J. Thurmond

Mr. THURMOND

Mr. THURMOND. I move to lay that motion on the table. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to. Amendment No. 2765 (Purpose: To add home school diploma recipients to the pilot program for treating GED recipients as high school graduates for enlistment purposes)

Mr. THURMOND. I urge the Senate adopt this amendment.

Mr. THURMOND. I urge the Senate adopt the amendment.

Mr. THURMOND. I move to lay that motion on the table. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to. Amendment No. 2764 (Purpose: To authorize the Secretary of Energy to enter into cost- sharing partnerships to operate the Hazardous Materials Management and Emergency Response training facility, Richland, Washington.)

Mr. THURMOND. Mr. President, on behalf of Senators Gorton and Murray, I offer an amendment which would authorize the Secretary of Energy to enter into cost-sharing partnerships to operate the Hazardous Materials Management and Emergency Response training facility in Richland, WA.

Mr. THURMOND. I believe the amendment has been cleared by the other side.

Mr. THURMOND. Mr. President, the amendment has been cleared by this side.

Mr. THURMOND. Mr. President, on behalf of Senator Mack, I offer an amendment which would amend the Military Construction Act of 1979 to authorize an additional conveyance, at fair market value, of 4 acres at Eglin Air Force Base to the Air Force Enlisted Men's Widows and Dependents Home Foundation, Inc.

Mr. THURMOND. Mr. President, I urge that the Senate adopt this amendment.

Mr. THURMOND. Mr. President, I offer an amendment which would reduce the amounts authorized to be appropriated in the Department of Defense for inflation savings. The amendment also increases readiness funding for the Army National Guard by $120 million and $20 million for arms control in the Department of Energy.

Mr. THURMOND. I ask unanimous consent that the pending amendments be set aside solely for the purpose of adopting a series of amendments which have been agreed to by both sides. I further ask unanimous consent that upon the disposition of this series of cleared amendments, the amendments set aside once again become the pending amendments.

Mr. THURMOND. I move to lay that motion on the table. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to. Amendment No. 2763 (Purpose: To enhance the fiscal position of the Center for Hemispheric Defense Studies for meeting the increasing responsibilities designated for the Center by the Secretary of Defense)

Mr. THURMOND. Mr. President, I believe this amendment has been cleared by the other side. I urge the amendment be adopted.

Mr. THURMOND. I move to lay that motion on the table. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to. Amendment No. 2753 (Purpose: To set aside RDT&E funds for a NATO alliance ground surveillance concept definition)

Mr. THURMOND. I urge the Senate adopt the amendment.

Mr. THURMOND. Mr. President, the amendment has been cleared.

Mr. THURMOND. I urge the Senate adopt the amendment.

Mr. THURMOND. The amendment has been cleared.

Mr. THURMOND. I move to lay it on the table. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to. Amendment No. 2780 (Purpose: To authorize amounts for NATO common-funded budgets)

Mr. THURMOND. I believe this amendment has been cleared by the other side.

Mr. THURMOND. I move to lay that motion on the table. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to. Amendment No. 2752 (Purpose: To require a plan for facilitating a rapid transition from successfully completed research under the Small Business Innovation Research Program into defense acquisition programs)

Mr. THURMOND. I move to lay that motion on the table. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to. Amendment No. 2747 (Purpose: To authorize the Secretary of the Navy to enter into multiyear contracts under certain aircraft procurement programs)

Mr. THURMOND

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

Mr. THURMOND. Mr. President, today the Senate is back to consider S. 2057, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1999. I am hopeful that we will be able to finish the floor action on this bill quickly, and I am looking forward to the floor debate. Mr. President, this bill is an important piece of legislation that enhances our national security. The Armed Services Committee has reported a sound bill which provides a 3.1 percent pay raise for the uniformed services, restores appropriate funding levels for the construction and maintenance of both bachelor and family housing, and increases investment in future modernization to ensure that the Department of Defense can leverage advances in technology and maintain our future force readiness. This bill recommends a number of policy initiatives and spending increases which improve the readiness of the reserve forces and permit greater use of the expertise and capabilities of the reserve components. Under the budget agreement, we have not added funds to the defense budget this year. However, as I stated when the Budget Resolution was on the floor, I believe that we are not providing adequate funds for defense and that we must reverse this negative spending trend. Mr. President, as a result of the budget agreement reached last year, non defense discretionary spending received significant increases while defense continued its downward spending trends--not even keeping pace with inflation. During the fiscal year 1998 appropriations process, the national security appropriations bill had the lowest percentage increase from fiscal year 1997 funding level than any of the other appropriations bills. In fact, military construction appropriations had a negative 6.2 percent change over the fiscal year 1997 funding levels, making funding for national defense grow at one-fifth the rate of domestic spending increases. Since the end of the Cold War, the active military end strength has been reduced from 2.2 million men and women to a little over 1.4 million. Annual defense spending continues to decline from a level of $400 billion in fiscal year 1986 to about $260 billion, in equivalent, inflation-adjusted dollars. Mr. President, I have been pleased to hear that many of my colleagues including, the Chairman of the Appropriations Committee and the Chairman of the Budget Committee believe, as I do, and have been recently quoted in the press that defense spending must be increased, and the negative spending trend for defense must be reversed. The gap between our military capability and our commitments around the world continues to widen. We can no longer carry out the ambitious foreign policy of this Administration with the level of resources allocated for defense and still maintain our current readiness posture. We will not require less of our servicemen and women in the future. We must meet our obligation to provide adequate resources for our national security. In this bill, the Committee has achieved a better balance among near- term readiness, long-term readiness, quality of life and adequate, safe and reliable nuclear weapons capabilities. Mr. President, I would like to take a moment to thank the Chairman of the Appropriations Committee and his staff for their close cooperation with our Committee this year. I cannot recall a time when we have worked together as closely as we have this year. I believe that cooperation is reflected in both of our bills, and I commend the Chairman and the Members of the Appropriations Committee and their fine staff for their work this year. I urge my colleagues to come to the floor and offer their amendments, but I would also like to remind my colleagues that any amendments to the defense authorization bill that would increase spending should be accompanied by offsetting reductions. My hope is that colleagues will support this bill and join the Members of the Armed Services Committee in passing this bill with a strong bipartisan vote. I wish to thank the Chair, and yield the floor.

Mr. THURMOND

Mr. THURMOND. Mr. President, I want to commend the able Senator from West Virginia for the remarks he just made. He has told us about that great State that has so many places named for other places in this country, so many places. He has told us about his history and the hardships he underwent and he has overcome. We are very proud of him. I consider him a man of integrity, ability and dedication. All that he has done in this body is a credit to him. I have never heard unfavorable remarks about Senator Byrd. Everything I have heard and learned about him has been good. And after hearing his talk this morning, I am convinced that all the experience he has in his life has influenced him throughout his entire career, which is quite remarkable. He has brought out so many instances of how other States are connected with his State; his State is intertwined with so many different places. Incidentally, in West Virginia there is a town or community named Thurmond. I don't know whether the Senator is familiar with it or not. He did not mention that, but I mention it to show that South Carolina has a connection with West Virginia, and we are very proud of the connection that we have with the Senator and his State. Again, I wish the Senator long life and much happiness and continued success in all of his undertakings.