[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 117 (Thursday, July 12, 2018)]
[House]
[Pages H6164-H6166]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
CONTINUING RESOLUTIONS HURT THE MILITARY
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of
January 3, 2017, the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Taylor) is recognized
for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader.
General Leave
Mr. TAYLOR. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members
have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include
extraneous material on the topic of this Special Order.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Virginia?
There was no objection.
Mr. TAYLOR. Madam Speaker, we are here tonight to speak about how,
for far too long, Congress has passed continuing resolutions that have
devastating effects on our military and national security apparatus.
They have hurt our maintenance, readiness, training, and contracting,
causing a cascading and negative effect in extending our deployment
schedules, which hurt our strong military families, who are the very
foundation of our force.
Indeed, Secretary Mattis said in January 2018:
As hard as the last 16 years have been, no enemy in the
field has done more to harm the readiness of the U.S.
military than the combined impact of the Budget Control
Act's defense spending cuts and operating under continuing
resolutions.
Madam Speaker, Congress has passed continuing resolutions for 9 out
of the past 10 years.
I will say, Madam Speaker, that I am encouraged, skeptical, and
hopeful that Congress will move toward regular order this year and
forego a continuing resolution for the defense of this Nation later
this year: encouraged, because the Senate has expressed they will take
up defense appropriations and move it to the floor for the first time
in years; skeptical, because I am a realist, and they will attach
another bill to it, which will make it tougher to get passed; hopeful,
because I am an optimist. We all know it is the right thing to do, and
we are pushing to make it happen.
Madam Speaker, I have the great honor of representing the district
with more military and veterans than anywhere in the Nation. If
anything is going on in the world, our men and women are there on the
front lines, fighting for families, fighting for friends, fighting for
freedom.
We, in Congress, owe them better. We must do better. We must get our
acts together and lead with the courage and the spirit of our Nation,
and the courage and spirit of those men and women in uniform who stand
watch for us every single day.
Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from California (Mr. Hunter).
Mr. HUNTER. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Virginia for
his service. If you don't know, Scott Taylor enlisted in the Navy SEALs
in 1997, got out, and then went back to Iraq in 2005. In Ramadi, as a
Navy SEAL sniper, he was injured. And here he is now.
I thank the gentleman for doing this. Like all or most Navy SEALs,
the gentleman does great when the camera is on him. As a Congressman,
the camera is always on him, so he does very well in this job.
I would like to bring up one point that really struck me, because of
the Budget Control Act and the continuing resolutions. The former
Speaker of the House, when we passed this 9 years ago, looked us in the
eye and said: This will never pass. It is too horrible. This will never
happen. It is too horrible for the military. It hurts it too badly.
That is what the former Speaker of the House said. When he looked the
Armed Services Committee in the eye and told them that, a lot of the
Members proceeded to vote ``yes'' on the Budget Control Act, and that
put us where we are now.
Let me tell you where the Budget Control Act has put us. In 2017, you
had about 80 servicemembers die in training. That doesn't include drunk
driving or falling off a cliff. But in training in the United States,
all four branches of service, you had more than 80 servicemembers die
last year just training.
You had 21 servicemembers die in combat. So you had 21 service people
die in combat zones where they are getting shot at and fighting the
enemy, and more than 80 people died back here at home just training.
The Budget Control Act and the continuing resolutions that we have
been
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doing have literally made it safer to go to war in Iraq, Afghanistan,
Syria, Philippines. Name your place, it is safer than training here at
home. It is safer than getting in a C-130 and flying here at home. It
is safer to do it overseas.
That is a sad state for our American military, and it is a sad state
of affairs for this Congress.
What Mr. Taylor said is absolutely right. The Senate needs to work on
this. We are going to pass it. We are going to get a clean bill back
from them.
It would be fantastic to be able to move forward and get out of these
continuing resolutions and stay out of them. Once we started this,
again, it took 9 years to get to where we are now, where we are finally
getting out of it with the deals that this Speaker has made and with
what this Senate has done.
Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman again for his service and for
doing this Special Order this evening.
Mr. TAYLOR. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from California, who
is also a combat marine. I won't hold it against him. He is a marine,
and we are appreciative of him being here and of his time in Iraq and
Afghanistan in defending what we hold dear.
He is a leader on military and defense issues and national security
issues here in Congress, so we truly appreciate his service then and
now.
Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Missouri (Mrs.
Hartzler).
Mrs. HARTZLER. Madam Speaker, I thank Congressman Taylor for hosting
this very important, special event tonight.
As a member of the House Armed Services Committee, I have heard too
many testimonies after testimonies talking about the dangerously low
level of our military's readiness.
Years of budget cuts, coupled with continuing resolutions, have
prevented and delayed the modernization of our airplanes, ships, and
basic equipment, while at the same time reducing the readiness of our
troops around the globe.
Here is the stunning and sobering reality: Today, we have the
smallest Army since before World War II, the smallest Navy since before
World War I, and the smallest Air Force we have ever had. Only 50
percent of our Nation's fighter and bomber forces are able to fly,
fight, and decisively win a highly contested fight, much like our
forces would encounter with China and Russia.
Get this: Less than half of the Navy's aircraft can fly due to
maintenance and spare parts issues. Think about that. Less than half of
the Navy's aircraft can fly due to maintenance and spare parts issues.
Budget cuts and increased operations have depleted America's supply
of precision ammunitions. Simply put, we are running out of bombs.
Two Navy destroyers were involved in collisions that will take years
to repair, resulting in the tragic deaths of 17 sailors--17 sailors of
the 80 that my colleague from California, Representative Duncan, just
shared about, where we lost 80 soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines
in training accidents last year.
We lost 17 in this accident dealing with the two Navy destroyers. I
saw the impact of this accident personally in September when I toured
the USS Fitzgerald as part of an Armed Services fact-finding mission. I
stood in the room where seven sailors died when their ship collided
with a commercial freighter a little after 1 in the morning, tearing a
huge hole in the side of the ship and flooding their room where they
were sleeping with water in a little under 2 minutes, giving them very
little time to escape.
It was heart-wrenching to see, and it was heartbreaking to think
about the pain that the families will feel for years to come.
Sadly, these accidents were not due to an enemy attack. They were due
to training lapses and poor leadership, which was exacerbated by high
demand of services, combined with lack of funding for needed ships and
lack of training caused by defense cuts and sequestration.
In some cases, we found out sailors are working 100 hours a week just
to keep up with the training requirements and the current operations.
Our men and women in uniform deserve better. We cannot expect our
sons and daughters to volunteer for the military only for them to be
placed in harm's way without the proper equipment or adequate training
to ensure they return home to us safely.
Congress must work to fix this problem. The 2-year budget agreement
passed earlier this year increased the defense spending caps to allow
our Nation's military to begin the rebuilding process. Congress took
action for fiscal year 2018 by investing in critical military programs,
such as increased funding for Navy ship and aircraft depot maintenance,
providing an additional 24 F/A-18 Super Hornets to address the Navy's
strike fighter shortage, and increased Active Duty end-strength for all
the service branches.
However, our work is far from over. It is vital that we pass on-time
appropriations for fiscal year 2019. Our military cannot adequately
restore readiness without on-time appropriations. It is our
responsibility as Members of Congress to ensure that the Department of
Defense receives appropriations for fiscal year 2019 by this October 1.
The House has already passed our version of the Defense
Appropriations bill, and I hope our colleagues in the Senate will act
swiftly to ensure the Department of Defense is funded on time. We need
their help to make this happen, and we owe it to our sailors and our
servicemen everywhere.
Time is running out. We have an opportunity to get this right, and I
urge the Senate to act swiftly and quickly.
