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With the current focus on the readiness of America's military, this is a timely package that makes a clear statement about the Senate's commitment to our men and women in uniform. There is no question that this is a big bill, topping out at $309.9 billion--$4.6 billion over the President's budget request. It is a broad and complex measure, affecting virtually every facet of our nation's military forces and readiness capabilities. It has not been an easy task to finalize the conference and reach this point. Many controversial issues had to be confronted and resolved along the way. Conferees began their work before the August recess, and have labored intensely over the past several weeks to complete the conference. I commend our Chairman, Senator WARNER, and Ranking Member, Senator LEVIN, for their guidance, skill, and leadership during the conference. While not every Senator may agree with every provision of this conference report, all Senators can be assured, thanks to the leadership of Senators WARNER and LEVIN, that the conferees never lost sight of the essential purpose of this legislation, which is to provide for America's national security and military readiness.
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I am particularly pleased that the authorizers concurred with the appropriators in funding a 3.7 percent pay raise for military personnel. We can never adequately compensate our men and women in uniform for their dedication and service to this nation, but we must always strive to provide the best pay and benefits package that we can. In that regard, I also welcome the comprehensive package of improved health benefits for Medicare-eligible military retirees, although I understand the concern that has been raised over the cost of the so-called ``TRICARE for life'' provision that was included in this conference report. The cost of health care for aging Americans, be they military or civilian retirees, is an issue that this nation is going to have to confront, and that Congress will have to provide for in future budgets. I have no doubt that whatever we do, as we have seen in this measure, the price tag will be steep.
I am also pleased that the conferees agreed to accept the provision that I offered on behalf of myself, Senator WARNER and Senator LEVIN establishing a United States-China Security Review Commission to monitor and assess the national security implications of the U.S.-China trade relationship. In the wake of the recent enactment of legislation to extend Permanent Normal Trade R elation s to C hina, this Commission can play a key role in assuring that an enhanced economic relationship between the United States and China does not undermine our national security interests.
The purpose of the U.S. China Security Review Commission is to determine whether China, which is working hard to gain entry to the World Trade Organization, or WTO, and to extend its economic dominance throughout the hemisphere, will use its enhanced trade status within the WTO and income from increased international trade to compromise the national security of the United States. Given the circumstances--including the fact that the Chinese Central Committee just this week approved an economic plan that calls for doubling China's economy over the next decade--this is a timely and serious issue to address.
Mr. President, we have good reason to be wary. I think it is significant that even before the President signed the PNTR legislation into law, the Chinese started waffling on promises they had made to secure entry to the World Trade Organization. I note that the President's top trade negotiator was dispatched to Beijing this week, shortly after the PNTR signing ceremony, to attempt to nail down China's commitment to reduce tariffs on imports and open markets to foreign companies.
Let me read from an item in Wednesday's New York Times,
entitled ``Clinton Warns China to Abide by Trade Rules.''
&
Mr. Clinton sent Charlene Barshefsky, the United States trade representative , on her mission on the same day that he signed into law the legislation to grant China permanent normal trade r elation s, the culminati on of 14 years of negotiations and a protracted struggle on Capital Hill.
But even as administration officials and bipartisan Congressional leaders gathered on the White House lawn to hail what they called China's integration into the world economy, American officials acknowledged that China was slipping on pledges to open its markets that it had made as part of its efforts to join the World Trade Organization.
I wish I could say I was surprised by China's apparent
backing away from its WTO commitments, but I was not. I predicted this. China's
record on trade agreements is
abysmal. Since 1992, six trade agreements hav e been made, and broken, by China.
In addition to its record of broken promises on trade agreements, Ch ina also has a history of weapons
proliferation, religious repression, poor labor protections, and aggressive
foreign policy postures. Is this the kind of behavior we want to reward with
permanent normal trade r elation s? I believe there were 13 Senators who had their eyes open
when they voted on that matter and they voted against it. I was one of the 13.
This U.S.-China Security Review Commission will restore a
vital measure of scrutiny to the economic relationship between the United States
and China. It is a fundamental safeguard, and I am glad that we are moving
forward with it.
It is not a trade commission. It is a national security commission.
Let's have some group that will advise the Congress as to
what impact the trade engaged in by
China with the United States might have on our national security. We are
not depending upon the administration. We are not depending upon the executive
branch. We have a commission that will advise the Congress so that we will know,
we will have some idea as to what the impact on national security is of this
permanent normal trade r elation s legi slation.
So it is a fundamental safeguard, and I am glad that we are
moving forward with it.
