Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, let me thank the chairman and the ranking member, the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Skelton), for the great leadership that has brought us to the floor now for the second time: first, to, of course, approve the bill; and now, to approve the conference report.

I rise in strong support of the conference report on H.R. 4200, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2005. I am pleased to report to my colleagues that the conferees have produced an outstanding bill. I thank our distinguished chairman, my good friend, the gentleman from California (Mr. Hunter), for dedicating this year, as has been said before, as the year of the troops. Under his leadership and Senator Warner's leadership, the conferees crafted legislation replete with initiatives to make significant improvements that will help our troops.

The bill will provide the resources and direction to better protect our men and women who are selflessly serving in dangerous conditions overseas, and we have not forgotten our valiant warriors in the Special Operations Command. For example, we authorized funds for several items on the SOCOM commander's unfunded requirements priority list and have authorized additional funding that would provide some necessary operational additional flexibility.

Second, the bill provides increased funding for technologies to help in combating terrorism, extremely important items.

Third, we continue to expand our successful initiative of last year to develop chemical and biological defenses, countermeasures and have provided additional funding for procurement of chemical and biological defense equipment.

The bill recommended by the conferees recognizes that we are, in fact, at war. American lives are at risk each day, and in fact, too many have already paid the ultimate sacrifice. This is an excellent bill, and I urge everybody to support it.

Let me bring up one other subject, Mr. Chairman, under the leadership of the Subcommittee on Projection Forces, the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Bartlett), we have included language which speaks to a need going forward. Obviously, we have got great men and women in the armed services, but we have to be sure we can get them to the fight in a timely fashion.

The follow-on to the C-141 aircraft, our old workhorse, the C-17, has proven to be a marvelous weapons system. Initially, we committed to buy 110. We saw the need for additional ones, and in the meantime, we have increased the buy by 70 aircraft, making it total, by 2008, of 180 which will come off the line.

Since the beginning of this program we have known that we would need at least 220. And there is language in this bill, in report language, to encourage the Air Force for an additional buy of at least 57 aircraft, bringing the total to 222.

Mr. Speaker, let me just ask the chairman, this provision, I believe, is very important, and we have had this conversation before. We need to get to the fight in a timely fashion, and I believe, as does the chairman, that this additional buy is necessary to accomplish that goal.

I yield to the gentleman from California.

Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?

Mr. Speaker, I would just like to make one point, and I talked about the C-141s wearing out a little while ago. We replaced them. We are in the middle of the buy to replace the C-141 with a C-17.

When the average person looks up in the air and sees a military aircraft, they do not very often think about these planes wearing out. Well, these planes are over 40 years old, and as a matter of fact, the Air Mobility Command was just forced to put down or take out of service almost 30 of these KC-135 aircrafts, the aircraft that we are trying to replace, because they are worn out, they are corroded, they are old, and we are unable to use them safely.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to commend John Fee, a constituent from Delran, New Jersey, who is currently participating in the Bristol-Myers Squibb Tour of Hope. John was chosen from nearly 1,200 cyclists nationwide to be one of 20 cyclists participating in this awareness-raising tour for cancer research.

The Tour of Hope is a grueling eight-day bike journey across America that is designed to help raise awareness about the need for increased participation in cancer clinical trials. This cross-country tour was designed by Bristol-Myers Squibb and Lance Armstrong, six-time Tour de France winner and cancer survivor, who credits his survival to the many people before him who participated in the clinical trials that ultimately led to the development of the treatment that saved his life.

By participating in the Tour of Hope, which began on October 1st in Los Angeles and will conclude on October 8th here in Washington, DC, John has dedicated himself to being a part of the effort to cure cancer. During his eight-day journey across America, John and his team will be selflessly delivering the Tour's message--the need to support cancer research--to communities across our Nation.

John's commitment to this worthy cause stems from personal, family experiences with cancer, and his bravery and generosity in confronting this issue head-on is commendable. With advocates like John, I am confident that we can ultimately conquer cancer once and for all.

Mr. Chairman, I thank the chairman for yielding me time.

Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of H.R. 10. This bill, as it has already been said, creates a National Intelligence Director which I think is extremely important, but I also think it is important that it maintains the director of Central Intelligence as a key player and a Secretary of Defense as the third key player.

This, from our point of view on the Committee on Armed Services, is an extremely important point. That being so, because the Secretary of Defense has traditionally been responsible for managing those defense intelligence agencies such as NGA and NRO and NSA and others which have done a very credible job in their areas of expertise.

