J. Thurmond

Mr. THURMOND

Mr. THURMOND. Mr. President, I am glad it is going to be set aside. I question whether this amendment is appropriate on this bill. This bill is a defense authorization bill. This amendment appears to be one that would be pertinent to the foreign operations bill; in other words, the foreign affairs bill. It seems to me that, if we are going to bring up all kinds of amendments that do not concern this defense bill, we could be here days and days. I think the amendment ought to be withdrawn and brought up later on an appropriate bill, and that would be a foreign affairs bill.

Mr. THURMOND. I yield such time as the Senator from Virginia may require.

Mr. THURMOND. On this side of the aisle we are willing to accept the amendment.

Mr. THURMOND. Mr. President, I move to table the amendment and ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. THURMOND. I understood the time had expired.

Mr. THURMOND. I move to table the amendment. Mr. DOLE: I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. THURMOND. Madam President, I yield myself such time as may be required. Madam President, the Senator from Michigan offered this same amendment during our committee markup. It was opposed by all Republican members of our committee and defeated. The proponents of this amendment suggest it would be more appropriate to provide a sum of money to the Department of Defense and let them decide how to spend the money. Madam President, I disagree. It is the job of the Congress to decide how these funds should be used. The Senate will make decisions on this defense authorization bill affecting the spending of $265 billion. I do not know why we should treat the funds we added for the National Guard and Reserve equipment differently from the rest of the bill. Madam President, the Senator from Michigan has indicated that we should let the National Guard and Reserve components decide how to spend this money. He knows full well that if we simply turn a sum of money over to the Department of Defense, then the bureaucrats in the Department of Defense will decide how the money will be spent. It is interesting to note, Madam President, that those who now want the Pentagon to decide these matters began to adopt this position about the same time they gained control of the administration in 1993. Madam President, it is our responsibility and our duty to make the hard decisions on how we should spend defense dollars, including those dollars we add to the budget for specific purposes. The funds we added for the National Guard and Reserve equipment package certainly fit this category. I strongly urge all my colleagues to support this package for the National Guard and Reserve components and vote to sustain the position of the Armed Services Committee. Madam President, I yield the floor.

Mr. THURMOND. Mr. President, I just want to say that we plan to finish this bill tonight. We have a lot of amendments yet, and as short a time as we can take on each, we will get through quickly. We do plan to finish this bill tonight. Amendment No. 2121 (Purpose: To provide for reduction of U.S. military forces in Europe in relationship to any deficiency in allied defense burdensharing)

Mr. THURMOND

Mr. THURMOND. Mr. President, I rise to oppose the amendment offered by my distinguished colleague, Senator Bumpers, of Arkansas. It would remove a very important program from the bill we have discussed in our committee and on the floor for the last several years. According to studies conducted by the Office of Technology Assessment and others, the defense industry is laying off 20,000 workers every month and will continue to do so every month throughout the decade. One way to preserve these jobs is to help our industries export more defense products to our friends and allies. Export loan guarantees is the one way to put U.S. defense contractors on a level playing field with our foreign competitors. Other countries such as France and Great Britain provide such finance guarantees to their industries, and we should do likewise. The loan guarantee program establishing section 1053 is a no-cost program for U.S. taxpayers. The eligible countries are restricted to 37 of our allies and friends, and the controls on the sales of sensitive technologies are in no way relaxed. I urge my colleagues to reject this amendment.

Mr. THURMOND. How long?

Mr. THURMOND. Can you go with less than that?

Mr. THURMOND. I yield such time as may be required by the distinguished and able Republican leader.

Mr. THURMOND. I yield 3 minutes.

Mr. THURMOND. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that there now be a total of 2 hours of debate prior to a motion to table on an amendment to be offered by Senators McCain, Roth, Feingold, and Grams regarding the Seawolf submarine, with the time equally divided between Senators McCain and Cohen; I further ask that no second-degree amendments be in order prior to a vote on a motion to table, and that upon expiration or yielding back of time the Senate proceed to a vote on or in relation to the McCain amendment.

Mr. THURMOND. Mr. President, I just want to say that we have spent a long time now just on a few amendments. I hope we can get reasonable time agreements and finish up this bill. I am saying that we can finish this bill in a reasonable time tomorrow, if we stay here tonight and work a reasonable time and do not take too much time on any one amendment. Most of the people know how they are going to vote; it is just a matter of voting. I hope we are all together.

Mr. THURMOND. Since time has expired on both sides, I ask for the yeas and nays on this amendment.

Mr. THURMOND. Mr. President, I thank my colleagues for raising this important issue. I had previously directed the respective committee staff to review this matter and have included a funding adjustment in the manager's amendment. This adjustment would add $10 million to the Air Force Reserve account and reduce the Department of Defense wide activities by $10 million.

Mr. THURMOND. Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays on the amendment.

Mr. THURMOND. That is correct, Mr. President, the statement made by the able Senator from Maine.

Mr. THURMOND. Mr. President, I send an amendment to the desk and ask for immediate consideration. This amendment modifies section 648, annuities for certain military surviving spouses to eliminate the direct spending costs. When the committee adopted this provision during our markup, we did so based on a cost estimate from the Congressional Budget Office which made this provision affordable. Later, after the bill was approved by the committee, CBO revised the cost estimate upward. The revised estimate is that this provision will cost $40 million in direct spending in fiscal year 1996. The Budget Committee is forcing us to take this action under threat of placing a point of order against our bill. I have looked at every solution available to me to find a way to keep these annuities. I am disappointed that I am unable to retain the provision this year. The amendment modifies the provision to require the Secretary of Defense to conduct a study to determine how many forgotten widows would qualify for an annuity and to recommend the amount of such an annuity. The required study is to be delivered to the Armed Services Committee not later than March 1, 1996. This will give us time to consider the information in the report and develop legislation next year which will finally authorize providing this group of surviving military spouses the compensation they deserve. Once the committee has this study, we will be able to provide the Budget Committee and the Congressional Budget Office the data necessary to preclude the technical budgetese we faced this year from deterring us next year. I understand this amendment is agreed to on both sides.

Mr. THURMOND. I ask unanimous consent that upon disposition of the first McCain amendment, Senator McCain be recognized to offer an amendment regarding Seawolf cost cap and immediately after the clerk reports that amendment Senator Dodd be recognized to offer a relevant second-degree amendment and that there be a total of 10 minutes of debate equally divided in the usual form on both amendments. I further ask unanimous consent that upon the expiration or yielding back of the time on the second amendment, the Senate proceed to a vote on or in relation to the Dodd amendment, followed immediately by a vote on or in relation to the McCain amendment, as amended, if amended.

Mr. THURMOND. Thank you.

Mr. THURMOND. That will be all right if we can get through the debate--all but the voting. We have a lot of amendments tonight to act on.

Mr. THURMOND. Mr. President, this amendment modifies section 1106, transfer authority regarding funds available for foreign currency fluctuations to eliminate the direct spending costs. When the committee adopted this provision during our markup, we [[Page S 11311]] did so based on a cost estimate from the Congressional Budget Office which made this provision affordable. Later, after the bill was approved by the committee, CBO revised the cost estimate upward. The revised estimate is that this provision will cost $30 million in direct spending in fiscal year 1996. The amendment modifies the provision to make the authority effective in fiscal year 1996, eliminating the ability to use prior year funds. I understand this amendment is agreed to on both sides.

Mr. THURMOND. I yield 10 minutes to the distinguished Senator from Arizona.