Thank you, Mr. President. I rise today in support of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2003, and to highlight some of the major actions taken by the Readiness Subcommittee in this year's bill. Before I do that, I would like to thank my ranking member, Senator Inhofe, for his support and cooperation throughout our markup. It is truly an honor to work with him as we both seek to advance the readiness of our armed forces. Second, I would like to thank Senator Levin and Senator Warner – they both work tirelessly to lead our Committee's actions, and they provide great wisdom and guidance during our deliberations.
This year, the Committee had five goals:
(1) continue improvements in compensation and quality of life;
(2) sustain readiness;
(3) improve the efficiency of Department of Defense (DOD) operations;
(4) improve the Department of Defense's capability to meet non-traditional threats;
and (5) promote transformation.
Our Subcommittee focused on the first three of these goals.
To improve quality of life, the Readiness Subcommittee recommended an increase of over $800 million to improve the buildings where servicemembers live and work, including a net increase of $640 million in new construction. We also provided an increase of $21 million for personal gear for military members to improve their safety and comfort in the field.
To sustain readiness, the Subcommittee made a number of recommendations that are included in the bill. First and foremost, the bill protects the $10 billion the President requested for operating costs of the ongoing war on terrorism, and has authorized the appropriation of these contingency funds once the President submits a request for specific uses for these funds to Congress.
The Subcommittee also developed an initiative to enhance training opportunities for our armed forces to ensure they can make the most effective use of existing training assets. To do this, we established a fund that would allow the Department of Defense to purchase land, or easements on land, that would protect training ranges. We also provided $126 million for improvements to those ranges, including better targeting capabilities and infrastructure improvements.
To help to address longer-term readiness challenges, the bill includes an increase of $95.0 million for maintenance of ships and other Navy assets, and $138.6 million to maintain highly stressed aircraft. And, we continued our efforts from last year to enhance the Department of Defense's coordination of anti-corrosion programs. Studies estimate that corrosion costs the Department up to $20 billion annually, and that corrosion continues to be a serious maintenance challenge and manpower drain. We therefore recommended that DOD designate a senior official to oversee anti-corrosion plans and policies, and added almost $30 million to fund those efforts and other anti-corrosion testing, research, and product applications.
To improve DOD management, the Subcommittee recommended a number of provisions to expand DOD's authority to acquire major weapon systems more efficiently. With respect to services contracts, we built on last year's legislation requiring improved management of the $50 billion DOD spends annually on services by establishing specific goals for the use of competitive contracts and performance-based contracting. These goals should help ensure that the Department of Defense meets contract services savings goals through specific management improvements rather than through program reductions. The bill also requires DOD to develop a comprehensive financial management enterprise architecture, and addresses recurring problems with the abuse of purchase cards and travel cards by military and civilian personnel.
Mr. President, I believe this bill strongly supports the readiness of our forces, both now and in the future. As the chairman of the Readiness and Management Support Subcommittee, I commend it to my colleagues.
