Jim Langevin

Mr. LANGEVIN

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

Mr. LANGEVIN. Mr. Chairman, at this time I have no speakers. I continue to reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. LANGEVIN. Mr. Chairman, I continue to reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. LANGEVIN. Mr. Chairman, I yield the balance of my time to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Speier).

Mr. LANGEVIN. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Nevada (Ms. Titus).

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

Mr. LANGEVIN. I yield the gentlewoman an additional 30 seconds.

Mr. LANGEVIN. Mr. Chairman, at this time, I am pleased to yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee).

Mr. LANGEVIN. Mr. Chairman, since there are no additional speakers on my side, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. LANGEVIN. Mr. Chairman, I continue to reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. LANGEVIN. Mr. Chairman, I have no speakers on my side, so I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. LANGEVIN. Mr. Chairman, I continue to reserve the balance of my time.

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

Mr. LANGEVIN. Mr. Chairman, may I inquire how much time I have remaining?

Mr. LANGEVIN. Mr. Chairman, I have no additional speakers at this time. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. LANGEVIN. Mr. Chairman, I will just close by saying, as I said in the beginning, that this amendment is a solution in search of a problem, and I would say it is not necessary at this time. No one is proposing reducing the alert levels at this time, and I would ask my colleagues to oppose the amendment. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. LANGEVIN. I yield the gentlewoman an additional 30 seconds.

Mr. LANGEVIN. Mr. Chairman, at this time I yield 2\1/2\ minutes to the gentlewoman from Massachusetts (Ms. Tsongas).

Mr. LANGEVIN. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself 4 minutes. While I applaud my colleagues for their attention to the ICBM force, I think their attention is in the wrong place. First of all, the amendment is unnecessary, and no one is even proposing reducing alert levels at this time. My concern here is that investigations, DOD reviews, and press articles over the past few years have revealed that we have had significant problems in the ICBM force, including the nearly 100 officers involved in cheating on tests, the possession of narcotics, security violations, pervasive morale issues, an instance of an ICBM officer who was later found to have been a gang member, a two-star general in charge of all U.S. ICBM who was stripped of his command for going on a drinking binge during an official visit to Russia, an ICBM wing at Minot Air Force Base failing a safety and security test, and reported narcotics by which launch control officers violated security regulations designed to protect the ICBM firing keys. Mr. Chairman, these are problems rising to the level of congressional attention, but instead of focusing on those very real issues affecting national defense, we are spending time on parochial concerns, quite frankly. There are no near-term plans, as I said in my opening, to reduce alert levels, and there are no FY16 funding requests to do so. This is a solution, quite frankly, in search of a problem and is a dangerous example of micromanaging in the area of our national defense in which very small actions, considered rationally and in isolation, reduce the strategic flexibility of the Commander in Chief. In no other area is the possibility for cataclysmic error so real. Let's not make deterrence harder. Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. LANGEVIN. Mr. Chairman, let me first say that I want to thank the chairman of the Armed Services Committee for his bipartisan cooperation in arriving at this en bloc package. I have no speakers at this point, so I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. LANGEVIN. I yield the gentlewoman an additional 30 seconds.

Mr. LANGEVIN. Mr. Chairman, I have no speakers, so at this time, I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Mr. LANGEVIN. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Keating).

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