H4402 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD—HOUSE May 21, 2003

May 21, 2003Iraq or in some other part of the world.We have supplied more money for thatvery important area, Mr. Chairman.We also need to bolster precisionguided munitions which have providedus with so much leverage in this operation. We do that here.We also provide for more robust missile defense because we know that Scudmissiles launched in a theater canparalyze our tactical airfields. Until wecan take care of those airfields andbring people in and bring aircraft in,we know we have to have the ability topull down Scud-class ballistic missilesand increasingly effective ballistic missiles that are actually more high-powered, more capable than Scuds. Forthat reason, Mr. Chairman, we havemoney in this bill for Patriot missilesystems, for more procurement of ourmissile systems, so we can protect ourtroops in theater and project Americanpower around the world. That is another enabler.We also put money in for the deepstrike program, Mr. Chairman. That isimportant. That will follow on and bolster this fleet of B–1s, B–2s and B–52sthat carried the war to the enemy soeffectively in this last theater.So we do a number of things, Mr.Chairman, that will enable us to notonly fight today’s wars but also lookbeyond the horizon and will help usfight tomorrow’s wars.Let me tell you, Mr. Chairman, youwill be listening to the reports of oursubcommittee chairman and the ranking members of those subcommitteesand you will see that this bill is a product of a lot of hard work, a lot of folkswho sat in those chairs and listenednot only to the daily briefings on theIraq operation but listened very intently to our people in uniform whenthey told us what we are going to needto protect this country. Our folks havedone a great job.So, finally, let me commend our commander-in-chief, President Bush, forthe blueprint that he laid out for us,for Secretary Rumsfeld, our militaryleaders, but, lastly, everybody who projected American power in this last conflict, who went out, right down to that19-year-old kid carrying an M–16 tryingto go through the choke point atNasiriya in Iraq.America’s military team has performed brilliantly for us. Now it istime for us to perform for them.I want to thank my ranking member,the gentleman from Missouri (Mr.SKELTON), for his great partnership inputting this bill together. We have hada few contentious moments and wemay have a few more as we go throughthis bill. There are a few items that donot come up very often in the defensebill but will come up. But after the armwrestling is over, Mr. Chairman, youwill see a united Committee on ArmedServices and hopefully a united Houseof Representatives standing tall behindthe uniformed people in the UnitedStates military. So I am very gratefulto the gentleman from Missouri (Mr.SKELTON) for his work.VerDate Jan 31 200301:23 May 22, 2003H4403CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — HOUSEJkt 019060I want to also say I am very gratefulto our subcommittee chairman, thegentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr.WELDON), the gentleman from Colorado(Mr. HEFLEY), the gentleman from NewJersey (Mr. SAXTON), the gentlemanfrom New York (Mr. MCHUGH), the gentleman from Alabama (Mr. EVERETT),and the gentleman from Maryland (Mr.BARTLETT), and also all of their ranking members on their subcommitteesfor the hard work they have put in.Mr. Chairman, we will start presenting our subcommittee reports momentarily.Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balanceof my time.Mr. SKELTON. Mr. Chairman, I yieldmy myself such time as I may consume.Mr. Chairman, I rise in support ofthis Armed Services bill. I would liketo first pay tribute to our chairman,the gentleman from California (Mr.HUNTER), if I may, for his sincerity, forhis hard work, and for his determination in taking care of the troops andmaking sure that they have the rightequipment and ammunition that theyneed to succeed on the battlefield.We are so very, very proud of theyoung men and young women and thevictory that they have brought aboutin the fields of battle in Iraq for severalreasons; and a lot of it is tied rightback to the work we have done on theCommittee on Armed Services throughthe years.The first is the high caliber of youngmen and young women that we have.They are professionals. They are dedicated and highly trained. The operation and maintenance dollars we havegiven towards training has paid off.Secondly, the equipment that theyhave had. When you speak of the M–1,A–1 tanks, the Bradley fighting vehicles or the B–2 bombers or whatever,their equipment has been the very bestavailable.Number three is the ammunitionthey have had, the precise ammunition, the targeted ammunition theyhave. Whether you are speaking abouta red dot on the target through a rifleat 300 meters or a JDAM bomb beingdropped from a B–2 bomber at 40,000feet that goes through a window ofchoice, all of that has contributed.On top of that, it was interesting tonote that the gentleman in charge ofall of the British troops, Air MarshallBrian Burrage, gave tribute to theplans that came out of the Americanwar colleges through this whole effortin Iraq. He said that the plans thatwere fulfilled in the Iraqi campaignwill be studied in war colleges for decades to come.The last reason we did so well and asa result of a lot of work in the Committee on Armed Services going back anumber of years was the jointness thatwas apparently seamless between eachof the services. All of that came aboutas a result of the work that we did onthe Committee on Armed Services.This bill, Mr. Chairman, is a goodbill. As the chairman has noted, it doesPO 00000Frm 00033Fmt 7634Sfmt 0634a lot of good things for the troops: the4.1 percent average pay raise, the family housing, the medical care, all ofthis combined together does a greatdeal. The research and developmentthat grows into future systems. Theprocurement of the weapons systemsand ammunition that we provide forand authorize is so very important.The O&M, Operation and Maintenance,which allows not just keeping thelights on but allows for extensivetraining, whether it be at Fort Irwin orwhether it be on a ship or on an airplane.All of this is so very important to theuniformed services. We are very proudof them, every one of them. We salutethem on their recent victory.We are, as you know, compelled toremind ourselves sadly that we are in awar against terrorism and there will begreat burden on the military forces aswe proceed with this war against thoseterrorists of which we have learned somuch.But I must say, Mr. Chairman, thatthere are provisions in this bill that Iwish that the Committee on Rules hadallowed full and fair debate thereon.We still have one more rule to go, so Iam hopeful that the Committee onRules will allow some of these amendments to be made in order, such as theone involving Civil Service. I think itis very important that we have a fulland fair debate on that. Cooperativethreat reduction should be a very important issue that we should debatehere, among others. The base closingissue should be one that we should atleast have a debate on in this forum.So with that exception, hoping thatthe Committee on Rules can reverseitself and help us have a more completedebate probably tomorrow as a resultof the second rule that will be forthcoming from the Committee on Rules,I certainly hope we can continue thatinsistence.b 1400Overall, this is a good bill. Whetherit is a young sailor on a ship or whether it is a general directing an operation, all of them fare well as a resultof the work, and hard work by thiscommittee.Again, let me thank ChairmanHUNTER for his sincerity through all ofthis.Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balanceof my time.Mr. HUNTER. Mr. Chairman, I yieldsuch time as he may consume to thegentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr.WELDON), the vice chairman of thecommittee, who is chairman of theSubcommittee on Tactical Air andLand Forces.(Mr. WELDON of Pennsylvania askedand was given permission to revise andextend his remarks.)Mr. WELDON of Pennsylvania. Mr.Chairman, this bill is about America’spatriots. This bill is about America’sheroes. From Kabul to Baghdad, fromRiyadh to Graznyy, our sons andE:\CR\FM\K21MY7.065H21PT1

