John McCain

Mr. McCAIN

Mr. McCAIN. I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. McCAIN. For the benefit of our colleagues, could I add also the agreement of a half hour time limit on the Paul amendment? He would agree to that. I am sure Senator Landrieu would agree to a short time agreement on her amendment.

Mr. McCAIN. How long will the Senator take?

Mr. McCAIN. All right. Amendment No. 1115, as Modified

Mr. McCAIN. Mr. President, I thank Senator Levin and the staff for the thorough job of investigation that was undertaken to identify the counterfeit electronic parts that are penetrating the Department of Defense supply chain. I thank Senator Whitehouse for his provisions which have been added to the bill from a bill he had introduced in the Judiciary Committee. At the hearing we had on November 8, the committee received additional evidence to supplement an already robust investigative record, and some very serious issues were raised, including the threat counterfeit electronic parts pose to the safety of our men and women in uniform, to our national security, and to our economy, how counterfeits increase the short- and long-term costs of defense systems, the lack of transparency in the Defense supply chain, and the U.S. relationship with the People's Republic of China. I see the Senator from Kentucky is on the floor. But I would just like to point out again and emphasize the points the chairman has made. The problem of counterfeit electronic parts in the Defense supply chain is more serious than most people realize. During its investigation, our committee uncovered over 1,800 incidents, totaling over 1 million parts of counterfeit electronic parts in the Defense supply chain. Suspect counterfeit electronic parts have been installed or delivered to the military for use on thermal weapons sites, on THAAD missile mission computers, and on military aircraft, including the C- 27J, C-17, C-130J, P-8A Poseidon, SH-60B, AH-64, and the CH-46. I do not claim this legislation will solve the problem of counterfeiting from China, the whole issue of intellectual property. Counterfeiting that goes on in other aspects of the world's economy and ours is one that is a very large issue. But at least this is an effort to make sure, as much as we can, that the men and women who serve in our military are not subject to operating systems that could literally endanger their lives--much less the incredible increase of the taxpayers' dollars. I thank the chairman again and his staff, and I can assure my colleagues this is an issue we will be following very closely in the days and weeks and months ahead. I note the presence of Senator Paul, so I ask for the regular order. Amendment No. 1064

Mr. McCAIN. Mr. President, I would like to first of all thank the Senator from Kentucky for quoting me. It is always a very pleasant experience as long as it is something that one would admire. On several occasions, I have been quoted in ways that I wish I had observed what my old friend Congressman Morris Udall used to say is the politician's prayer: May the words that I utter today be tender and sweet because tomorrow I may have to eat them. So I want to thank the Senator from Kentucky for his kind words. I also want to praise the Senator from Kentucky, who is a person who has come here with a firm conviction that he not only has principles but he intends to act on those principles in as impactful a way as possible and represent the people of Kentucky in a very activist fashion. He has my admiration. However, I would rise in opposition to the amendment. I would like to read from a letter that was sent to the chairman and to me from the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Secretary of Defense. This week, as you consider the National Defense Authorization Act, the Department of Defense would like to respond to your request for views on the amendment offered by Senator Paul which would repeal the Authorization for the Use of Military Force in Iraq. U.S. Forces are now in the final stages of coming home by the end of 2011. We are moving to a new phase in the relationship between our two countries and equal partnership based on mutual interests and mutual respect. While amendment No. 1064 echoes the President's policy, we cannot support the amendment as drafted. Outright and complete repeal of the AUMF-I, which is the Authorization for the Use of Military Force in Iraq, withdraws all Congressional support for any limited windup activities normally associated with ending a war. Thank you very much for your continued efforts. The Department of Defense sent over an unclassified response that was approved by several members of the Pentagon. It says: Although we are implementing the U.S.-Iraqi security agreement in full and pulling out all of our forces by the end of the year, we still have a limited number of DOD personnel under the Chief of Mission Authority to staff the Office of Security Cooperation-Iraq. Because there may be elements that would choose this time of transition to attempt to do harm to these personnel, it is essential that the Department of Defense retain the authority and flexibility to respond to such threats. The AUMF-I provides these authorities. The administration has worked closely with Congress in circumstances where it has been necessary to rely on the AUMF, and it would continue to do so should the need arise. In other words, and unfortunately, Iraq remains a dangerous place. We will have the largest contingent of Americans as part of the embassy there as we withdraw our combat troops. Some 16,000 Americans will man our embassy and consulates in Iraq, and unfortunately there are great signs of instability in Iraq. Al-Sadr has said that any remaining American troops will be a target. The Iranians continue to encourage attacks on Americans. There are significant divisions within the country which are beginning to widen, such as Sunni-Shia, the area around Kirkuk, increasing Iranian influence in the country. I will refrain from addressing the deep concerns I had before the agreement to completely withdraw took place. I will leave that out of this discussion because I feel the decision that was clearly made not to keep a residual force in the country, which was made by this administration and which is the subject for debate on another day, has placed the remaining Americans in significant jeopardy. As I say, that is 16,000 Americans to carry out the postwar commitments we have made to Iraq to help them rebuild their country after many years of war and bloodshed. I certainly understand the aim of the Senator from Kentucky. The President campaigned for President of the United States committing to withdraw all of our troops from Iraq. He is now achieving that goal. But I think it would be very serious to revoke all authority that we might have in order to respond to possible unrest and disruption within the country that might require the presence, at least on some level or another, of American troops to safeguard those 16,000 Americans who will be remaining in Iraq when our troops withdraw. So I argue that the amendment be defeated. I yield the floor.