This is extremely important today because of the support that is necessary for the intelligence community to give directly to the warfighter. Mr. Chairman, the methods of collection and necessity of collecting have changed dramatically over the last decade or so. Prior to the early 1990s, we had the necessity of collecting information on the Soviet Union with big armies, with an arsenal of weapons that we knew about, with fighting capabilities that we knew about.

Today, we collect on a completely different adversary. We collect on someone who we know little about, with whom and who has been very difficult to infiltrate their organizations because of the nature of the culture. So, intelligence has changed and so have the defense intelligence agencies that collect on the new threat.

Today's intelligence agencies are able to answer questions such as these: Where am I, and what does my environment look like? Where exactly is my adversary, and what does his environment look like? What capabilities does the adversary appear to possess? Are new situations or capabilities emerging from my adversary? What are my adversary's centers of gravity, limitations and vulnerabilities? And this list goes on. These are questions that were important historically, but they are more important today. Our defense intelligence agencies have evolved and changed to answer these questions.

Mr. Chairman, let me just respond to a couple of things that have been said. One of the previous speakers mentioned that we have a 1947 business model when it comes to our intelligence community. That may be true for the CIA, it may be true for certain civilian intelligence-gathering agencies, but it is not true for the military, the defense intelligence agencies. We had a certain type of information-gathering system prior to 1990. The Soviet Union went away and our military intelligence changed because it had to change. The collection system changed to keep up with the changing threat. The changing threat today is terrorism and other kinds of threats. Back then it was a conventional threat carried out by the Soviet Union. Our military intelligence has changed. It is a modern-day intelligence collecting system that we are trying our best tonight here to protect.

Secondly, the notion that the top line was disclosed in the past is completely false. It was never disclosed in the past. We have always kept secret the amount of money, the resources that we spend on intelligence collecting. The Menendez amendment discloses this information which we believe is a tremendous mistake. Further, this is not the 9/11 Commission report that they are putting forth. The 9/11 Commission report was amended 81 times by the Senate. Eighty-one times. They criticize us for offering our views after they amended it 81 times.

Mr. Chairman, this is a good bill. It should stand the way it is.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to use the short time I have to close our side of the debate by pointing out some facts.

It has been contended by the other side that we are having trouble attracting and retaining people in the armed services. The facts do not bear that out. In fact, they point just the other way.

Last year, for example, the Army attracted 74,000 new soldiers. That was 100 percent of the goal set. Furthermore, the Army and Army Reserve retention goal for fiscal year 2004 is 28,201. As of June of 2004, with 3 months left in the fiscal year, the active Army had achieved 98 percent of its year-to-date retention goal, the Army Reserve had achieved 96 percent of its goal, and the National Guard had exceeded its goal by 30 percent.

Furthermore, Mr. Speaker, new weapons systems that we have today require manpower but they also require brain power. It takes time to cultivate competent soldiers and Marines, and by drafting our soldiers we slide down the scale of our professional Army towards a more amateur and, I contend, less effective military.

Let us all vote to oppose the draft today.

Mr. Speaker, the recreational fishing community is mourning the loss of a dear friend, Randy Fry of Auburn, California, who died while free diving for abalone off the Mendocino coast as a result of an attack by a great white shark on August 15th. He had often said that if he had to go, he wanted to go in the water.

While the international media has focused on the awful details of this tragedy, his friends and fellow members of the Recreational Fishing Alliance (RFA) choose to remember him for his tireless dedication to the interests of West Coast fisheries and recreational anglers and divers everywhere. At the time of his death, he was working full-time as the West Coast Regional Director of the RFA.

Randy Fry grew up in the Fresno area and his dad, now deceased, was an insurance salesman. His mother, Velora, lives in Auburn. He leaves a brother and two sisters, an ex-wife, a grown son and Natalie, his girlfriend he wanted to marry.

He became involved in fisheries management issues when he became concerned about the diminished stocks of rockfish (sebastes) and other nearshore groundfish that are so important to recreational fishermen in California.

Randy took the bull by the horns and started getting people organized to fight recreational fishing closures. He seemed to know everybody, and if he didn't know them personally, he was buddies with someone who did. He was a former SCUBA diving instructor who led diving charters in the Philippines, and he became an avid free-diving spearfisherman who competed in club competitions. He was active in the NorCal Skindivers Club and the Central California Association of Dive Clubs (CENCAL).

He had the perfect personality for this work: he liked people, he was passionate about the ocean and he loved to talk fish politics. He was also always willing to make the sacrifices necessary to get the job done. He was truly one of a kind.

