Senate Proceeding on Sep 19th, 2007 :: 6:21:55 to 6:41:55
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6:08:45 to 6:21:55( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Benjamin L. Cardin
Bill: H.R. 7022: To reform the financing of House elections, and for other purposes

6:21:38 to 6:21:55( Edit History Discussion )

Benjamin L. Cardin: limits of deployment of our troops and bring stability to that country and the middle east so much deserves. i thank you for the time and i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the senator from virginia.

6:21:55 to 6:22:07( Edit History Discussion )

James Webb: mr. webb: mr. president, i p would like to take the opportunity, since it looks like there's no other senators thator wish to speak at this moment, to clarify a few items if this in this amendment

6:21:55 to 6:26:35( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: James Webb

6:22:07 to 6:22:23( Edit History Discussion )

James Webb: with respect to criticisms leveled against it. this is a minimal ameinndment that wants to take a small adjustmentdj to our operational policy that is needed because of these continuous rotations that

6:22:23 to 6:22:40( Edit History Discussion )

James Webb: have been going on for the last 4 1/2 years. with respect to t rhe constitutionality issue which has beenha mentioned a number of times, my staff has put together a fact sheet which i would like to in

6:22:40 to 6:22:54( Edit History Discussion )

James Webb: its entirety be submitted for the record. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. webb: and i've mentioned many tim es the situation in korea during thein korean war where the

6:22:54 to 6:23:06( Edit History Discussion )

James Webb: congress passed legislation to provide that every person inducted into the military would receive full and adequate training for a period of not less than four months and that no personnel during

6:23:06 to 6:23:18( Edit History Discussion )

James Webb: that four month period would be assigned duty overseas. this is the congress stepping in to correct a situation that has been created by the executive branch sending people into korea before being trained.

6:23:18 to 6:23:30( Edit History Discussion )

James Webb: in 1940 the selective training act stipulated people inducted into the lapped forces of the united states would not be sent the limits of the western hemisphere but b in u.s. territories. the congress

6:23:30 to 6:23:41( Edit History Discussion )

James Webb: actede in multiple similar ways prior to world war ii, in 1915 the army appropriations act restricted army tours of duty to the philippines to two years and tours in the canal zone to three years.

6:23:41 to 6:23:58( Edit History Discussion )

James Webb: there are a number of other examples, mr. president, and i am inserting them into the record but this is a m aatter clearly within the constitutional precorogative of ve the congress shouldng it choose to act. there

6:23:58 to 6:24:08( Edit History Discussion )

James Webb: was a comment earliers by the scriewn your senator from arizona -- by the junior senatoror from arizona regarding secretary gateso concern about trnhe straip on the government and regard the reserve

6:24:08 to 6:24:23( Edit History Discussion )

James Webb: if this passes. this amendment addressesnt the guard and reserve and specifically statesif that t national guard and reserve units deployed will not be redeployed for a period of three years. this

6:24:23 to 6:24:39( Edit History Discussion )

James Webb: is in the going to result in a greater strain on the guard and reserve if this amendment passes.. there was comment about individuals being difficult to manage if the amendment were ssed because we single

6:24:39 to 6:24:56( Edit History Discussion )

James Webb: out if the amendment that not only units being deployed should be protected but also individuals. the reason that language was inserted into this amendment is because there is a common practice now of

6:24:56 to 6:25:16( Edit History Discussion )

James Webb: backfill of indivi duals who may have returned from a tour of dutyf much more recently than the unit that they had been assigned to; at the same time, we do have this goal, a laudable goal, of having

6:25:16 to 6:25:34( Edit History Discussion )

James Webb: units train together and then deploy together. but even under today's circumstances, for instance, in the data sheet that lieutenant colonel mar ten necessary put together for us -- martinez put together from

6:25:34 to 6:25:51( Edit History Discussion )

James Webb: us, that even by month ten, on a twelve-month dwell time back here, the units are still putting people together. so you want them to train together but it's a fallacy to say they have been training

6:25:51 to 6:26:06( Edit History Discussion )

James Webb: together for this entire period before they're deployed. and most importantly, this is not difficult to manage. everyone in the united states military has a service record book of some sort. in that

6:26:06 to 6:26:20( Edit History Discussion )

James Webb: record book are the indications ofdi when they've served overseas. in today's computer able, it's very difficult to figure out who has come back and what period of time and units are tagged to to

