Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Last year, this body, in the FY13 Defense authorization bill, specifically prohibited the Department of Defense from using any taxpayer…
Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk.
Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Last year, this body, in the FY13 Defense authorization bill, specifically prohibited the Department of Defense from using any taxpayer funds to purchase Russian-built Mi-17 helicopters for the Afghan Special Mission Wing.
Our reasoning was simple: the Russian export company involved in the deal, Rosoboronexport, had an established track record for aiding our adversaries, having supplied both Iran and Syria with advanced weaponry in the years prior.
However, despite our entirely reasonable objections to using taxpayer dollars to fund our enemies, the Department of Defense was intent on circumventing the will of Congress.
The language of the bill prohibited the use of FY13 funding. DOD responded by using any unobligated FY12 funds, circumventing the will of Congress as expressed in a law we passed and the President signed.
On June 16 of this year, DOD awarded a $553.8 million contract to Rosoboronexport for the purchase of 30 brand-new Mi-17 helicopters.
Last month, the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, or SIGAR, released an audit of the Afghan Special Mission Wing, and their findings were shocking. The very first sentence of the audit reads:
The Afghans lack the capacity--in both personnel numbers
and expertise--to operate and maintain the existing and
planned SMW fleets.
Finding recruits who are both literate and have no known association with criminal and terrorist elements is incredibly challenging.
The Afghan Special Mission Wing, or SMW, was stood up in July of 2012 in order to provide air support for Afghan Special Forces executing counternarcotics and counterterrorism missions, many of which are flown at night.
Further complicating the issue is the fact that the pilots assigned to the SMW, less than 15 percent are qualified to fly with night-vision goggles. The vast majority of counterterrorism missions take place under the cover of darkness.
My bipartisan amendment reduces the Afghanistan Security Forces Fund by $553.8 million, an amount equal to the contract DOD entered into with Rosoboronexport for 30 Mi-17 helicopters, and increases the Spending Reduction Account by the same amount.
Frankly, my preference would have been to rescind the FY 2012 dollars that DOD used to circumvent the will of Congress and enter into this deal, but an amendment of that nature would be subject to a point of order. This amendment forces DOD to reallocate resources if they want to continue down this path.
Mr. Chairman, I am not debating whether this helicopter is ideal for the rugged terrain of Afghanistan, or whether it is an easier platform for the Afghanis to train on and execute missions. There seems to be an overall consensus that, in fact, it is.
My concern, and the reason I introduced this amendment, is that the United States taxpayer should not be paying for 30 brand-new helicopters when, A, they don't have the pilots to fly them; B, they don't have the trained personnel to repair them. In fact, SIGAR reports that only 50 percent of the current wing is airworthy due to a lack of maintenance; and, C, Congress explicitly prohibited DOD from entering into this agreement in the first place.
Furthermore, the DOD is asking the American taxpayer to spend over $700 million a year to maintain these helicopters, and that spending is not scheduled to end in 2014 when we pull out our forces from Afghanistan.
Additionally, the Pentagon just announced last week that the purchase of Russian-built Mi-17 helicopters will not end with the 30 they just purchased for the SMW. Their plan is to equip the Afghan Air Force with an additional 86 brand-new Mi-17s. If you consider that the cost of 30 helicopters was over $500 million, this new purchase will be well over $1 billion, and probably over $1.5 billion. This for a helicopter that the Afghans have proven they lack the personnel to fly and the capability to maintain.
I urge my colleagues to support the Coffman-Garamendi-Murphy-Cohen amendment.
Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. Chairman, I demand a recorded vote.