Rodney Frelinghuysen

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. We're pleased to accept the gentleman from Minnesota's amendment, and we salute him for his advocacy. I could tell you from a personal visit from a soldier who lost his sight, Tim Fallon from Long Valley, New Jersey, who came into my office to advocate, that these are dollars well spent. We need to spend more on these types of investments because too many soldiers are coming home with, I think, things that could be potentially benefited from this type of investment in terms of having the potential.

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. I am happy to yield to the gentleman.

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

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. I move to strike the last word.

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. Mr. Chairman, I strongly object to the arbitrary reductions to the Operations and Maintenance, Defense-Wide appropriations account. The Operations and Maintenance appropriations account funding, as Mr. Young stated a few minutes ago, is critical to the readiness, safety, and quality of life for our brave men and women who volunteer to serve each and every day. Cutting this account would hurt our readiness, and that is something we cannot do at this point in time. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. I move to strike the last word.

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. I want to thank the gentlewoman for bringing this issue to our attention. I have no objection to it. I accept it. I think its assessment would be valuable to be made.

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. I yield to the gentleman from Washington.

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

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word.

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. Mr. Chairman, the Joint IED Defeat fund recognizes the fact that we're still a nation at war. The young men and women who come back from war--and God forbid, some come back having paid the ultimate sacrifice, but many come back with unbelievable wounds, double amputees, loss of different limbs. This joint IED task force has done a lot to minimize that possibility. The committee did recognize, and as the gentlewoman mentions, we did reduce spending in this fund by $70 million. But we're a nation at war. They still have a critical mission. It's important that the work that they continue to do to defeat sometimes the simplest IEDs and sometimes the most complex IEDs continue. It's an investment that we need to make to make sure that, as we finish our job in Afghanistan, that we do our level best to protect our troops, those that are volunteering there, and to bring them back home in one piece. So we oppose the gentlewoman's amendment. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word.

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. Mr. Chairman, from the Clerk's reading, we've reached the limitations portion of the bill, and we would encourage Members having amendments for us to consider in that arena, or portion, this would be the appropriate time for them to come forward. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. Mr. Chairman, I withdraw my point of order.

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. I move to strike the last word.

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. Will the gentleman yield?

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. I thank the gentlemen for their comments, and we share in their support of a strong organic industrial base and a strong, ready military. We are pleased to work closely with members of the army depot and arsenal delegation throughout the conference proceedings to ensure their concerns are fully addressed and the necessary adjustments to depot and arsenal funding are made. I thank the gentleman for yielding.

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word.

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to the gentlewoman's amendment. I'm the first to admit that defense should not be immune to reasonable, analytically-based reductions, which are what we've already done over the past few years. Just 2 years ago, when Congress considered the fiscal year 2011 defense budget, the Department was planning on a fiscal year 2013 budget of roughly $562 billion. Their actual request for 2013, however, was only $516 billion, $46 billion less. In fact, in the past two fiscal years, our committee has produced a defense budget which totaled $39 billion below the request. My point is that we have cut defense, but we have done so reasonably and without impacting readiness or threatening the Department's ability to protect our Nation and our allies. This fiscal year 2013 budget is the first we've seen in which there are identifiable and significant risks associated with the budget decisions we've made. We've talked about that a lot today, about our pivot towards the Asia Pacific, the growing capability of China, things on the North Korean peninsula, for example, in cutting ships and in reducing the required Navy ship fleet size, in retiring large numbers of aircraft, some of which have been delivered, and in significantly underfunding facility maintenance and modernization. We have tried to mitigate these as best we could within our given allocation. Speaking of our allocation, it is essentially in line with both the Ryan budget as well as with the Defense authorization bill, both of which passed the House. Finally, in just the CBO's most recent analysis of the Department's future-years' defense program, they determined that the Department's plans will cost $123 billion more than they projected over the next 5 years. National security, of course, should never be subjected to partisan politics. Instead, we should show our support for our brave men and women, who have sacrificed so much and who continue to do so on our behalf. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. Mr. Chairman, we would like a copy of the amendment, please. I reserve a point of order until we have had a chance to look it over.

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. Mr. Chairman, normally the committee is given the courtesy of seeing amendments that come to the floor. This is the third time today, I believe, the gentleman from Massachusetts has shown a lack of courtesy in letting the committee have copies of his amendments. Let me say, as a Nation, we still believe in a nuclear deterrent. The last time I checked, there was bipartisan support for that. Both Mr. Visclosky and I serve on the Energy and Water Subcommittee, and part of our jurisdiction is to make sure that the President of the United States, our Commander in Chief, verifies that we have nuclear capabilities. The last time I checked, the administration was conducting what we call a Nuclear Posture Review relative to what our position should be in negotiations with other nuclear powers in terms of the type of weapons that are so critical to the nuclear triad. So, with all due respect to the gentleman from Massachusetts, who referred to a lot of what we said as the fantasy land of our bill, it would be good, actually, for the Members of Congress to have some facts from the Nuclear Posture Review before we consider something here which might put our Nation at risk. I strongly oppose this amendment, and I urge my colleagues to do so as well. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the Morris County Library located in the Township of Whippany, Morris County, New Jersey who are celebrating their 90th anniversary. The staff of the Morris County Library (MCL), through their dedicated hard work, has made the library a vibrant source of pride and activity for the local community. Following the passage of a bill in 1921 by the New Jersey Legislature to establish county libraries, the Morris County Library was formed in 1921 by a public vote. With over 10,000 books catalogued and a new book car to help their books reach the public, the library opened its doors in Morristown in 1922 to serve Morris County. The MCL continued to grow in its early years and by 1927 established a children's book section, which by the end of the year, saw every book in circulation checked out. The MCL also opened its resources to the local community with donations of books to the State Hospital at Morris Plains, Civilian Conservation Corps and the Morris County Jail. The MCL played a significant role in our nation's defense during World War II by becoming a federal depository for government publications, as well as boasting a large collection of books on U.S. defense. The MCL grew with the times, instituting an automated book catalog and circulation system in 1970 and a completely computerized catalog in 1987. This growth meant that a new building was required to contain the resources and accommodate the future growth of this Morris County institution. An architectural plan for a new library was unveiled in 1991 and by 2001 the new Morris County Library building in Whippany was dedicated. The new library contained group study rooms and public meeting rooms which instantly received high demand from the public. Their computer rooms also were capable of hosting training courses on a wide variety of subjects. Today, the Morris County Library serves 487,000 people with their collection of over 247,000 books and sees 521,000 borrows per year. In 2011 alone, their reference desk answered 63,815 questions, several for my office! The meeting rooms of the library have also seen significant use hosting thousands of meetings a year. The MCL continues to partner with community organizations such as the AARP, Carol G. Simon Cancer Center and the U.S. Veteran's Administration. The MCL has seen a number of awards during its history, including the NJ Library Association Swartzburg Preservation Award and Librarian of the Year from the New York Times. The significant resources held in the library and these community partnerships would not be possible if not for the commitment shown by the staff of the Library. Their work on behalf of literacy and their community has made the Morris County Library a vital institution in Morris County and New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I ask you and my colleagues to join me in congratulating the staff of the Morris County Library as they celebrate their 90th anniversary.

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. I yield to the ranking member for the purpose of a colloquy.

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. I yield back the balance of my time. Amendment Offered by Mr. Flake

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material on the further consideration of H.R. 5325, and that I may include tabular material on the same.