J. Thurmond

Mr. THURMOND

Mr. THURMOND. Mr. President, with respect to H.R. 1119, the House- passed version of the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 1998, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration, that all after the enacting clause be stricken and the text of S. 936, as passed, be substituted in lieu thereof; that the bill be advanced to third reading and passed; and the title of S. 936 be substituted for the title of H.R. 1119; that the Senate insist on its amendments to the bill and the title and request a conference with the House on the disagreeing votes of the two Houses and the Chair be authorized to appoint conferees; that the motion to reconsider the above-mentioned votes be laid upon the table; and that the foregoing occur without any intervening action or debate.

Mr. THURMOND. Mr. President. I ask unanimous consent with respect to S. 936 as just passed by the Senate that, if the Senate receives a message with respect to this bill from the House of Representatives, the Senate disagree with the House on its amendment or amendments to the Senate-passed bill and agree to or request a conference, as appropriate, with the House on the disagreeing votes of the two Houses and the Chair be authorized to appoint conferees and the foregoing occur without any intervening action or debate.

Mr. THURMOND. I wish to again thank Senator Levin for his fine cooperation and all that he did to promote this bill. He did a magnificent job. Mr. NICKLES addressed the Chair.

Mr. THURMOND. Mr. President, in closing, I want to take this opportunity to thank the majority leader, Senator Lott, and the minority leader, Senator Daschle, for their fine cooperation throughout the consideration of this bill. And, Mr. President, I want to take this opportunity to thank Mr. Brownlee of the majority staff and Mr. Lyles on the minority staff, and finally the superb work of the fine floor staff that has been so helpful. They have all rendered yeoman service in the consideration and passage of this bill. I yield the floor. Mr. LEVIN addressed the Chair.

Mr. THURMOND. Mr. President, I wish to thank the able ranking member, Senator Levin, for the fine job he has done on this bill. I wish to thank also the subcommittee chairmen who have done such a good job here, and all others who have participated here and helped us bring this bill to conclusion. Now, Mr. President, we have had third reading of the bill, as I understand it?

Mr. THURMOND. The bill having been read a third time, I urge passage of the bill. Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. THURMOND. Mr. President, I send a package of amendments to the desk and ask consent that these amendments be considered as read and agreed to en bloc; the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table en bloc, and finally, that any statement relating to any of the amendments appear at this point in the Record. These amendments are cleared amendments and have been agreed to by both sides of the aisle.

Mr. THURMOND. Mr. President, this amendment would authorize the Secretary of the Army to enter into a multiyear procurement contract for the family of medium tactical vehicles [FMTV]. This authority is significant for the following reasons: First, the Army fleet of aging trucks, the backbone for our premier land force, has reached the end of its useful life and new trucks are required to support the heavy demand we place on these vehicles. Second, the Army will complete acquisition of the first round of new FMTV trucks through an existing multiyear in 1998. The soldiers in the field love these new trucks. They are reliable, capable, and are easily maintained. We must continue to field these trucks to our soldiers as quickly as possible. Third, the multiyear authority will be exercised within the current budget and will result in 9.5 percent savings over the life of the multiyear or $122.3 million. This means that the Army will be able to field more trucks than would otherwise be possible with current budget constraints. Mr. President, I strongly support the fielding of these trucks and believe that this multiyear will make the best use of available resources and will help our soldiers. I strongly urge my colleagues to support the amendment. I ask unanimous consent a description of the background on the FMTV be printed in the Record.

Mr. THURMOND. Mr. President, I believe that this amendment will help fill an important gap in our defense capability. I support this additional $5 million for facial recognition technology.

Mr. THURMOND. Mr. President, just before final action here, I want to take this opportunity to thank all the Republicans and all the Democrats for the fine cooperation they have given through the consideration of this bill. The Congress can pass no more important bill than this defense authorization legislation. It means our very protection. It is important to the Nation and I am so pleased that we are able, now, to go forward and pass this bill promptly. Mr. President, I ask for third reading of the bill. En Bloc Amendments Nos. 753 as modified, 607 as modified, 605 as modified, 762, 763, 772

Mr. THURMOND

Mr. THURMOND. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the Judiciary, be authorized to hold an executive business meeting during the session of the Senate on Friday, July 11, 1997, at 9:30 a.m., in room S211 of the U.S. Capitol.

Mr. THURMOND

Mr. THURMOND. Madam President, the amendment is cleared on this side.

Mr. THURMOND. I move to reconsider the vote.

Mr. THURMOND. Madam President, I move to reconsider the vote.

