous. Would my friend from oklahoma agree . Mr. Inhofe its right up here, it shows. The house on friday at 11 00, theyre out of here, they are gone, they are adjourned. Now, if something should happen that we were try to try to to try to amend something, they are not there. It cant be done. This is where we are now. We only have these five days that are left. Now, a lot of people have said and i would ask my friend from arizona if he agrees with this, because they say well, we can come back in january and do this because but then if you look at this. We come back on january 6. The c. R. , the continuing resolution is here, and i can assure you from our past experience thats going to dominate the floor. They are certainly not going to have time to do it. So the only shot we have is up here. But also important, i read a list of things before my good friend came in that expire on december 31, and those are things that whats happening right now to all of our pilots, and you certainly know about that, that they bailed out. They are so upset with whats happened on the grounding of our squadrons, that now if we take away the reenlistment senate stimulus, their incentive, then are we going to have any pilots left . Mr. Mccain so we have established by the calendar and by whats happened since may that obviously that the majority, the majority leader had a higher priority for whatever the hell it is we did rather than the defense of this nation, and thats a fact. And i would challenge anyone from the other side of the aisle or anyone to come and argue differently. Its outrageous. And now that we have established that, could i ask my friend what happens and i

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