Rodney Frelinghuysen

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. I yield to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Wittman), who is a member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. Reclaiming my time, let me thank the gentleman for his comments, and may I add emphasis to what he said. The thought that people that have been released from Guantanamo have gone back to the fight and been involved in the killing of Americans in the Middle East is repugnant and makes all of us angry. That is literally what has happened. We read about it in open sources, and we can speculate because I think sometimes these things are not reported, that a lot of these people that have been released have gone back and actually headed up efforts to ambush our soldiers and kill our soldiers and seek vengeance. In reality, I am glad these people continue to be locked away. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. Mr. Chairman, I claim the time in opposition.

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. Mr. Chairman, I yield to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Wittman).

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. Mr. Chairman, I claim the time in opposition.

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. I yield to the distinguished gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Forbes).

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. Mr. Chairman, what is really surrealistic around here, to use the gentleman's word, is that we spend more time on these Guantanamo detainees than we do on Americans locked up in Iranian prisons and jails--that is unconscionable--or with Americans detained in North Korea. Let's focus on liberty for some of the people in those countries that we are trying to work with on the nuclear deal, such as the Iranians holding Americans prisoners. You have the right to focus on these detainees. Ninety-nine percent of them are guilty as hell, but we seem to be doing little in the public way to release Americans held in prisons in various parts of the world. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. Mr. Chairman, I claim the time in opposition.

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. I will continue to reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. Mr. Chairman, our committee strongly supports the Ohio class submarine. We have done it for years. Both the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Visclosky) and I not only serve on the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee and provide its leadership, but we have also supported this program on Energy and Water, which is the other part of the package. With respect, the gentleman from Virginia's amendment proposes to strike a provision of the bill, prohibits the transfer of funds to the national sea-based deterrence fund, a reserve established but not funded last year in the NDAA. We recognize this submarine will be expensive; however, the national sea-based deterrence fund will not make the submarine any less expensive, and it will not increase resources available to the Department of Defense. This Congress has an important responsibility to provide resources to all of our military services and the intelligence community. Under the structure of this special fund, the Secretary of Defense has the authority to divert dollars into this new fund from the Army, Marines, Air Force, Special Forces, missile defense, ISR, and other types of essential programs. This is the wrong approach. It removes, furthermore, congressional oversight from the Secretary of Defense. Secondly, if the President determines the Ohio class replacement is a must-fund platform, then the Navy should buy it, just as it has every other submarine in its inventory that our committee has supported. Establishing a special fund to pay for the submarine is an attempt to have other military services pay for what is a Navy responsibility. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. Blumenauer).

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. Mr. Chairman, I yield the balance of my time to the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Visclosky), the ranking member.

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition, but, in fact, I support the amendment put forward by a member of our committee.

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. I thank the gentlewoman from Minnesota for her amendment, as well as the gentleman from Kentucky for his strong advocacy. Supporting our industrial base is a strong priority of mine and our committee's. We think this amendment is a good idea. It sends another message to the bureaucracy that we mean what we say. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to the gentleman's amendment. I certainly understand the gentleman's passion, and at times, I share some of the same concerns he stated in his remarks. Just to put a little perspective on it, the coalition support fund allows the Secretary of Defense to reimburse any key cooperating nation for logistical and military support, including access, specialized training to personnel, procurement and provision of supplies and equipment provided by that nation in connection with the U.S. military operations in Operation Enduring Freedom. Receipts for reimbursements are submitted by cooperating nations and are fully vetted by the Pentagon and follow strict criteria to meet the standard for reimbursement, and all payments are made in arrears and follow a notification to Congress, so there is a notification to Congress. Regarding Pakistan, the coalition support fund remains a critical tool to enable Pakistan to effectively deal with future challenges emerging from the U.S. drawdown. At times, I wonder whether we are withdrawing. It is also a cost-effective tool, some would say, for the U.S. to remain engaged in the region. I know all too well that our relationship with Pakistan is an uncomfortable one; I feel it, but these funds are sent to reimburse Pakistan for actions to protect our interests. These reimbursements are made to maintain some 186 Pakistani forces along 1,600 miles of border between Pakistan and Afghanistan to deter cross-border conflict, movement, and counterterrorism-counterinsurgency operations throughout the FATA, the Federally Administered Tribal Areas. The focus of this core level is against TTP, an al Qaeda-allied organization that conducts regional terrorist and insurgent attacks. Nearly 28,000 militants were killed, injured, or arrested due to these operations. Pakistan itself--and this doesn't get much press--has suffered a lot of casualties themselves, about 5,000, while attempting to secure this treacherous border. Continued support of the deployment of the Pakistan Armed Forces in FATA and other areas in the future is needed for the long-term stability of the area. I must oppose the amendment, although I understand the passion with which the gentleman has made his argument because I think it is in our long-term interest to have this relationship. I would be happy to yield to the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Visclosky), my ranking member.