In 2003, Fry was appointed to a fishery management panel on groundfish, which included important species to the recreational nearshore fishery. Randy was also instrumental in building support for the appointment of Darrell Ticehurst, a private recreational angler, to the Pacific Fisheries Management Council (PFMC)--one of the eight regional fishery management councils. He was a champion for reasonable public access to public resources and fair and equitable regulation of recreational fishermen.

Randy went to bat for sportfishermen at scores of meetings of government agencies. Some of the issues Randy worked on include:

Building support for the ``Freedom to Fish Act'' to prevent the implementation of arbitrary no-fishing zones.

He bird-dogged the California Department of Fish & Game over the use of license fees and fishing tackle excise tax revenue, making sure it was used in the best interests of fishermen.

He worked to introduce a bill to make commercial-scale abalone poaching a felony in California.

Randy sheltered low-impact fishing opportunities, like bank angling and spearfishing, from seasonal closures designed to protect shelf rockfish species.

He worked to make ``reasonable and satisfying'' recreational fishing seasons a priority in California management decisions.

Worked toward improving recreational catch data systems, to replace the failures of the past.

Worked to keep the National Marine Sanctuaries out of fishing regulations.

On a personal level, Randy was a fun guy to be around. He was a storyteller and a jokester. He loved to fish for salmon, dive with a spear gun or go bird hunting. He was a realist, and one of his favorite phrases when he had to deliver bad news about next year's fishing regulations was, ``I'm just tellin' ya how the cow eats the cabbage.'' He was an excellent public speaker who wasn't afraid to criticize the California Fish & Game Commission when necessary, but he always tried to turn his opponents into friends. He didn't have a mean bone in his body.

Randy was one of those all-American strivers who attended seminars on salesmanship and negotiating skills back when he was a real estate broker and contractor. He was an avid reader and was constantly honing his skills to be a more effective and knowledgeable representative. He brought many disparate fishing groups together in consultation on important decisions, yet he was able to take charge when necessary and show leadership in times of crisis.

A few days before the ``Fish Fry for the RFA at Noyo Harbor,'' Randy's friend Jim Martin left a message on Randy's phone saying that he needed a pep talk because of some setbacks he had. A few minutes later he called back and said:

``Oh, Cowboy Up, Pardner.''

Jim busted out laughing. It was perfect Randy: short, sweet and to the point. It was all the pep talk he needed. Four words, and Randy set him straight.

Randy Fry was a warrior, a champion for the ocean and fishermen everywhere. He is sorely missed by his family, friends and colleagues.

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to take from the Speaker's table the bill (H.R. 4200) to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2005 for military activities of the Department of Defense, for military construction, and for defense activities of the Department of Energy, to prescribe personnel strengths for such fiscal year for the Armed Forces, and for other purposes, with a Senate amendment thereto, disagree to the Senate amendment, and agree to the conference asked by the Senate.

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to clause 12 of rule XX, I move that the meetings of the conference between the House and the Senate on H.R. 4200, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2005 for military activities of the Department of Defense for military construction and for defense activities of the Department of Energy to prescribe personnel strengths for such fiscal year for the armed forces, and for other purposes, be closed to the public at such times as classified national security information may be broached, provided that any sitting Member of the Congress shall be entitled to attend any meeting of the conference.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to introduce the Veterans' Employment Act of 2004. Our veterans too often see limitations in the availability of civilian employment opportunities. While federal service positions offer preference to veterans, this provision is not universal in private industry. For many seeking a position in the private sector, the search for employment proves long and arduous.

During their time in the service, our veterans acquire several personal attributes that private employers find imperative in today's business world. While serving in the armed services, these men and women consistently demonstrate a high level of adaptability; the ability to work within a team; a strong work ethic; and, more often than not, exemplary leadership qualities. Alongside the extensive technical and strategic training sustained during their service, the character displayed by our veterans should be sufficient to secure them steady employment. Unfortunately, we have too often been shown that this is not the case.

During my tenure in Congress, many of my constituents have expressed to me their frustration with the availability of steady, well paid employment opportunities. Unlike their non-veteran contemporaries, they often find employers unfamiliar with the extensive training and exemplary personal attributes accumulated during their years of service. With their

skill sets and experience, our veterans most certainly deserve broader employment opportunities.