H4404daughters are in harm’s way doing afantastic job, and we applaud themwith this legislation.But this bill is also about two otherpatriots. This bill is about the gentleman from California (Mr. HUNTER),and it is about the gentleman fromMissouri (Mr. SKELTON), two greatAmericans, Mr. Chairman, who broughtus together; two great Americans whoworked us for 30 hours over 2 days inthe most extensive markup that I havebeen involved in in 17 years in thisbody. And while there were some issuesthat were very tightly split, in the endonly two Members out of 60 dissented.And as we have done in the past, wewill work our will and our way todayto come up with a bill that we can beproud of.But I want to pay tribute, especiallyto DUNCAN HUNTER and IKE SKELTON fortheir leadership. They are both greatAmericans. They both served theircountry in military combat. They bothunderstand as much as anyone else inthis body what this bill is all about. Itis an honor and a privilege for me toserve with both of them. And I knowmy colleagues on the Committee onArmed Services and in this body understand and appreciated the leadership ofboth of these outstanding individuals.So this bill is about their leadershipin helping us mold a bill that will provide the support for our patriots. In oursubcommittee, the Subcommittee onTactical Air and Land Forces, we increased funding, with the help of ourtwo patriotic leaders, by almost 2 billion. And where do we put that money?We put 600 million of it into additional authorization for M1 tanks andBradley Fighting Vehicles, becausethey did so well in the recent battles inIraq. We put 200 million of extramoney to maintain our ammunition industrial base, vitally important for ourcapabilities for the future.On the F–22 program, we kept the authorized amount at the level requestedby the Air Force and DOD; but we performed our legitimate role of oversight, and we said to the contractors inthe Air Force, you are not makingenough progress on the software forthis vital aircraft; and until you do, weare going to fence a portion of thismoney. Because as stewards for thetaxpayers, we must make sure that themoney we spend is, in fact, spent in themost cost-effective way possible.Mr. Chairman, we also put 1.7 billionin the legislation for the Future Combat System in transition of our Army,and we provided multiyear procurement for the E–2C and the F–18, as wellas the C–130J.Mr. Chairman, this bill will not beperfect to each one of us individually;but collectively, as we come togetheras 60 Members of the committee and435 Members of the House, it is a billthat we all can support, a bill thatwould do what needs to be done to support those brave patriots who aretoday serving our Nation.In addition, on some of the more contentious issues involving cooperativeVerDate Jan 31 2003May 21, 2003CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — HOUSE01:23 May 22, 2003Jkt 019060threat reduction and involving nuclearpolicy, the chairman and the rankingmember have worked with us to craftsome important additions in this bill.We, in fact, include in the bill the requirement of establishing a StrategicNuclear Commission to look at whatour nuclear posture should be over thenext 20 years in a bipartisan approach.We have included language to findcompromises on the way that we assistthe former Soviet states in takingapart their weapons of mass destruction.So, Mr. Chairman, I have no problemin supporting this legislation. Therewill be some amendments that will beoffered that will be helping to perfectit even more. And in closing, besidesthanking our two patriots, I want tothank my good friend and colleague,the gentleman from Hawaii (Mr. ABERCROMBIE). He is the ranking member ofour subcommittee. He is an outstanding American. He has been involved in every aspect of the development of this portion of our bill.

the Ford Taurus, which was named the 1986 Motor Trend Car of the Year, and which re-sulted in future aerodynamic design trends throughout the industry; Whereas this innovation continued through the 1990s with the debut in 1993 of the Ford Mondeo, European Car of the Year, the redesigned 1994 Ford Mustang, and the