WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senator Daniel K. Akaka (D-HI), Chairman of the Armed Services Subcommittee on Readiness, and Chairman of the Committee on Veterans' Affairs, delivered a speech on the floor of the United States Senate in support of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008. The bipartisan bill was introduced by Senator Carl Levin (D-MI), Chairman of the full Armed Services Committee, and is under consideration now by the Senate. Akaka also noted that he is planning to offer an amendment at a later time to improve care specifically for veterans.
An MP3 audio file with clips of Senator Akaka's speech is available at:
http://demradio.senate.gov/actualities/akaka/akaka070710.mp3
The full text of Senator Akaka's speech appears below:
(portions included in the mp3 file are in bold)
Mr. President, I would like to thank Chairman Levin and Ranking Member McCain for their leadership and working in a bipartisan fashion to unanimously passed out S. 1547, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008. This bill exemplifies what can be achieved through the spirit of bipartisan cooperation to address a number of important defense priorities. As our distinguished Chairman has already highlighted, this bill includes a 3.5 percent across-the-board pay raise for all uniformed personnel, adds $4 billion to the President's budget for mine resistant vehicles to protect our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, authorizes Fiscal Year 2008 end strengths for the Army and Marine Corps of 525,400 and 189,000, respectively, an increase of 13,000 for the Army and 9,000 for the Marine Corps, and supports the transformation of our Armed Forces to meet the threats of the 21st century.
As the Chairman of the Readiness Subcommittee, both Ranking Member Ensign and I worked with our colleagues to continue the Subcommittee's strong commitment to increasing the readiness of the Armed Forces. In this legislation, we are providing support to projects and programs that are important to the readiness of the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines, both active and reserve components. In this regard, $188.4 billion is authorized to meet the services' operation and maintenance requirements to support the combat operations, improve the readiness of deploying and non-deployed forces, and to support the Army and Marine Corps plans to increase their Fiscal Year 2008 end strengths.
Mr. President, I believe that all of us here in the Senate are concerned that our military forces have what they need to be trained and ready, but I am particularly concerned about the readiness of our ground forces. This legislation before us today fully funds the Army and Marine Corps request for depot level maintenance. I am encouraged that neither the Army nor Marine Corps identified a shortage of funds for depot maintenance. While the Chief of Naval Operations did bring to this Committee's attention a funding shortfall for Navy aircraft depot maintenance for, we approved an increase of $77 million. In addition, we included $4.8 billion for the procurement of ammunition of all types to support the services' war fighting, training and war reserve requirements.
With regard to the Department of Defense's management and acquisition policy, I am particularly pleased that this bill includes a provision requiring, for the first time, that the Department of Defense have a Chief Management Officer. The Comptroller General has told the members of this Committee on numerous occasions that the Department needs to do this, to ensure that the Department's many high-risk areas get the top-level management attention they deserve.
Other important acquisition reform provisions included in this bill are as follows:
- a provision that would provide the resources that DoD needs to address the shortcomings in its acquisition workforce;
- a series of provisions that would tighten DoD management of contract services;
- a provision that would ensure that our commanders on the battlefield have the authority that they need to establish rules for armed contractors in an area of combat operations;
- a provision establishing guidelines for DoD to use in determining whether savings are "substantial" for the purpose of justifying multi-year contracts; and
- a provision that would require that each of the Assistant Secretaries for Acquisition in the military departments be assisted by a three-star military deputy who has significant acquisition experience.
I believe that these provisions, taken together, will lead to substantial improvements in the DoD acquisition process.
Mr. President, I am particularly pleased that this year's authorization bill includes a provision to establish a Director of Corrosion Control Policy and Oversight, and funding for corrosion prevention and control programs. Corrosion is a costly problem. In fact, it is one of the largest costs in the life cycle of weapons systems. In addition, corrosion reduces military readiness as the need to repair or replace corrosion damage increases the downtime of critical military assets. Consequently, I firmly believe that cohesive corrosion control programs are integral to maintaining military readiness. This critical maintenance activity increases the life of multi-million dollar weapons systems and ensures their availability during times of crisis. Effective corrosion control should be made a key component of the Department of Defense's resetting strategy and funds should be allocated accordingly.
This legislation also includes my legislation to establish a National Language Council to develop a long-term and comprehensive language strategy and oversee the implementation of that strategy. This will ensure that the Administration's current efforts to promote foreign language competency will develop into an organized and concerted effort to improve the nation's foreign language capabilities.
We also make a valuable and important investment in our infrastructure by providing an additional $461 million above the budget request to repair, replace, and modernize our aging defense facilities and improve the quality of life and the productivity of our military. Furthermore, we make a true commitment to provide quality health care for all beneficiaries, including authorizing $24.6 billion for the defense health program, authorizing the use of federal pricing for drugs dispensed through the TRICARE retail program, and rejecting the Administration's proposal to give DoD broad authority to increase TRICARE program cost sharing amounts for military retirees and their dependents.
As Chairman of the Veterans Affairs' Committee and a member of the Armed Services Committee, I am able to look at the issue of seamless transition from military to civilian life from two different perspectives and, at the appropriate time, I will be offering an amendment to the underlying bill to improve care specifically for veterans. My friend and colleague Chairman Levin and I have worked together on these issues. We held a joint hearing on April 12th and have developed a thoughtful set of provisions to deal with the VA's response to traumatic brain injuries also known as TBI and invisible wounds. The amendment I will be offering includes provisions recently approved by the Committee on Veterans' Affairs at our markup on June 27th. In fact, this amendment is a direct product of the Committee's work to address seamless transition issues and is the corresponding piece to S. 1606, the Dignified Treatment for Wounded Warriors Act.
At the heart of my amendment are improvements to TBI care. Ranking Member Craig and I worked on these traumatic brain injury provisions and they have garnered the support of many organizations including the American Academy of Neurology, the Brain Injury Association of America, the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities, and the Disabled American Veterans. VA was caught flat-footed by the large number of devastating TBI cases resulting from the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. My amendment would go a long way toward resolving the difficulties faced by soldiers afflicted with TBI by providing comprehensive TBI legislation. It would require individual rehabilitation plans for veterans with traumatic brain injury and authorizes the use of non-VA facilities for the best TBI treatment available. The amendment also requires much more research and education for severe TBI. We have even developed a pilot program for assisted living services for veterans with TBI.
My amendment would also extend the period of automatic eligibility for VA health care from two to five years for service members returning from combat. It would ensure access to care for conditions that may not be apparent when a service member first leaves active duty, and would contribute to a seamless transition from military to civilian life. In addition, this amendment requires a preliminary mental health evaluation within 30 days of a service member requesting such an evaluation. VA must be prodded to ensure timely access to mental health. I want to thank Senator Obama for working with me on this important provision with me.
Finally, our ongoing global operations have utilized the reserve components on an unprecedented scale. When these citizen soldiers redeploy it is essential that VA include them in their outreach efforts. To recognize the importance of the Guard and Reserve and to acknowledge their contribution to the nation's efforts, my amendment redefines VA's definition of outreach to specifically include them.
Mr. President, the Senate Armed Services Committee has taken bold and necessary steps in this legislation that will provide the necessary funds and management reforms required to support our service men and women while allowing the military to continue to meet our nation's future defense needs. Thank you.
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