In response to this need for increased employment opportunities, I am honored to introduce the Veterans' Employment Act of 2004. It is my strong belief that our veterans provide some of the most valuable service both within and outside of our armed services. With support of this bill, we may further expand the employment opportunities available to our veterans and ensure the strength and reputation of America's private industries.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to introduce the Reservists' Employment Act of 2004. Due to the limited time commitment typical of an inactive reserve member, most of these men and women sustain full- time careers outside of their military service. Although many of them serve their country in federal service positions, most of our reservists are employed by private industry. While most employers should be familiar with the responsibilities of our reservists, the War on Terror has greatly altered the nature of activation, and, in most cases, increased the frequency of deployment.

Since the War on Terror began, the fundamental organization of our reserves has changed dramatically and will continue to do so as the war progresses. With increasing unpredictability in deployment, the stability of a reservist's participation in their civilian jobs has too been altered. As many employers rely heavily on their reservist employees, their temporary absence often proves detrimental to these businesses. Although current law prohibits employers from terminating these reservists during activation, this provision does not correct the potential uncertainties employers may harvest regarding the capabilities of a reservist employee.

During their tenure in the armed forces, our reservists acquire several personal attributes that private employers find imperative in today's business world. While serving in the armed services, these men and women consistently demonstrate a high level of adaptability; the ability to work within a team; a strong work ethic; and, more often than not, exemplary leadership qualities.

Alongside these attributes, these men and women further illustrate their dedication and hard work by sustaining both reservist and civilian employment simultaneously. Given their exemplary character and training, we cannot give private industry any justification for not hiring these men and women. As some of the most well trained and productive members of our workforce, our reservists' credentials should promote their employment, not inhibit it.

In response to the need to preserve private industry opportunities for our reservists, and, to further support their employers, I am honored to introduce the Reservists' Employment Act of 2004. It is my strong belief that our reservists provide some of the most valuable service both within and outside of our armed services. Now more than ever, we must show our support for their dedication, and, in turn, those private industries that support our troops.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to the Pinelands Cultural Society as it celebrates its 30th year of incorporation with a special celebration concert at Albert Music Hall on November 20, 2004.

The Pinelands Cultural and Historical Preservation Society is a grass roots, non-profit, all-volunteer organization that has been operating in southern New Jersey for the past three decades to preserve the cultural heritage of the New Jersey Pinelands region.

The Society's goals include preservation and stimulation of interest in South Jersey's musical and cultural heritage. Running a live show 50 Saturday nights each year, plus special occasion Sunday shows, the proceeds, along with individual donations of time, talents and money have culminated in the creation of the present 350-seat concert hall building called ``Albert Music Hall'' which serves as a ``living history'' venue for the presentation of live acoustic music concerts in the decades-old tradition of people indigenous to the Pinelands area. It also serves as a repository for extensive historic archives including audiotape and videotape recordings, documentation and photographs reflecting life in the New Jersey Pines from the early 1900s.

Albert Music Hall has been inducted into the American Folklore Center, Local Legacies Collection Archive at the Library of Congress, and is also registered in the Library of Congress' Moving Image Collections Archive Database.

Thus, I am pleased to recognize the efforts of an expert staff of volunteers for their efforts in bringing New Jersey's history to life. I congratulate them, and wish them many more decades of success.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to LTC (Ret.) K. Paul LeGrice as he prepares to retire as the Director of Force Projection, United States Army, Fort Dix, New Jersey, effective September 30, 2004.

A true patriot, Paul tirelessly supported this nation's military through both his service in the military and as a key Department of the Army Civilian. He enlisted in the United States Army in 1962 and later received his commission in 1965. In February 1993, after serving 30 years in enlisted and officer status, Paul retired as a Lieutenant Colonel and began his service as the Director of Force Projection Directorate, Fort Dix, New Jersey.

In his role as Director, he constantly demonstrated his unparalleled ability to accomplish complex tasks in an outstanding fashion through his untiring diligence, uncanny foresight and exceptionally noteworthy leadership. His response to the events of September 11, 2001, demonstrated his true mettle. Paul provided the even-tempered, professional leadership required as Fort Dix successfully mobilized over 30,000 soldiers for both OCONUS combat missions and CONUS support missions in support of Operations Enduring Freedom, Iraqi Freedom and Noble Eagle.

As Ft. Dix continued its role as a major power projection platform, Paul took very personally his responsibility to ensure proper support of the mobilizing and demobilizing soldiers. Additionally, he constantly sought ways to improve and expand upon the Joint Installation Partnership between Ft. Dix, McGuire Air Force Base, and Naval Air Engineering Station Lakehurst to better serve our nation's military personnel. These joint installation projects all proved advantageous to the three bases and their personnel by efficiently consolidating activities while saving valuable tax dollars.

