Thank you, Mr. President. I rise today to express my support for the conference report to the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2003. I thank my Ranking Member, Senator Inhofe, for his support and cooperation. It is truly an honor to work with him as we both seek to advance the readiness of our armed forces. I also commend Senator Levin and Senator Warner for their tireless efforts during a challenging conference.
As the Chairman of the Armed Services Subcommittee on Readiness and Management Support, I want to highlight a few provisions in the conference report which enhance the readiness of the men and women in our armed forces. The bill protects the $10 billion the President requested for operating costs of the ongoing war on terrorism. Fully funding this request reinforces our country's commitment to continuing the war on terrorism, and it also means that in so doing we will not have to rob funds from the operation and maintenance accounts needed to fund all of our other critical ongoing defense activities such as training and maintenance.
Conferees also took actions to ensure that our forces can continue to make the most prudent use of existing training assets. To do this, we authorized exemption of the Department of Defense from the Migratory Bird Treaty Act when training events result in incidental takings, but required DOD to take appropriate actions to avoid any unnecessary takings. We also authorized the Department of Defense to enter into partnerships to purchase land, or easements on land, that would protect training ranges, and provided $7.2 million for improvements to those ranges.
While the conferees believed that this change to the Migratory Bird Treaty Act was necessary to protect readiness in light of recent court actions, the conferees did not believe the Administration made the case that the exemptions it sought from the Endangered Species Act for the Department of Defense were warranted. I continue to believe that when the Department's training needs for land, sea and air space conflict with other needs in our society, whether it is protecting the environment or accommodating the surrounding civilian populations, our focus should be first and foremost on ensuring that all parties involved work together in a spirit of cooperation.
To help to address longer term readiness challenges, the conferees 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 over $10 million to fund those efforts and other anti-corrosion testing, research, and product applications.
In an effort to continue efforts to improve the quality of life, conferees authorized the requested increases to improve the buildings where servicemembers live and work, and added an additional $740 million in military construction funding, which will be enough to maintain the level of investment in our facilities at last year's level. Included in this amount is over $700 million in funding specifically dedicated to enhancing the security of our installations.
To improve DOD management, the bill includes 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 achieves contract services savings through specific management improvements rather than through program reductions. The conference report 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 certain military and civilian personnel.
Mr. President, I also want to mention an issue of significant importance to the people of Hawaii - the cleanup of the island of Kahoolawe. I commend the Navy and the State of Hawaii for working to resolve a number of challenges. I am pleased about the Navy's commitment to continue clearance efforts until November 11, 2003, and its continued efforts to meet the intent and goals of the memorandum of agreement between the Navy and the State of Hawaii signed in 1994.
Mr. President, while I am disappointed that the conference report does not include the provisions passed by the Senate with respect to concurrent receipt, I believe the conference report strongly supports the readiness of our forces, both now and in the future. I urge my colleagues to support this bill.
