Daniel Inouye

Mr. INOUYE

Mr. INOUYE. I would be happy to join in that assurance. ec-130j modifications

Mr. INOUYE. Yes.

Mr. INOUYE. Mr. President, I send to the desk 16 amendments as part of the managers' package and ask unanimous consent for their immediate consideration en bloc. They are: Senator Feinstein amendment on secure cell phones; Senator Boxer amendment on Shortstop, an Army program; Senator Durbin amendment on the 932nd Airlift Command; Senator Mikulski amendment on Project Ancile; Senator Mikulski amendment on knowledge management fusion; Senator Schumer amendment on Large Energy National Shock Tunnel; Senator Dorgan amendment on ultra-low-power battlefield sensor system; Senator Biden amendment on nuclear debris collection; Senator Bayh amendment on M1A1 tank transmissions; Senator Inouye amendment on civil rights history in the Army; Senator Harkin amendment on airplane parts; Senator Wyden amendment on Iraq reconstruction contracts; Senator Boxer amendment on travel expenses; Senator Biden amendment on C-5s; Senator Schumer amendment on Iraq report; Senator Byrd amendment on travel credit card checks.

Mr. INOUYE. Mr. President, I move to reconsider the vote.

Mr. INOUYE

Mr. INOUYE. Mr. President, I can assure my distinguished colleague from Connecticut that we will do our utmost in convincing the House conferees to accept this.

Mr. INOUYE

Mr. INOUYE. Mr. President, I stand with much reluctance to speak against the amendment proposed by the good Senator. But I would like to commend him first for bringing this matter to our attention. I think it should be noted that as of this moment this Nation has spent over $15 billion primarily in research. If this was a case where we had a vaccine or we had some drug or some medicine that could cure global AIDS and that we were not purchasing it in a sufficient quantity, that would be another issue. Then one could say this is an emergency and we need more drugs or we need more vaccines. But we are still in the process of developing this vaccine. Experience has shown us that by merely appropriating money does not find solutions with these problems. One must train technicians. One must take time to do research. Men and women who are experts in this area and who have a schedule are much more knowledgeable to tell us at this stage whether we should be spending so much. Finally, when we hopefully reach that moment when we can tell the world we have found the vaccine and we have found the drugs that can do it, then we can spend huge amounts. We have spent over $15 billion. It is not an easy problem. To say that it is complex would be an understatement. If this amount suggested by my friend and mentor would cure the problem, I think all of us here would be supporting it. But I think all of us realize we are still at the development stage. If you study the process followed by other development programs, you will note that we always start small and then grow up to a point where we can do the huge spending. But we still must develop the vaccine. We still must develop the medicine. And just spending money is not going to do that. Much as I want to support my dear friends, I find that I will be supporting my chairman in the motion to table.

Mr. INOUYE

Mr. INOUYE. I move to lay that motion on the table. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to. Vote on Amendment No. 1270

Mr. INOUYE. I move to lay that motion on the table. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.

Mr. INOUYE. Madam President, listening to my chairman reminded me of my days of youth. During World War II, when I was a young man, I had the high honor of serving as platoon leader of 40 men. It was a small part of the war. But if someone had come up to me, say, my colonel, and said: How many men will you lose in the next 30 days? How many rounds of ammo will you use during the next 12 months? How many grenades will you explode during the next 12 months?--my answer would have had to have been: I don't know. There is no way of knowing how many men I will lose in this battle or the next battle. I have no idea how many rounds we will fire or how many grenades we will throw. We will do our best to maintain our force. But to require any commander to come forth with even a good guess as to what one can anticipate--who in his right mind could have predicted what Midway would turn out to be like or the battle of Guadalcanal? No one had any idea. We had contingency plans as to how we should cope with the enemy if it came from the northern slope or the southern slope, but as for the outcome, we went into a battle once that lasted 5 days and we thought we would come through with minimal casualties. In those 5 days, we incurred 800 casualties in my little regiment, 300 dead--in a battle we thought we could resolve in 3 days. But we had no idea the opposing forces were three times our size. I realize my colleagues are very eager to know what the costs of this war will be. Senator Stevens and I would like to know that also because we are in charge of bringing forth to this body our recommendations on what to spend. Frankly, we have no way of knowing. We can make a calculated guess. We tried to do that the last time, and we did not succeed. So we have called upon the administration to do their best. And when the time comes they need supplemental appropriations, we will consider that, and we will inspect and just look over every account. Keep in mind, if it is going to be a calculated guess, we have no way of conducting oversight. So I hope my colleagues will be a bit more patient with us. I realize that it may pay political dividends in some cases. But in this case we are dealing with the lives of men and women. I hope that in dealing with the lives of men and women, we will make certain that we conduct the affair in the best way possible. I reserve the remainder of my time.