Thus, I am pleased to recognize the efforts and accomplishments of this outstanding American patriot. I congratulate and thank LTC (Ret.) K. Paul LeGrice for his 42 years of selfless service to this nation and wish him a happy retirement.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to the Pinelands Cultural Society as it celebrates its 30th year of incorporation with a special celebration concert at Albert Music Hall on November 20, 2004.

The Pinelands Cultural and Historical Preservation Society is a grass roots, non-profit, all-volunteer organization that has been operating in southern New Jersey for the past three decades to preserve the cultural heritage of the New Jersey Pinelands region.

The Society's goals include preservation and stimulation of interest in South Jersey's musical and cultural heritage. Running a live show 50 Saturday nights each year, plus special occasion Sunday shows, the proceeds, along with individual donations of time, talents and money have culminated in the creation of the present 35-seat concert hall building called ``Albert Music Hall'' which serves as a ``living history'' venue for the presentation of live acoustic music concerts in the decades-old tradition of people indigenous to the Pinelands area. It also serves as a repository for extensive historic archives including audiotape and videotape recordings, documentation and photographs reflecting life in the New Jersey Pines from the early 1900s.

Albert Music Hall has been inducted into the American Folklore Center, Local Legacies Collection Archive at the Library of Congress, and is also registered in the Library of Congress' Moving Image Collections Archive Database.

Thus, I am pleased to recognize the efforts of an expert staff of volunteers for their efforts in bringing New Jersey's history to life. I congratulate them, and wish them many more decades of success.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this resolution and would like to thank my friend from California for introducing it. Just over a week ago, the civilized world agonized over the massacre of more than 300 Russian school children who were returning to school after summer vacation when Islamic terrorists took them hostage and ultimately, took their lives. This cowardly and inhumane act occurred just days after two other vile acts of terror--the bombing of two Russian airliners, which killed 89 innocent men, women, and children, and the Moscow subway bombing that killed nine.

Mr. Speaker, there is no denying that the situation in Chechnya is a complicated one. Despite the mutually destructive history of Russian- Chechen relations, the acts of terror that have been unleashed upon the Russian people are inexcusable, inhumane, and are representative of the evil that we face today in the War on Terror. The fact that those who carried out these brutal acts purposely picked children as their primary targets further illuminates their utter disregard for the rules of law and the norms of human conduct.

Today, as we express our solidarity with the Russian people, let us take time to remember the fact that the War on Terror is a transnational conflict that requires strong alliances among nations both large and small. The people of Russia have a friend in the United States of America. It is my strong belief, that the murderers who took the lives of children in Beslan share ties with others who seek to wreak havoc within our own borders. Let those who wish us ill know that the United States, Russia and our allies will stop at nothing to destroy the global network of Islamic fundamentalism and all other forms of terrorism.

As the United States House of Representatives expresses its solidarity with the Russian people, I would like to remind my colleagues of the other victims of terrorism that the world has lost in recent years. People have mourned the losses of loved ones in Bali, Jerusalem, Madrid, Jakarta, New York, Washington, Baghdad, Kabul and various other places. May their memories and those of the children of Beslan, the passengers on the two aircraft and the people on the subway be the rallying cry for our ongoing struggle against terrorism.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in very reluctant support of this rule and with great concern about the provision that would permit an objection to be offered to the military housing provisions in the bill. Mr. Speaker, much has been said about this provision already, and I would just add this, that many of us, all Members of Congress, work to support the men and women who sign up on a volunteer basis to be members of the armed services. When they sign up, we spend millions and billions of dollars on training, recruitment, trying to make sure that the all-volunteer force remains a professional force, and that depends on retention. If we do not have the men and women who volunteer to join the service and who we spend billions of dollars to train, if they do not decide to stay in the military forces, then our all-volunteer force cannot work.

The quality-of-life issues become extremely important, and one of the most important quality of life issues is housing. Currently, we are behind in providing housing for our military families. If we increased our military construction budget by $1 billion a year for 20 years, we would catch up. Obviously, we cannot afford to increase our military construction budget by $1 billion a year for 20 years to do that catchup.

However, if DOD invests $500 million and leverages the balance of what we need to provide housing through this military construction program, we will be able to solve this problem in a relatively short period of time. The program is working. It has proven to be successful, and to remove the legislative cap in fiscal year 2005 is extremely important. We on the authorization committee have provided a provision to increase it in 2006, but to skip a year, which puts us that much further behind. And, therefore, I would urge the chairman of the Committee on the Budget, who has indicated that he is going to raise this objection, not to do so.