Mr. TAYLOR. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from Missouri, who
is a strong, principled, conservative voice on the House Armed Services
Committee and a huge supporter of our military and national security
apparatus. I thank the gentlewoman for her service here and, of course,
to our military, and for her good work.
Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Bergman).
Mr. BERGMAN. Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague and my next-door
office mate. The south wing of Cannon is well guarded.
Of course, the third verse of the ``Marines' Hymn'' says that when
all the rest of us get to heaven, they will find that the gates are
guarded by United States marines. But I guarantee you, there are some
snipers up there somewhere, making sure that the marines don't get
taken from behind.
We have a term, or had a term because I am no longer involved with
the Pentagon on a direct basis, but while working there over a long
period of time, there was a term called BLUF, B-L-U-F, bottom line up
front. So the bottom line up front from my remarks today is that CRs,
continuing resolutions, seriously inhibit and in some cases, prevent
long-term planning, training, and readiness.
We have a term that you will hear now used by the military on a daily
basis: We have to be ready to fight tonight. That is not tonight next
week. That is not tonight next month. That is right now and around the
globe.
{time} 1800
When you have a mission like the U.S. military does to protect not
only our citizens here but those citizens in countries of our coalition
partners around the world, we have to be able to fight tonight, and we
have to be able to fight as a coalition force around the world. When
you are not ready, you are not a good partner. Continuing resolutions
consume time, they consume resources, and they increase the overall
cost of warfighting.
DOD's mission is to protect all of our citizens by successfully
executing operational war plans. These operational plans change over
time due to evolving threats. Continuing resolutions prevent DOD from
maintaining momentum in keeping ahead of those changing threats.
Warfighting is not like a sports team where you can go 18 and 1 for the
season and still claim victory. That 1 has to always be in the zero
column for our military.
Training and readiness go hand in hand. The readiness comes in two
forms: personnel readiness and equipment readiness. When you think
about the time it takes to train a young soldier, sailor, airman,
marine or coastguardsman, that can't be done overnight. Long-term
planning goes into that individual training. That individual training
morphs into unit training so that individual part of a unit is
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ready to go and defend our Nation's interests at home and abroad.
Equipment readiness is a challenge, because when you cannot plan long
term for your buys of parts, whether they be for aircraft, ships,
tanks, whatever it happens to be, again, your cost goes up.
We have the responsibility as the Congress to give our Department of
Defense and the Secretary of Defense the tools they need to keep our
country safe. Continuing resolutions seriously hinder our capability to
complete that mission.
I strongly urge the Senate to act swiftly and come to the realization
that a continuing resolution is not an answer going forward for the
safety and security of our country, all of its citizens, our families,
and our coalition partners who rely on us when times get in dire
straits.
So, Madam Speaker, I am thankful for the opportunity to speak with
you tonight, and I just want to end with one real-time, real-life
anecdote.
Forty-six years ago yesterday, July 11, 1972, we saw the evidence of
a successful evolving threat in Vietnam when the worst, most
devastating helicopter shoot-down of the entire Vietnam war occurred.
Sixty-two people perished in one CH-53 helicopter in the northern I
Corps. We had not had the capability to adjust our tactics because the
SA-7 missile had been introduced. That is how quickly life can change
on the battlefield.
We as the Congress need to do everything possible to ensure that that
doesn't happen to our Nation's warriors.
Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague not only for his service, but for
his friendship.
Mr. TAYLOR. Madam Speaker, I would certainly like to thank the
gentleman, Congressman, general, and marine--marine nonetheless--for
his fantastic service to this great Nation, both then and now, as a
colleague, as a fellow veteran, and as a neighbor in the Cannon
building on the south end there. I thank the gentleman for his service
and his steadfast support of our military men and women.
Madam Speaker, the regular use, as you have heard, of continuing
resolutions impacts commanders at all levels. You have heard about more
training deaths than combat deaths. I have to tell you at the service
and major command levels, commanders are not allowed to start new
programs, increase rates of production, or begin new military
construction projects. As you move to lower echelons of command, it
forces leaders into making risk determinations related to readiness and
training.
