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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 4, 2007
CONTACT: Geoff Embler or Matt Mackowiak
Sen. Hutchison Delivers Floor Speech on Milcon–VA Bill
WASHINGTON -- U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX), Ranking Member of the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Subcommittee, delivered the following remarks on the Senate floor today regarding the Fiscal Year 2008 Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations bill:
“This is a complicated bill. It is a big bill that affects all of our veterans and our military personnel because we do deal with military construction as well as veterans affairs. This bill, I think, balances all of the needs that are necessary very well. We have to take into account of course the active duty service members in making sure they have the military construction they need to do the job we're asking them to do. The guard and reserve, which I will mention later, is well-funded in this bill and it's something we must do because they are carrying such a huge burden in the war against terror. Local communities, family members of service members, and taxpayers all have a part in balancing any appropriations bill and especially this one. This bill does address the infrastructure requirements as well as health care and benefits of our veterans. We hope to move it expeditiously across the floor today and I think because Senator Reed and I have worked so well on the bill that we have solved most of the issues that have come forward, and I believe that we have done a good job in funding everything that was necessary. Let me mention a couple of the main points.
“This committee, this subcommittee, Senator Feinstein and I, were instrumental in the rebasing effort that has occurred in the department of defense. We are bringing back 70,000 of our troops from overseas to be able to train in the United States. This is part of an overseas basic commission bill that Senator Feinstein and I cosponsored that was adopted by Congress and resulted in 70,000 troops coming back, mainly from Germany and South Korea, and that also has had an impact on military construction because we found when we went overseas that there were training constraints in the bases overseas, and we yet had capacity here in America for better training and better opportunities for families. So we had in this bill to address the needs of the military construction for those troops that will be moving back home over the next five to six years.
“In addition to that, Congress has the responsibility to fund the BRAC. We had a BRAC. We have a time limit for the department of defense to implement BRAC. And that depends on our doing the building that is necessary not only in the places where troops will be moving in or facilities will be needed for additions to bases, but also to take care of the needs of a base that is going to be closed. So, we did fully fund BRAC, and I’m very pleased that we did. It was our responsibility to do it because we put a deadline on the Department of Defense for the implementation of BRAC, and we certainly have to do the required construction in order to meet that deadline. Army modularity - we are changing the concept. There are smaller units now, fighting units. And we have accommodated through our military construction efforts that modularity effort. And of course the global war on terror, which is the major overlying conflict that is going on today with our military personnel, and we certainly have to meet the needs of those who are being trained and are going to be deployed in the war on terror. And we have to take care of their families.
“So the military construction section of the bill provides over $21 billion for construction projects, and it's very, very strong. It is also very important in our transformation efforts that we have increased the end strength of the military as well as changed the types of fighting units that we will have in the military, so that has also provided requirements for different military construction. So we are doing exactly what we should be doing in the bill, and we worked very closely with the authorization committee to assure that their priorities and our priorities were the same.
“I am very pleased that we also have addressed the needs of guard and reserve. I have to say, and I think everyone who knows this subject would agree, that we have not done as much as we should have for the guard and reserve because of other high priorities for our defense dollars. But they are doing so much in the war on terror. They're being deployed and redeployed. And we need to make sure that they have the facilities and the support that they need to do the very vital function of their efforts in the war on terror.
“The other part of this bill which is a major responsibility is, of course, the Department of Veterans Affairs. The Veterans Affairs portion of the bill has many different features. As we move forward in this process, I’m committed to continuing to work with my colleagues to make sure that every dollar is spent wisely and efficiently to serve the needs of our veterans. And we have expanded into the areas where we are seeing the types of injuries and illnesses that our veterans are having and trying to accommodate the medical services to meet those needs. We are doing more in mental health and trying to help people with post traumatic stress syndrome. And we are trying to make sure that our facilities are kept up. We have a huge building program. Minor construction will be $751 million. Major construction will be $4.1 billion. It is going to be a major effort to make sure that these facilities are cutting edge.
“Severe trauma and brain injury is another area that we are addressing more fully in this bill than we ever have before, and research into prosthetics and the use of artificial limbs, because we know that more of our young people are losing limbs. So we need to make sure that we are doing the very best for them to be able to lead normal lives. We are doing more research into Gulf War illness and as well geriatric care for our older veterans. These are critical needs. We must continue to adapt to the types of injuries that our warriors experience in the different theaters in which they serve. We must prepare for the future types of weapons such as chemical and biological that may be used against them.
“So we will never quit looking for the answers, and this bill does fully fund the research for the areas that we need to do more and better for our veterans. Mr. President, I think every member of Congress shares in the desire to fairly compensate, medically treat and honor veterans who have sacrificed and borne the responsibility of military service. The VA provides health care free of charge to address any and all service-connected illnesses or disabilities, mental or physical, including those conditions which may manifest decades after military service. The VA also provides health care free of charge to low-income veterans, regardless of service-connected disability or illness. We always have and always will take care of our nation's veterans.
“So, in summary, Mr. President, this Congress has shown its resolve time and again to care for our men and women in uniform as well as the more than seven million veterans in America. We owe them our gratitude. We owe them what they deserve, and that is that we take care of their needs. So I appreciate working with Senator Reed. I do appreciate that we have done everything we could with the dollars we had. Mr. President, I would just note that President Bush has said if the bill stays as it is now, he plans to sign this bill so that we can implement it quickly. But I do hope that as we go through the conference process and finish the bill on the senate floor that we will keep to the intention of the bill that we will make sure that we stay within the guidelines that we have. We have added $4 billion above the President's request already. That money is allocated, so there will be relatively few changes that i think we should make if we are going to expeditiously send the bill to the President for his signature and assure that he will sign it. Once again, I thank Senator Reed and his able staff for accommodating me, to allow me to make my statement. And I look forward to getting this bill out tomorrow and on to the President very soon.”
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