Mr. McCAIN. Mr. President, I yield back the remainder of my time.

Mr. McCAIN. Mr. President, amendment No. 1419 would correct an unintended staff error in the new Division D funding tables that the Senate Armed Services Committee voted to adopt Tuesday, November 15, 2011. This error unintentionally reduced the President's budget request for the line 154, RDTE AF, JSTARS account by $33 million. This amendment would correct this error and restore the RDTE AF JSTARS account back to the level requested in the President's budget request and approved in the June 22, 2011, SASC-passed version of the National Defense Authorization Act. Both the majority and minority staff directors have acknowledged that this was an unintended staff error and have requested that this be corrected by restoring full funding of the RDTE AF JSTARS account to $121,610,000. Chairman Levin and I agree.

Mr. McCAIN

Mr. McCAIN. I wonder, if it is agreeable to the majority leader, rather than wait on the amendment concerning the National Guard, perhaps in anticipation of that eventuality the Senator from Vermont and the Senator from South Carolina would be allowed to speak on that amendment in the case that it is accepted. If not, then their words, as usual, would not be much.

Mr. McCAIN. I thank the majority leader.

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

Mr. McCAIN. It is my understanding that Senator Udall has also agreed to a half hour equally divided--debate, equally divided?

Mr. McCAIN. Will the Senator from South Carolina yield for a question?

Mr. McCAIN. Since, apparently, this amendment will be passed and signed by the President, is the Senator from South Carolina interested in being the head of the----

Mr. McCAIN. I don't seek recognition.

Mr. McCAIN. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. McCAIN. Mr. President, I wish to thank the majority leader for working very hard to see that we could move forward with this legislation and reach an agreement on a very significant issue. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. McCAIN

Mr. McCAIN. Will the Senator yield on the issue of the post office?

Mr. McCAIN. Isn't it kind of a symptom of the disease we suffer from here where we would not even agree to legislation that cuts mail delivery from 6 days to 5 days, which is the recommendation of the Postmaster General?

Mr. McCAIN. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. McCAIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to engage in a colloquy with the distinguished chairman.

Mr. McCAIN. Isn't it true, I would ask the chairman, that we went on this bill last Thursday and that we spent a good part of Thursday on this legislation? Then on Friday, you and I and a few others came in on Friday and had further debate and discussion of amendments; and then we came in, I believe, around 1:00 today and enjoined, in fact pleaded, with our colleagues to come and discuss their amendments they have pending? I understand there are over 100 amendments pending. So it does ring a bit hollow if some of our colleagues may say they didn't have time to debate the amendments that are pending. So I would say to my colleagues, I believe--and have stated endlessly--this piece of legislation, which has to do with the Nation's security, which has been passed by the Congress of the United States for over 50 years now, for over a half century, without interruption, that we are doing a disservice to the men and women in the military if we don't debate these amendments, if we don't discuss the important issues of national security that are embodied in this legislation. So I would ask my friend, the distinguished chairman, after these thousands of hours of work, and now on our fourth day of consideration of this bill, that maybe it might be appropriate for us to take measures to expedite the process. Again, I urge our colleagues who have pending amendments to come down and debate and discuss them so that we can line up votes because there are so many pending amendments it is going to require a significant number of votes as well.

Mr. McCAIN. So my colleagues should not object to short time agreements for debate, final debate before we vote on some of these amendments.

Mr. McCAIN. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. McCAIN

Mr. McCAIN. One thing I have learned about the Senator from New Mexico is that he does give all issues a fair and objective hearing. He listens and he pays attention and he is informed in his decisions. I thank him for taking part in this one.