Ted Stevens

Mr. STEVENS

Mr. STEVENS. I want to thank my colleague for again raising this important issue. He has been a consistent advocate of our need to care for those injured by mandatory vaccines. The vaccine health care centers are a vital component in regular force protection. The centers help military medical providers administer vaccines in the most effective and safe manner and they provide expert care for that small number of personnel who have complicated adverse reactions.

Mr. STEVENS. Yes. In the past, the centers have been funded with supplemental funds. Last year we provided a portion of the funding in the regular budget and sought to show our support again this year. We understand that in the past, the Army has used supplemental funds to help cover the annual operating costs of all the centers, which is approximately $6 million. This year, we sought to provide some assistance by designating a portion of the regular budget in fiscal year 2007, $2 million, for the vaccine health care centers. It is not meant to be a cap on what can and should be spent.

Mr. STEVENS. I would be glad to engage in a colloquy with my friend the distinguished senior Senator from Idaho.

Mr. STEVENS. The Senator raises a valid concern. It is this chairman's expectation that the funds provided by our subcommittee in last year's bill be made available quickly by the Department of Defense and that this important research be conducted in an expedient manner.

Mr. STEVENS. I am happy to discuss this program with the Senator from New York.

Mr. STEVENS. I assure the Senator from New York I will do everything I can in conference to add this disease to the peer reviewed medical research list for consideration by the Department of Defense.

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, the research the Senator from Pennsylvania is describing is exactly the reason that the committee provided $45 million for the Peer Reviewed Medical Research Program. We need to get innovative treatments to our men and women in uniform as quickly as possible. I urge the Department to give the tissue engineering research proposal described by the Senator from Pennsylvania full and fair consideration.

Mr. STEVENS

Mr. STEVENS. I ask unanimous consent he be permitted to modify his amendment.

Mr. STEVENS. Will the Senator yield for a moment?

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. STEVENS. I send to the desk a modification of Senator Sessions' amendment that reflects the amendment offered by Senator Kyl. Since it has not been ordered yet, I believe it is the Senator's right to modify the amendment.

Mr. STEVENS

Mr. STEVENS. I ask unanimous consent that Justin Kalmbach, a legal intern in our office, be granted the privileges of the floor during the consideration of this legislation.

Mr. STEVENS

Mr. STEVENS. I make a point of order this amendment is legislation on an appropriations bill and violates rule XVI, and it would bring about a blue slip if this is reported to the House. With regret, I make that point of order.

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that reading of the amendment be dispensed with.

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, the subcommittee has been presented with some requests pertaining to the use of treatment to deal with the effects of acute radiation syndrome. We believe we do not have sufficient information available to respond to the request for funding for this concept. I will send to the desk an amendment that will require the Secretary of Defense to submit along with the President's budget for 2008 a plan to deal with countermeasures for treating members of the Armed Forces against the lethal effects of acute radiation syndrome and identify countermeasures required to protect the members of the Armed Forces in the event of a nuclear or bioterrorist attack. We believe we should not move forward and dedicate funds at this time until we have such a plan. I will yield to our cochairman, if he has comments about this issue.

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I send an amendment to the desk.

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, last evening, on behalf of myself and the Senator from Hawaii, I submitted an amendment and the Senate agreed to the amendment dealing with additional funding on an emergency basis for the Department of Defense. That was offered after consultation with the Department of Defense and also the Office of Management and Budget. It considers a series of things, some of which would be covered by other amendments which I understand other Members have. I see Senator Reed is here now. The amendment was intended to cover a whole series of issues. I apologize to the Senator from Rhode Island. I know he wishes to offer an amendment. I must say that these funds are duplicative, however, and we would have to examine each amendment to see what we will do with it. But we responded to the request of the Department of Defense and the OMB to provide additional emergency money for 2008 so-called reset programs. I will be happy to discuss that with anyone.

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, we join the Senator from Rhode Island, Mr. Reed, with his distinguished military career, who has raised this issue. Some time ago, we had reports on this matter of the reset funding and the goal of about $17 billion for that purpose. I personally visited with Secretary Rumsfeld and Deputy Secretary Gordan England and Admiral Giambastiani about this and asked they check how much was needed for this reset operation and urged them to deal with the Office of Management and Budget so we would not have any problem over the total amount. If you examine the bill, as we have it now, with the moneys we added last night, and the money that is already in the bridge account, there is the $17 billion there that was requested by the military. In my trips to Iraq, I visited some of the places where they are up- armoring large trucks and up-armoring some of the humvees and saw some of the activities they were pursuing in order to get better armor on some of the helicopters. All of this is part of the process, and it is not something new. After the Persian Gulf war we had two separate requests for funds for the reset activities. And ``reset'' is a word of art in the military; that is, to literally reset the force and the equipment so it is usable and ready in the event of another operation, should that be necessary. But again, we had several sums suggested. And when we went to the OMB and to the Department, they came back with the figures we offered the Senate last night on a bipartisan basis. I think they are sufficient at this time to carry us through. We will have a supplemental in the spring. We all know that. The bridge is to carry us forward through the period until we look at what might be the requirements for the operations going on in some 120 countries. As I said yesterday, in terms of our people in uniform, they are in 120 countries as we speak. So this is an enormous problem to assure that the equipment and all of the systems are brought up to absolute the best state possible. But again, Senator Reed has put forth his comments about this necessity from his military background. We appreciate that, and we agree with him. We agreed with him, and, as a matter of fact, the moneys we added last night were in addition to what the Senator was seeking because they cover some other activities beyond what he was talking about.

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

Mr. STEVENS

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, we do have another managers' package. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

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

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, again, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be dispensed with.

Mr. STEVENS

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be dispensed with.