6:26:20 to 6:26:35( Edit History Discussion )

James Webb: deploy at least six months before they deploy so you know who in your unit has recently en been returned and who has not. it is not a difficult problem to fix. i just wanted to make those chair eivetions,

6:26:35 to 6:26:48( Edit History Discussion )

Carl Levin: clarifications, mr. president. i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the senator from florida. mr. levin: inle the next few minutes, perhaps after senator martinez completed, perhaps we can

6:26:48 to 6:27:01( Edit History Discussion )

Carl Levin: enter into a unanimous consent agreement which would, hopefully, schedule votes on both the webb amendment and on the mccain amendment. we expect that amendment, those amendments' votes would begin at

6:27:01 to 6:27:14( Edit History Discussion )

Carl Levin: approximately 5:15. we dope have the unanimous consent locked in yet but we expect after senator martinez is completed to be able to offer a unanimous consentco agreement. the pr esiding officer:

6:27:14 to 6:27:31( Edit History Discussion )

John McCain: the senator from arizona. mr. mccain: i mention to my friend that i think by 4:40 we would know for sure. that's when the meeting that the principles are in now ... but we fully anticipate that

6:27:31 to 6:27:48( Edit History Discussion )

John McCain: at 5:15, a vote would be agreed to. if there are other senators that want to speak between now and about 5 o'clock i would like for them to come down and do so but my understanding is that this

6:27:48 to 6:28:03( Edit History Discussion )

John McCain: agreement will, following the webb amendment vote would be ten minutes equally guided and a vote after that. so, two votes with a 10-minute intervening between the two. then move on to other amendments. i

6:28:03 to 6:28:20( Edit History Discussion )

Mel Martinez: thank the chair. the presiding officer: the senator from florida. mr. martinez: thank you,ez mr. president. mr. president, i rise today to speak in opposition of the current amendment, the webb

6:28:03 to 6:34:27( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Mel Martinez

6:28:20 to 6:28:35( Edit History Discussion )

Mel Martinez: amendment to the ft iscal year 2008 national defense authorization bill. the fact is that this amendment is good intentions to think about the care and condition of our men and women in uniform who

6:28:35 to 6:28:49( Edit History Discussion )

Mel Martinez: have so bravely served us. in fact, it is very much misguide in that it attempts to dick dictate to the military leaders exactly what type and how troop row teations should take place. i t.hink

6:28:49 to 6:29:01( Edit History Discussion )

Mel Martinez: it's a dangerous amendment because it could also interfere with the ability of our country to respond in times of a national emergency e even though a waiver p wrovision is in the amendment, with the

6:29:01 to 6:29:14( Edit History Discussion )

Mel Martinez: president's ability to respond to the dangerous situations that can occur and the very dangerous world in which wech live. the fact is that -- and i know it has been mentioned but i want to reiterate

6:29:14 to 6:29:29( Edit History Discussion )

Mel Martinez: the fact -- the secretary of defense, the person charged with the constitutional responsibility of deployment of our armed forces, has four-square clearly stated that this amendment, while well tended,

6:29:29 to 6:29:43( Edit History Discussion )

Mel Martinez: is certainly not a good a mendment. it would dramatically limit the nation's ability to respond to other national security needs while we remain engeajed engaged in iran and afghanistan. secretary

6:29:43 to 6:29:59( Edit History Discussion )

Mel Martinez: gate in a letter of september 18, to a letter of secretary graham indicated tahhe concern there but he goes on to mention some other concerns.| general petraeus announced and confirmed there would

6:29:59 to 6:30:07( Edit History Discussion )

Mel Martinez: be trooptr downdowns in iraq in the upcoming weeks. in fact, this amendment could have thehe effect of extending the tours of duties in iraq beyond their current scheduled rotation. there's another

6:30:07 to 6:30:20( Edit History Discussion )

Mel Martinez: thing that bothers me and i think we also need to think aut our constitutional scheme, how our government is organized and ordered. constitutionally, to enact an amendment such as this would clearly

6:30:20 to 6:30:34( Edit History Discussion )

Mel Martinez: be an encroachment on the constitutional duties of the commander in chief. this is not an area where the congress is welcome to dictate. we have one commander in chief, not 535. we only elect one at a

6:30:34 to 6:30:46( Edit History Discussion )

Mel Martinez: time. this commander in chief has the secretary of defse and it is their responsibility under our form of government for them to determine what our troop rotations should be. there are other great