Once again, we stand at a time when tensions throughout the
world are high. In the span of only a few days, we have ricocheted from the
euphoria of democracy--this is the way of making China a democratic nation. We
will have great influence upon China. It is laughable that we, the people of 212
years, will have influence upon the people of 5,000 years. No. We have
ricocheted from the euphoria of democracy sweeping through Yugoslavia, to the
despair of escalating violence in the Mideast, to the horrific images of dead
and injured American soldiers on the U.S.S. Cole, the victims of an
apparent anti-American terrorist attack. We are reminded that peace remains an
elusive goal, and that America must remain vigilant.
The first order of business is to ensure that the United
States maintains the finest, the best equipped, the best protected, and the best
managed military in the world; a military force--but we will have to make it all
of these things--a military force suited for the emerging challenges of the 21st
century. This conference report goes a long way to meet that test. It is a good
package.
I urge its adoption, and I again commend Senators
WARNER and LEVIN for having led the way for others of the
conferees to the final development of this package.
Mr. President, I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Michigan.
Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, first, let me thank our dear
friend from West Virginia for his nice remarks about the chairman and myself. I
am wondering if we could line up some speakers. We have Senator REED of
Rhode Island and Senator CLELAND on our side who need some time on the
conference report before we get down to the point of order. I have not had a
chance to talk to Senator HOLLINGS on that issue. But I am wondering if
we could set up a line of speakers with Senator REED for 5 minutes on our
side.
Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I want to make sure I hear
because I have Senator DOMENICI and Senator GRAMM of Texas.
I, first, want to thank our very valued Member, Senator
BYRD, of the committee. I was privileged to join him on the legislation
on the China Commission. I can't tell you how our committee benefits from his
work and wisdom that he has given us through the many years.
I thank the Senator.
Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, the distinguished Senator from
Virginia was a sterling and very steadfast advocate of this legislation. I am
deeply in debt to him for his leadership in the committee, and also to my
friend, Mr. LEVIN, for his support of this commission.
Mr. WARNER. We thank the Senator.
Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, let me join our chairman in
commending Senator BYRD for the way in which he worked so hard for this
commission, and for the valuable function this commission is going to perform
for all of us. Whichever side of that debate we were on in terms of PNTR, and
however we voted on it, this commission is going to be very helpful to all of
us.
I thank my friend from West Virginia.
Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, Senator LEVIN and I will
endeavor to see what we can do to convenience the Senate and keep this bill
moving.
Our esteemed colleague, Senator KERREY, has his time
reserved. We want to have several others before we get to his issue, if that is
agreeable. Senator REED has been waiting, Senator GRAMM, and
Senator DOMENICI.
Mr. LEVIN. Senator CLELAND.
Mr. WARNER. Senator CLELAND, a member of the Armed
Services Committee.
Let's alternate between sides.
Mr. LEVIN. Senator REED, who has been waiting the
longest, wishes 5 minutes.
Mr. WARNER. Senator DOMENICI, on my time for another
5 minutes.
Mr. LEVIN. And back to Senator CLELAND for 10
minutes.
Mr. WARNER. Then we go to Senator GRAMM, who has his
time under the unanimous-consent agreement.
It would be our hope the Senator will consume less than the
allocated amount under the unanimous consent.
Mr. GRAMM. I was hoping our distinguished chairman would
consume less than allocated on the budget but he consumed 10 times as much.
Mr. WARNER. We will have the opportunity, Mr. President, to
have a few words on that subject.
Mr. LEVIN. If the chairman will yield, it is my
understanding under the existing unanimous-consent agreement after the 2 hours
under your control, either used or yielded back, 2 1/2 hours under my control,
either used or yielded back, the 1 hour under the control of Senator
GRAMM of Texas, either used or yielded back, and Senator
WELLSTONE, I believe, has already utilized his time, at that point we
then turn to the point of order, and Senator KERREY would be recognized
for that purpose.
Mr. WARNER. That is correct. For those who are following
this, you will make a point of order, at which time I will seek recognition to
have that point of order waived.
Mr. LEVIN. We jointly ask unanimous consent the order of
speakers be followed for such length of time that we outlined.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
The Senator from Rhode Island is recognized.
Mr. REED. Mr. President, I rise to express my support for
the fiscal year 2001 Defense authorization conference report.
I believe this bill contains many excellent provisions
which will ensure that our military remains the finest in the world.
As to personnel benefits, this bill also takes great steps
to improve health care, pay and benefits for armed services personnel.
For the second year in a row, Congress approved a pay raise
for military personnel. This year's 3.7 percent pay raise will go into effect on
January 1, 2001.
This bill directs the Secretary of Defense to implement the
Thrift Savings Plan for active and reserve service members.
