Rodney Frelinghuysen

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. Madam Chair, I make a point of order against the amendment because it proposes to change existing law and constitutes legislation in an appropriation bill and, therefore, violates clause 2 of rule XXI. The rule states in pertinent part: ``An amendment to a general appropriation bill shall not be in order if changing existing law.'' The amendment requires a new determination. I ask for a ruling from the Chair.

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. Madam Chair, I reserve a point of order against the gentleman's amendment.

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. Madam Chair, I insist on my point of order.

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. Madam Chair, I make a point of order against the amendment because it proposes to change existing law and constitutes legislation in an appropriation bill and, therefore, it violates clause 2 of rule XXI. The rule states in pertinent part: ``An amendment to a general appropriation bill shall not be in order if changing existing law.'' The amendment requires a new determination. I ask for a ruling from the Chair.

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. Madam Chair, I reserve a point of order.

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. Will the gentleman yield?

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. Let me associate myself with the ranking member's comments. Whether somebody comes through our office or if we visit a military installation in the Middle East and somebody comes up with an issue that affects them personally--or their families--they have a right, and we have always put these protections in our bill. So I commend you. I think it is very much in order.

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. I thank the gentleman for yielding. Madam Chair, I want to make it clear that we are not giving any funds and assistance to the Governments of Iran and Syria. When and if the chemical weapons leave Syria, there may be a third party that we are assisting in terms of getting those chemical weapons out of the region, which I think is a good idea. We are not supporting the Assad regime, I can assure you, and we are certainly not supporting what has been happening in Iran over the last decade. I do support the continuation of the United States' participation in the Middle East peace efforts. I think we need some progress, and I think this amendment would send the wrong signal to our commitment to that process and would undermine that which we are trying to bring-- lasting peace to the area. I think it would be ill-advised, but I can assure you that we are not sending any money to Syria and Iran, so I oppose the amendment.

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. Will the gentleman yield?

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. Madam Chair, let me join with the ranking member. Reluctantly, I do oppose it. I agree that Fort Huachuca is a national asset, and we want to commend you for, obviously, reacting to, perhaps, news that might be on the wire service that there is oftentimes. Sometimes, actually, if there are people who are of the impression that they might be doing something, this is a pretty good way of bringing it to a halt. Traditionally, we oppose these, and, furthermore, there are no funds in the budget for anybody to accomplish this. For that reason, I am opposing it, but we salute your bringing this to our attention, and I think a message has probably been sent by your strong advocacy.

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. Madam Chairman, I move that the Committee do now rise.

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. Madam Chair, I move that the Committee do now rise and report the bill back to the House with sundry amendments and with the recommendation that the amendments be agreed to, and that the bill, as amended, do pass.

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to the motion to recommit.

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. Mr. Speaker, with strong leadership from Chairman Rogers and Ranking Member Lowey, our bill already funds the administration's request for electronic health records. This includes $124 million for interoperability efforts for the two current systems of both the Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs. Efforts are already underway to allow clinicians and users now to have operable records. In regard to sexual assaults, our recommendation provides approximately $275 million, an increase of $50 million over fiscal year 2014, which fully funds the President's request for sexual assault prevention. Mr. Speaker, with regards to traumatic brain injury funding, this bill, our bill, also includes over $400 million in research and development funds for traumatic brain injury and psychological health, and over $600 million in operation and maintenance funding to care for our wounded servicemembers, not to mention the amendments we have already accepted on the floor over the last couple of days. These are important programs. They are supported by Republicans and Democrats, and I may say, they are adequately supported in this bill. Mr. Speaker, I ask for a ``no'' vote on the motion to recommit and a big ``yes'' vote on the underlying bill. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the further consideration of H.R. 4870, and that I may include tabular material on the same.

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. I would like to join with the ranking member in commending you for this colloquy and for the purpose of the colloquy. Mr. Chairman, as you know, we share, love, and represent a number of Ukrainian Americans, and we know their plight, and we salute your efforts. This is an important focus that you have brought to our attention.

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. Will the gentleman yield?

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. Let me thank my colleague from New Jersey for raising this important issue. We believe this proposal to be an extremely risky proposition because the KC-10 provides a particularly vital link in the air bridge that enables global operations of our Armed Forces. We could not have done what we did in Afghanistan and Iraq without this vital link, and to retire the entire fleet would be a huge mistake. This is the only tanker that currently uses the boom to fuel Air Force aircraft and the basket to refuel the Navy and Marine Corps fleet. So it is darn important. I appreciate the work the gentleman has done to bring this to our attention. We have included, of course, language in our bill which reemphasizes the importance of the KC-10 to national security. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman for yielding.

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. Madam Chair, I seek time in opposition.

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. Madam Chair, I would first like to recognize Mr. Moran's service on our committee. As just exhibited, in the full committee, he is truly a passionate man, and I must say he has been consistently passionate on this issue, but despite his passion and his reasoning, I stand in opposition to his amendment. The provisions contained in our bill are the same as current law, and they have been carried in some form since fiscal year 2010, in both the appropriations bill and in the Defense authorization bill. Quite honestly, they need to remain there. The provisions we carry ensure that the remaining Gitmo detainees who are judged to be the most dangerous will never be brought into our homeland, where U.S. citizens could be threatened. There is a pretty strong and enduring consensus--bipartisan consensus--in Congress that Guantanamo Bay should remain open, that the detainees should not be transferred to the United States for any reason, and that no facility should be built in the United States to house them. As everyone here is aware and as it has been mentioned in earlier debate, a number of detainees who have been released from Guantanamo have gone back to the fight and killed and wounded Americans. The threat is real. We haven't quite left Afghanistan. The threats there are real. I strongly oppose the gentleman's amendment, and I ask the House to give it a strong negative vote. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. Madam Chair, what about justice for the victims of those who died on September 11, 2001? What about justice for those five detainees that were released the other day in the prisoner exchange, how is there justice there? They were among the worst of the worst. We need to keep the provisions in this bill. I urge a strong ``no'' vote on this amendment. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. Madam Chair, I move to strike the last word.

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. Madam Chair, I yield to the gentleman from Alabama (Mr. Byrne) for the purpose of a colloquy.

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. Let me first salute the gentleman from Alabama for his strong advocacy on behalf of the littoral combat ship, and let me say that the littoral combat ship plays an extremely important role in the future of the Navy's fleet. In fact, the ship represents nearly one-sixth of the 306-ship fleet the Navy has expressed as its stated fleet requirement. During markup of the bill, the committee spent as much time, if not more, on this issue than any other. In the end, we were extremely concerned with the strong words expressed by the Secretary of Defense with respect to the small surface combat requirements that these ships must have. Since the littoral combat ship does play a vital role, we want to make sure we are buying the correct version. That is why we slowed the production. However, we recognize the importance of the industrial base--very much so--and we certainly don't want to let that in any way stagnate, so we have provided funding for two ships to bridge the gap until the Navy can verify the requirements and incorporate them into the production line. I do recognize that this is an important program for your community, and you have been a remarkable advocate. You have been on my case for quite a long time, and I am hugely admiring of your passion and determination. I want to assure you that we will continue to work with you to address your concerns. We will continue to monitor, as we proceed to conference with the Senate, and we will work with the gentleman to ensure we adopt the right policy for our national security and the industrial base, including a very important shipyard in the gentleman's district in Mobile, Alabama.

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. Madam Chair, I yield back the balance of my time. Amendment No. 31 Offered by Ms. Lee of California