6:30:46 to 6:30:58( Edit History Discussion )

Mel Martinez: practical considerations of why this shouldn't happen, why this is a bad idea. the secretary of defense goes into several items in his letter but it does make sense when you look at it that units

6:30:58 to 6:31:10( Edit History Discussion )

Mel Martinez: do not always stay together. that following an individual rather than a unit and following the deployment of ant individual rather than that of a unit is something that would be incredibly cumbersome,

6:31:10 to 6:31:20( Edit History Discussion )

Mel Martinez: difficult to do and, in fact, not a way in which we would be in this very dangerous time in which we live having to run our military. the fact is that i think there's something here which is really

6:31:20 to 6:31:37( Edit History Discussion )

Mel Martinez: maybe the most underlying and important reason of all why this amendment really isn't a good idea, which is the clear desire and design of this amendment to limit the options of our military forces to maintain

6:31:37 to 6:31:51( Edit History Discussion )

Mel Martinez: the current policy in iraq. we ought to not use the good intentions and the good ideas about our soldiers, about our troops and their rotations to have an underlying mission of simply saying they can't

6:31:51 to 6:32:05( Edit History Discussion )

Mel Martinez: keep this up so they'll have to pull troops out. we will change policy by dictating how troops are rotated in and out of the battlefield. the fact of the matter is that that could have serious consequences

6:32:05 to 6:32:18( Edit History Discussion )

Mel Martinez: for our nation as other nations would view this as a serious vulnerability t. would view it as a weakness -- vulnerability. it would view it as a weakness. they would strew as a fact that the united states

6:32:18 to 6:32:34( Edit History Discussion )

Mel Martinez: is overextended and incapable of responding to crises. it is these very kinds of mispoar exceptions and misunderstandings that can lead lead -- misconceptions and misunderstandings that can lead

6:32:34 to 6:32:46( Edit History Discussion )

Mel Martinez: various states that could take irresponsible actions that could lead to very frightening scenarios in the very dangerous world in which we live. i believe that it is also important to ne that many

6:32:46 to 6:33:02( Edit History Discussion )

Mel Martinez: of our members of our armed forces consider itco a privilege and an honor to serve this nation at this very difficult time. during my recent trip to iraq, i was in tikrit and while there, i visited

6:33:02 to 6:33:12( Edit History Discussion )

Mel Martinez: with a number of troops, some of them floridians, all proud of their service. 90% -- 90-some percent, 92%, 93 93% -- i don't remember exactly -- but over 90% of those troops had already reenlisted knowing

6:33:12 to 6:33:24( Edit History Discussion )

Mel Martinez: full well of our involvement in iraq, knowing full well what the expectations of their service would be during the time of their reenlistment. and they had voluntarily reenlisted. the reenlistment

6:33:24 to 6:33:36( Edit History Discussion )

Mel Martinez: rates of those who have served in the theatre are larger than those of any other. and, in fact, it is a testament to their courage, to their valor, and their sense of duty to their country. i think

6:33:36 to 6:33:50( Edit History Discussion )

Mel Martinez: we would demean their service if we were to say to them that there had to be a parity between the time in service out of the country and a the time at home. the goal ought to be for us not to have

6:33:50 to 6:33:59( Edit History Discussion )

Mel Martinez: 15-month deployments. the hope would be that these would never be necessary. but the mandate from congress that this is how we must operate our armed forces i think is ill-conceived, it is dangerous

6:33:59 to 6:34:13( Edit History Discussion )

Mel Martinez: and does not serve either the national interest of our nation nor the interest of the soldiers on the field whom it is intended to serve. we should not have a subterfuge of foafl change direction

6:34:13 to 6:34:27( Edit History Discussion )

Mel Martinez: in iraq -- of policy to change direction in iraq heaped on the back of our brave young men and women in uniform, if, in fact, there is the thought that this policy is wrong and it should be changed

6:34:27 to 6:34:38( Edit History Discussion )

Carl Levin: -- and i know many people in this chamber feel that way. there has also been plenty of national debit on this issue. there has to be courage to say we should not fund the troops. if you can't do that,

6:34:27 to 6:39:25( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Carl Levin

6:34:38 to 6:34:53( Edit History Discussion )

Carl Levin: we shouldn't do it this way. because it is unnecessary, it is cumbersome and it is going to be detrimental to the national security of our country. madam president, i thank you and i yield the floor. the

6:34:53 to 6:35:02( Edit History Discussion )

Carl Levin: presiding officer: the senator from michigan. mr. levin: madam president, over four years of war has stressed our armed forces to the breaking point. our army and marine corps are stretched dangerously thin.