Mr. INOUYE. I move to lay that motion on the table. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.

Mr. INOUYE. I move to lay that motion on the table. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to. Amendment No. 1268

Mr. INOUYE. Madam President, it was not my intention to participate in this debate. As it is well known in this Chamber, I was one of the few who voted against the resolution to grant the President of the United States authority to carry out the strike. So my views are rather well known here. But on matters that are being discussed today, in war it is almost impossible to predict what will happen tomorrow. As I indicated earlier, as a young lieutenant in charge of 40 men, if someone should have asked me how many men I thought I would lose today in battle, my response would be that I hope none. But who can predict that? Like many of my colleagues here, I have seen too many men killed. I have sensed the anger of war, and I have tasted the hatred involved. I say these things not to criticize my dear friend. In fact, I commend him for bringing these matters up for discussion. But one in war cannot make predictions, much as you want to. Equally as important, in the world of diplomacy--and in this case pointed out very astutely by my chairman, the Senator from Alaska--the President of the United States is in charge of the foreign policy of this Nation. In the world of diplomacy, when one sits down with another diplomat, one doesn't tell the world, I am going to tell that person that I want this or I want that or I am going to do this if you do not do that. It is just not done that way. Most of the conversations between heads of state are in private. That is the way it should be. We are not here to embarrass the head of state of some country by telling the Senate that, in my discussions with prime minister such-and-such, he said this and he is reneging now. That is not the way it is done. Equally as important, whatever disclosures our Commander in Chief makes, they impinge upon the future of the men on the front line. I would not want any sort of activity that would place our men and women in jeopardy. I think if we force the President of the United States to do what is required in this resolution, we may be placing our men and women in jeopardy.

Mr. INOUYE. Madam President, the committee has been advised, No. 1, that the procedure and process employed in Guantanamo and other places of detention meet the requirements set forth by the Geneva Convention. No. 2, the matter is being represented by counsel and presently in court. As our chairman indicated, it would not be appropriate for this committee to be intervening while a court case is pending. No. 3, I think we should keep in mind that this is not a war. This is an experience that this Nation has not had in its past history. This is a war on terrorism. It is not the uniformed enemy to which we are always accustomed where we know who their commanders are, we know where they are coming from, they wear a different type of uniform. In this war, we have no idea who the terrorists are. It could be this young lady here, for all I know. Having said that, if we follow provisions of this amendment and the Defense Department and the Department of Justice are required to give out the names, the rank, the charges, et cetera, and to give an indication as to when one can expect this prisoner to be released, I think we may be working right into the hands of the organization we are trying to combat: al-Qaida. If I were in charge of the al-Qaida operations, I would like to know what is happening to those below me. And if I new Mr. One is coming out next August or Mr. Two is coming out in September, I can make plans accordingly. As I pointed out, this is a war that none of us have experienced in the past. The chairman and I could speak of World War II and the Hump, the Japanese, the Germans, the camps and such. On this matter, we have never experienced anything like this. So I hope as long as Guantanamo is open to inspection--and the chairman and I have gone there. It has been always open to Members of Congress if they wish to go there for themselves to look over the conditions, to taste their food, and in fact talk to them to see if they are being tortured, as some would suggest. I think my colleagues will find that as Americans we have treated our detainees in an humane fashion. Now, no one would want to be detained even for an hour, but in this wartime condition and terrorist condition I think there is a necessity. We have done our duty in a way that Americans need not be embarrassed and ashamed. So I hope my colleagues will not look favorably upon this amendment and wait for another day. I reserve the remainder of my time.