Mr. THURMOND. Mr. President, I am very concerned about this amendment. I realize that the amendment has nearly 50 cosponsors. I have been in the Senate long enough to know that any provision with that many cosponsors will pass. However, that does not make the amendment advisable or good government. While the amendment is very attractive from a political perspective, it is not good policy. The amendment would create a new position, the Senior Representative of the National Guard. The incumbent of this position would be a four-star general and would be a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The amendment does not eliminate the current three-star Chief of the National Guard Bureau nor does it shift any of the duties and responsibilities of the Chief of the National Guard Bureau to the newly created Senior Representative of the National Guard. This is pure and simple an additional layer of bureaucracy. A new four-star position is created but the incumbent is not a commander. He has no directive authority over any forces. The National Guard is under the control of the Governors during peacetime and under the control of the war fighting CINC's during wartime. This new Senior Representative has no real function. This position was not created as the result of studies and analysis. There have not been any hearings to determine whether such a position will actually meet any need or to identify any military requirement for an additional general. This Senior Representative does not enhance the representation of the Reserve forces. He is a National Guardsman and would only concentrate on National Guard issues. I suspect creating such a position will do more to disrupt jointness than to enhance it. Currently in the statute, the Chief of the National Guard reports directly to the Secretary of Defense and serves as the principal adviser to the Secretaries of the Army and the Air Force. The Chief of the National Guard Bureau is authorized to coordinate directly with the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs. Giving the Senior Representative of the National Guard membership in the Joint Chiefs is contrary to the tenets of Goldwater-Nichols which we worked so hard to develop and enact in 1986. In Goldwater-Nichols we established the membership of the Joint Chiefs of Staff as the Chairman and the four Service Chiefs. The Vice-Chairman was not made a member of the Joint Chiefs until 1992. This reflects the extensive study and analysis conducted by the JCS, the Department of Defense and the Congress before increasing the size of the Joint Chiefs. This Senior Representative position has not been vetted by anyone. I hope the Senator from Alaska would agree to let the Armed Services Committee hold hearings on this idea and determine whether and how to best meet the need the amendment is trying to address. In closing, Mr. President, I know this amendment will be adopted by the Senate. I want my colleagues to know that they are making national security policy by passing a politically appealing proposal. I prefer principle over politics. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that a letter addressed to me by the Secretary of Defense, William Cohen, be printed in the Record.

Mr. THURMOND. Mr. President, I rise in opposition to the amendment by the Senator from New Mexico to reduce funding for the space-based laser program. The space-based laser program is one of the most important technology development programs in the Department of Defense. It could provide for global boost phase defense against all types of ballistic missiles from short-range tactical missiles to long-range strategic missiles. It would be shortsighted for the United States to constantly abandon this development effort at a time when the long-range missile threat is growing. The space-based laser program is the only future oriented program remaining at the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization. With the exception of space-based laser, BMDO is focused almost exclusively on near-term development and deployment efforts. This is an unbalanced approach which mortgages our future for near- term capability, and in my view we should have a more balanced approach, one which continues to invest in high payoff future systems while deploying near-term capability. Mr. President, the space-based laser program has been one of the best managed programs in the history of the Department of Defense. Unfortunately, the department has only requested $30 million for this important program in fiscal year 1998. The Armed Services Committee did the responsible thing by adding additional funds to ensure that this program continues to make technical progress. It would be highly irresponsible to cut this funding at this time. I strongly urge my colleagues to oppose the amendment by the Senator from New Mexico. Mr. SMITH of New Hampshire addressed the Chair.

Mr. THURMOND. Mr. President, we agree to accept the amendment on this side. Mr. LEVIN addressed the Chair.

Mr. THURMOND. Madam President, I move to reconsider the vote by which the amendment was rejected.

Mr. THURMOND. On behalf of Senator Dodd, I ask unanimous consent to add Senator Helms as a cosponsor to amendment No. 763.

Mr. THURMOND

Mr. THURMOND. The senior Senator from New Jersey's understandings are correct.

Mr. THURMOND. As the Senator knows, the outcome of conference cannot be forecast. As chairman it is my goal to support the Senate position and provide the Nation the best possible defense bill.

Mr. THURMOND

Mr. THURMOND. I move to lay it on the table. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.

Mr. THURMOND. I move to reconsider the vote.

Mr. THURMOND. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that at 1:15 p.m. Senator Murray be recognized and that debate on the Murray amendment No. 593 be limited to 45 minutes, to be equally divided in the usual form, and following the conclusion or yielding back of time, the Senate proceed to vote on or in relation to the Murray amendment.

Mr. THURMOND. I further ask unanimous consent that no amendments be in order to the Murray amendment.