6:35:02 to 6:35:15( Edit History Discussion )

Carl Levin: they're performing magnificently, as they always do. chronic personnel and equipment shortages, however, plague our nondeployed forces, resulting in dangerously low readiness. as a nation, we simply do

6:35:15 to 6:35:37( Edit History Discussion )

Carl Levin: not have the ground forces necessary nor are the few uncommitted forces trains and ready to protect our -- trained and ready to protect our interests against other threats around the world. as army chief

6:35:37 to 6:35:54( Edit History Discussion )

Carl Levin: of staff general george casey put it -- quote -- "the demand for our forces exceeds the sustainable supply." nearly 1.6 million service members have been deployed to iraq or afghanistan. the army's 43

6:35:54 to 6:36:09( Edit History Discussion )

Carl Levin: active brigades available for rotation, 10 brigades have been deployed three or more times. all others have deployed once or twice with the exception of one new brigade just forming. of course, the single

6:36:09 to 6:36:31( Edit History Discussion )

Carl Levin: brigade stationed in korea does not deploy as part of the iraq or afghanistan rotation. all of our national guard combat brigades have at least one rotation to iraq, afghanistan or kosovo. two national

6:36:31 to 6:36:44( Edit History Discussion )

Carl Levin: guard combat brigades have two rotations. guard brigades from indiana, arkansas, ohio, oklahoma, minnesota, and new york have been notified that they should be prepared to deploy at the end of this year.

6:36:44 to 6:36:56( Edit History Discussion )

Carl Levin: through the first part of this year, units pushed to iraq as part of the surge strategy barely had enough time to make up their personnel and equipment shortages or complete their training. inadequate time

6:36:56 to 6:37:08( Edit History Discussion )

Carl Levin: to prepare for war puts a unit at risk when sent into harm's way. we have the responsibility to make sure that our forces have adequate time available to prepare and then use that time to best advantage.

6:37:08 to 6:37:22( Edit History Discussion )

Carl Levin: we have accepted too much risk for too long. senator webb's amendment goes to the heart of this obligation, ensuring that our forces have the time that they need to recover and to prepare. multiple rotations

6:37:22 to 6:37:37( Edit History Discussion )

Carl Levin: and insufficient dwell time inherently raise readiness risks. units must have the time necessary to fully man, equip and train prior to their next deployment. readiness reports that we receive here

6:37:37 to 6:37:52( Edit History Discussion )

Carl Levin: in congress consistently show that most of our nondeployed units are not ready to deploy and those getting ready to deploy to iraq and afghanistan do not have personnel and equipment necessary for

6:37:52 to 6:38:07( Edit History Discussion )

Carl Levin: comprehensive training until very late in their preparation. in order to provide some relief for the personnel shortages in next-to-deploy units, the army is cutting training in its important officer and

6:38:07 to 6:38:21( Edit History Discussion )

Carl Levin: n.c.o. schools. the army has gone so far as to institute a six-day training week at many of these schools to accelerate getting troops back to their units. for soldiers, especially young leaders and

6:38:21 to 6:38:33( Edit History Discussion )

Carl Levin: instructors just back from deployment, working a six-day week starts to make dwell time feel a lot like deployment. insufficient dwell time contributes to retention challenges, especially among young

6:38:33 to 6:38:47( Edit History Discussion )

Carl Levin: officers. there's ample evidence that multiple long deployments are impacting our troops' mental health and family stability. service members and their families, particularly among our young officers

6:38:47 to 6:38:59( Edit History Discussion )

Carl Levin: and n.c.o.'s, are voting with their feet, leaving the military rather than endure the uncertainty and turmoil in their family's lives. there is no greater threat to the quality and viability of our all-volunteer

6:38:59 to 6:39:14( Edit History Discussion )

Carl Levin: force than th loss of these combat experienced young leaders. the webb amendment exempts our special operations forces. their deployment cycles are already irregular. their readiness is sustained at much

6:39:14 to 6:39:25( Edit History Discussion )

Carl Levin: higher levels and their availability to respond instantly to emergencies is critically important. the exemption in his amendment preserves that flexibility. service members and their families are weary of