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. Will the gentleman yield?

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. Mr. Chairman, let me echo some of the sentiments of Mr. Visclosky about some of the concerns and some of the reports that have been issued by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction. It should be worrisome. A hell of a lot of money has been wasted. I do think there are some projects that need to be completed. One that comes to mind is the Kandahar bridging solution, the plan to bring electric power to Kandahar. It ends in 3 months. We need to continue that investment. This was a top counterinsurgency priority. Most road projects are completed. The second is the Kajaki Dam has less than a year's work remaining and will supply renewable electric power to the grid. These are elements of stability that sometimes get lost in reports of empty buildings where there are no occupants and no electricity. I think we need to continue to give a helping hand to the Afghan people because, if they don't have an economy, then they are not going to have any national security. They need a stable economy, and some of these projects near completion need to be continued. I thank the gentleman for yielding.

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. Mr. Chairman, I demand a recorded vote.

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. Mr. Chairman, may I say that I share quite a lot of the gentleman's sentiments. I have said on a number of occasions, when you put the Defense bill forward, sometimes you have to support things that the Commander in Chief and the President want that you are highly dubious about. I have been very conflicted about this Train and Equip. At times, I think the enemy is doing a better job of training and equipping their own than we are, and, at times, it has been pretty deplorable. I want the gentleman to know I do support this effort. Let me just put some meat on the bones to, maybe, even make his point but, in reality, tell a little truth about the program. The Iraq Train and Equip Program provides about $715 million in both funding and authority to assist military and other forces associated with the Government of Iraq, including Kurdish and tribal security forces, with a national security mission to counter ISIL. We do know in the overall mix--and the gentleman from Minnesota knows it--there are some good guys over there. Of course, a lot of the good guys have been taken over by the Quds Force and the Iranians to the south, but, in reality, we do have some good allies in the north with the Kurds, so I haven't given up on all parts of Iraq. I think we need to continue to support the program. Evidently, our President does as well. We are sending 400 more advisers over to, shall we say, set up a new base camp in Ramadi in Anbar province to sort of respond to a huge crisis there when that city was taken over. I would hate to abandon the people of Iraq without giving it one more try. Mr. Chairman, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Visclosky), my ranking member.

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. Mr. Chairman, how much time do I have remaining?

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. In reclaiming my time, I have a few other comments. Mr. Chairman, I said I do work on behalf of the President of the United States and our Commander in Chief, and I have to say I have concerns about our continued investment in Pakistan. We debated that. We have had talk about the Afghan infrastructure fund, which has been troubled with projects, and this is an ongoing area which has not been trouble free. Yet it is interesting that nobody from the White House, since the budget was introduced, has reached out to me relative to defending these programs. I think the people of these countries deserve protection and support, but it is interesting that we carry the water on these issues and on many other issues on this committee. Do we get any reinforcements? Actually, our entire bill has been put together for all of our military services without any assistance from those military services to get us across the finish line. I think it is remarkable. The standoffishness-- the ambivalence--about working with us, I think, is a total disgrace. I have to oppose the gentleman's amendment, and he certainly knows more about my sentiments publicly that I have expressed in the past. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to the amendment.