Buck McKeon

Mr. McKEON

Mr. McKEON. Mr. Chairman, pursuant to H. Res. 661, I offer amendments en bloc.

Mr. McKEON. Mr. Chairman, I urge the committee to adopt the amendments en bloc, all of which have been examined by both the majority and the minority. Mr. Chair, I yield 1 minute to my friend and colleague, the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Duncan).

Mr. McKEON. Mr. Chairman, pursuant to H. Res. 661, I offer amendments en bloc.

Mr. McKEON. I continue to reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. McKEON. Mr. Chairman, I urge the committee to adopt the amendments en bloc, all of which have been examined by both the majority and the minority. I reserve the balance of my time.

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

Mr. McKEON. Mr. Chairman, I would like to thank my colleague and friend, the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Ms. Ros-Lehtinen from Florida, for agreeing to allow amendment No. 114 to proceed on the NDAA in the en bloc package, a matter that is within the rule X jurisdiction of the Foreign Affairs Committee. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. McKEON. Mr. Chairman, pursuant to H. Res. 661, I offer amendments en bloc.

Mr. McKEON

Mr. McKEON. Mr. Chair, I submit the following exchange of letters: House of Representatives, Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Washington, DC, May 10, 2012. Hon. Howard ``Buck'' McKeon, Chairman, Committee on Armed Services, Washington, DC Dear Chairman McKeon. I write to confirm our mutual understanding regarding H.R. 4310, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013. This legislation contains subject matter within the jurisdiction of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. However, in order to expedite floor consideration of this important legislation, the committee waives consideration of the bill. The Committee on Oversight and Government Reform takes this action only with the understanding that the committee's jurisdictional interests over this and similar legislation are in no way diminished or altered. The committee also reserves the right to seek appointment to any House-Senate conference on this legislation and requests your support if such a request is made. Finally, I would appreciate your including this letter in the Congressional Record during consideration of H.R. 4310 on the House Floor. Thank you for your attention to these matters. Sincerely, Darrell Issa, Chairman.

Mr. McKEON

Mr. McKEON. Mr. Chair, I rise to claim time in opposition to the amendment.

Mr. McKEON. I yield 2 minutes to my friend and colleague, the chairman of the Subcommittee on Readiness, the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Forbes).

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

Mr. McKEON. I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Hawaii (Ms. Hanabusa), my friend and colleague on the committee.

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

Mr. McKEON. I thank the gentleman for his efforts in addressing such a complex and serious issue. I agree that much needs to be done to improve our contingency contracting outcomes and to preserve and integrate the lessons learned over the last 10 years. The committee report accompanying the bill takes action on many of these same concerns. The committee will pursue this issue going forward to explore additional recommendations for systemic improvements to operational combat support and stabilization and reconstruction programs, including the proposal represented by the gentleman's amendment.

Mr. McKEON. I yield 2 minutes to my friend and colleague from Ohio (Mr. Turner).

Mr. McKEON. Mr. Chairman, I urge the committee to adopt the amendments en bloc, all of which have been examined by both the majority and the minority. Mr. Chair, I yield 1 minute to my friend and colleague, the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Rivera).

Mr. McKEON. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to my friend and colleague, the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Meehan).

Mr. McKEON. Mr. Chairman, I encourage all of our Members to support the en bloc amendments, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. McKEON. I yield myself the balance of the time. Mr. Chairman, I wish we were wrong, and I would hope that they are right in that we could continue to cut defense--cut it to the bone, cut it to the marrow--and that we could just live one big, happy, paradisiacal life, but history shows that that isn't the way things work. As Reagan said, it is important to have peace through strength. You will remember before he was elected, when President Carter tried to deal with the hostage situation in Iran, that our helicopters couldn't even fly across the desert. We'd cut back the military so far that we had a hollow military. There is a lot of talk about General Eisenhower and about President Eisenhower, and the thing he said, ``Beware of the military-industrial complex.'' He also said we have to have a very strong military because, if we don't, someone will take advantage of us. We have to be so strong that they're afraid to attack us for fear of annihilation. I was talking to one of our leading military leaders just a few months ago. Mr. Smith was in the meeting also. At the end of the meeting, he looked at me, and he said, In my 37 years, I've never seen a time more dangerous. If we are right and if we go through with all of these cuts and hollow out our military, we are talking about cutting $100 billion a year for the next 10 years. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. McKEON. Mr. Chairman, I yield the balance of my time to my friend and colleague, the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Turner).

Mr. McKEON. Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to this amendment.

Mr. McKEON

Mr. McKEON. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. McKEON. Mr. Chairman, I yield at this time 1 minute to the ranking member of the committee, the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Smith).

Mr. McKEON

Mr. McKEON. Mr. Speaker, I move that the House do now adjourn.