Mr. INOUYE

Mr. INOUYE. Mr. President, if I may continue, on behalf of Mr. Miller, the Senator from Georgia, I have sent to the desk an amendment to make available from amounts available for research, development, test, and evaluation for the Navy, $1 million for the Trouble Reports Information Data Warehouse; and for the Senators from Florida, Mr. Graham and Mr. Nelson, an amendment to make available from amounts available for operation and maintenance, Navy, $2 million for night vision goggles in advanced helicopter training. I ask unanimous consent that these amendments be considered en bloc and passed.

Mr. INOUYE. I move to lay that motion on the table. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.

Mr. INOUYE

Mr. INOUYE. I ask unanimous consent that Stephen Tela, a legislative fellow assigned to Senator Kennedy's office, be accorded floor privileges during today's consideration of H.R. 2658.

Mr. INOUYE

Mr. INOUYE. I agree with the chairman and will join him in reviewing this matter for conference. digitization of department of defense manuals

Mr. INOUYE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the reading of the amendments be dispensed with.

Mr. INOUYE. Mr. President, I have four amendments I ask to have considered en bloc. The first is submitted by Senators Bingaman and Domenici providing for $3,500,000 for the National Consortia on MASINT research; the second by Senator Conrad for research, development, test, and evaluation for the Army, $3,500,000 for the Medical Vanguard Project; third, submitted by Senator Breaux to make available from amounts available for research, development, test, and evaluation, $800,000 for the Tulane Center for Missile Defense, Louisiana; and the final and fourth from Senator Reed of Rhode Island to make available from amounts available for Defense Production Act purchases $3,000,000 for a flexible aerogel material supplier initiative.

Mr. INOUYE. Yes, that is my understanding as well. I am advised that the exception can be applied while still assuring full compliance with all procurement requirements. So I would ask, is it the intent and directive of the Appropriations Committee that the Department of Defense employ all legal measures available under the law to accomplish the intent of the Congress in having the digitization work performed by the ten participating Native-owned firms through a single DoD contract with the jointly-owned firms?

Mr. INOUYE. I move to lay that motion on the table. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to. Amendments Nos. 1260 Through 1263, En Bloc

Mr. INOUYE. I move to lay that motion on the table. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to. Amendments Nos. 1257 Through 1259, En Bloc

Mr. INOUYE. As the Senator knows, the ten Native-owned firms that came together to establish a new Small Business Act 8(a) firm is composed of American Indian, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian information technology companies. To my knowledge, this is the first business enterprise to be jointly owned by the three indigenous populations of the United States. This new jointly-owned firm was established so that DoD would only have to award a single contract rather than having to award ten separate contracts to each of the ten participating firms. In establishing the jointly-owned firm, it was well understood that the jointly-owned firm would subcontract the digitization work to the ten participating Native-owned firms, and that the jointly-owned firm would assume administrative responsibilities and provide technical support to the ten Native Firms to ensure the highest quality production. This innovative approach reflects the intent of the Congress that the digitization work be performed by Native firms that can not only produce quality products for the Government, but that in the process of doing so, can also generate jobs in the economically-disadvantaged communities that they serve.

Mr. INOUYE. Mr. President, beginning in fiscal year 2003 and continuing this year, the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee has included funds for the digitization of Department of Defense, DoD, manuals and has directed that the work be performed by information technology firms owned and operated by Native Americans located in impoverished Native communities. These Native firms came together and formed a corporation, the Intertribal Information Technology Corporation, that could serve as the prime contractor in an effort to facilitate the contracting relationship with the Department of Defense. This consortium of firms has been working with mentoring information technology companies who already have existing contracts with the Department of Defense. I have had two briefings on the progress that is being made by the Native firms and their mentoring companies on existing DoD contract work, and have been advised that the performance of the Native firms is both exemplary and highly efficient. A few months ago, I had the opportunity to attend the dedication of the Native Hawaiian information technology firm that is part of this consortium, and was further impressed with the capacity of these Native firms to carry out the digitization work.

Mr. INOUYE. Mr. President, I move to reconsider the vote.