Many Members of Congress have been outraged to learn that a
number of active duty service members qualify for food stamps. This bill
addresses that issue by directing the Secretary of Defense to implement a
program which provides additional special pay of up to $500 per month for those
service members who qualify for food stamps.
This bill also eliminates co-payments for active duty
family members for health care received under TRICARE Prime. In addition,
Congress extended TRICARE Prime to families of service members assigned to
remote locations.
For military retirees, this bill goes far to fulfill the
promise made to our military retirees when they enlisted that they would be
given lifetime healthcare.
Congress approved a permanent comprehensive health care benefit for
Medicare-eligible retirees which effectively makes all military retirees
eligible for health care within TRICARE.
Under this plan, military retirees and family members may
keep their Medicare coverage and use Tricare as a Medicare supplement to pay
costs not covered by Medicare.
This provision can save military retirees thousands of
dollars in out-of-pocket costs.
Congress also expanded the comprehensive retail and
national mail order pharmacy to benefit all Medicare eligible retirees and their
eligible family members, without enrollment fees.
On submarines, this bill also provides significant
resources for the Navy's submarine fleet, a military asset very close to the
hearts of the residents of my home state Rhode Island:
Authorizes funding for the construction of the third
Virginia class submarine, the U.S.S. Hawaii;
Authorizes a block buy of submarines from FY03-06 which
will greatly increase the efficiency and lower the cost of our next generation
of submarines.
In transforming for future threats, the Navy will soon be
faced with a decision on whether to refuel old Los Angeles class
submarines or convert four Trident submarines which are scheduled to be retired
to special operations boats. I believe that this decision must be made very
carefully and so I am pleased that this report contains language directing a
study of the advantages of Trident conversion over refueling.
I am also pleased that significant funding has been
authorized for countermine measures. I believe this is a necessary program that
has been woefully underfunded in recent years.
As to Army transformation, in October 1999, senior Army
leaders announced a new vision to enable the Army to better meet the diverse,
complex demands of the 21st century.
At present, in some instances the Army faces strategic
deployment challenges that inhibits its ability to negotiate rapidly the
transitions from peacetime operations in one part of the world to small-scale
contingencies in another.
Army heavy forces have no peer in the world, but they are a
challenge to deploy.
The Army has the world's finest light infantry, but it
lacks adequate lethality, survivability, and mobility once in theater.
The Army Transformation Strategy will result in an
Objective Force that is more responsible, deployable, agile, versatile, lethal,
survivable and sustainable than the present force.
A force with these capabilities will allow the Army to
place a combat capable brigade anywhere in the world, regardless of ports or
airfields, in 96 hours.
It will put a division on the ground in 120 hours. And it
will put 5 divisions in theater in 30 days.
This bill supports the Army Transformation efforts by
authorizing an additional $750 million for the initiative, of which $600 million
is for procurement requirements and $150 million for R&D requirements.
On impact aid, I am also pleased that the conference report
contains language I authored to address the considerable financial strain on
school districts educating military children with severe disabilities and help
military families get the best education for their children with severe
disabilities.
As many of my colleagues are aware, military personnel with
children with severe disabilities often request and receive compassionate-post
assignments to a few districts known for their special education programs.
The cost of providing such education is disproportionately
high for these communities. In fact, for some of these children, the cost is
upwards of $50,000 to $100,000 a year (as compared to an average per pupil
expenditure of $6,900).
In my home state, Middletown, Portsmouth, and Newport are
districts with many military children with disabilities. This year, Middletown
alone is providing education to 66 high need military children with disabilities
at a total cost of nearly $1 million.
This experience, however, is not unique to Rhode Island. In
fact, districts ranging from San Diego and Travis Unified in California to Fort
Sam Houston Independence in Texas also face considerable financial strain in
their endeavor to educate military children with disabilities.
Section 363 of the conference report, Impact Aid for
Children with Severe Disabilities, requires a report containing information on
military children with severe disabilities, and authorizes funding to ease the
strain on local communities providing education to high numbers of such
children.
Mr. President, this critical program will help ensure that
military families get the best education for their children with disabilities,
while providing needed relief to school districts, and I am very pleased that it
has been adopted.
I look forward to working with my fellow
committee members, the Department of Defense, impact aid
organizations, military personnel, and affected communities to press for funding
for this program next year.
Under the Montgomery G.I. bill, Mr. President, I would now
like to turn to some items that I regret have not been included in the
conference report.
First, I would like to mention the expansion of Montgomery
G.I. bill benefits that have been advocated for years by our colleague, Senator
CLELAND.
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