Consider, Madam Speaker, Oceana Naval Base. You heard the gentlewoman
from Missouri talk about parts and maintenance and half of the Navy
airplanes not being able to fly. Oceana Naval Base, which resides in my
district, if it were a country, it would be the seventh largest
airforce in the world.
The Air Force Combat Command is also in my district. Flying hours for
many of these units have been far below the needed hours for units
prepping for combat deployments.
As you heard, many of the aircraft are grounded because of
maintenance and not being able to get to parts. It has taken years and
will take years to recover. We are certainly not there yet.
Air National Guardsmen who volunteer at the beginning of the year are
only able to have orders cut for the duration of the continuing
resolution if it happens. This sometimes reduces the level of their
benefits, such as their basic housing allowance. They are eligible to
receive less than that because the orders get broken into separate
pieces.
This really affects the ones at the lower rank, the enlisted, like
what I was, those who may have military families. Again, hurting our
military families which is the strong basis of structure for a strong
force.
Let me give you another example. While returning from a deployment,
approximately 90 airmen had unanticipated changes in their itinerary
which caused additional expenses to be incurred. Since these expenses
were not authorized prior to the new fiscal year, these members were
not reimbursed for more than 60 days after their return. Some of the
unpaid expenses ranged from just a few dollars to $7,000 for one young
airman.
Imagine, Madam Speaker, if you are a young airman, E-3, E-4, and you
have a family, $7,000 is a lot of money. It could be the difference
between paying the mortgage and keeping the lights on back home,
contributing to the stress of our military families.
In the weekend of January 20, 2018, there was a scheduled training
weekend. The expiration of the continuing resolution caused a last-
minute cancelation of an event impacting 950 airmen. Fifty of the
airmen who traveled out of Langley Air Force base, also in my district,
before the order was given to cancel were immediately sent home without
accomplishing any training events. They may never be able to get that
training back as they prepare to go to combat for this Nation.
There are some other negative impacts that we don't hear about often.
The Virginia National Guard is second contributing to the war effort
amongst other guard units around the country. The Reserve components
make up 47 percent of our Nation's operational forces, yet they are
required to cease operations during a continuing resolution while
Active Duty counterparts continue training. Forty-seven percent, Madam
Speaker, of our operational forces have to shut down during continuing
resolutions.
Let me read a couple things that I got from the Virginia National
Guard.
During the most recent shutdown that happened, 3 days, was
inaccurately reported in many media outlets as having minimal impact,
to the contrary Virginia National Guard faced the following: They had
last-minute notification of inactive duty training for 2,211 personnel,
resulting in the absence of anticipated monthly income, which equated
to 4 days of Active Duty pay.
Notifications to more than 630 full-time soldiers and airmen that
their potential employment would be temporarily terminated were sent
out. That affects retention. $28,000 worth of contract actions were
canceled, and a projected $7,500 in subsequent loss as a result of
these cancelations.
Missed training opportunities. During the most recent shutdown, the
National Guard lost training opportunities totaled $7.7 million,
affecting expected income for 58,000 soldiers and airmen and 37,000
Federal technicians.
Aside from those losses, that contributes to mission and morale
impacts. Again, the Virginia National Guard is second in the Nation
contributing to the war efforts, and the Reserve components make up 47
percent of the Nation's operational forces.
Madam Speaker, we have to do better for our military apparatus. I
just want to reiterate to you that I have the great honor of
representing the district with more military and veterans than any
congressional district in the Nation. If there is anything going on in
the world, if Mother Freedom needs to be defended anywhere in the
world, then our men and women are there on the front-lines fighting for
family, for friends, and for freedom.
We in Congress and the Senate owe them better, and we have to do
better. We have to get our acts together. We have to lead with the
courage and the spirit that they have. We can make it happen, and we
should push and push until we got it done.
Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
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