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[Page: S10027]

The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the Senate will now proceed to the consideration of the conference report accompanying H.R. 3230, which the clerk will report.

The legislative clerk read as follows:

The committee on conference on the disagreeing votes of the two Houses on the amendments of the Senate to the bill (H.R. 3230) to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 1997 for military activities of the Department of Defense , for military construction and for defense activities of the Department of Energy, to prescribe personnel strengths for such fiscal year for the Armed Forces, and for other purposes, having met, after full and free conference, have agreed to recommend and do recommend to their respective Houses this report, signed by a majority of the conferees.

The Senate proceeded to consider the conference report.

(The conference report is printed in the House proceedings of the Record of July 30, 1996.)

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The time for debate on this conference report will be limited to 4 hours equally divided in the usual form, with 1 hour under the control of the Senator from Louisiana.

The Senator from South Carolina.

Mr. THURMOND. Mr. President, I am pleased to rise in support of the conference agreement on the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 1997. This agreement continues the work we began last year to keep the Department of Defense on a steady course as it heads into the 21st century. The legislation sends a signal that we remain strongly committed to support our men and women in uniform through funding for modernization and training as well as for quality-of-life programs for our military and their families.

This year, the Senate chaired the conference with the House. I am proud to say that we developed a responsible agreement after less than 20 working days. This agreement resulted from the bipartisan cooperation of House Members and Senators, Republicans and Democrats, working together on issues affecting our national security.

During my tenure in the Senate and my nearly 40 years as a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, I have fought hard to ensure that the security of our Nation is an issue that unifies rather than divides us. The best national security policy is developed and implemented when we act in a bipartisan spirit. It is my sincere hope that we can make this an even stronger feature of the process we use to craft future national security legislation.

The conference report recommends an increase of $11.2 billion above the President's budget request of $254 billion for fiscal year 1997. The funding level authorized for the new budget authority is $265.6 billion, which is the same level approved by the full Senate on July 10.

This amount is still $7.4 billion below the inflation-adjusted fiscal year 1996 level of spending.

To improve the quality of life of our military personnel and their families, the conference agreement includes a 3-percent pay raise for military members and a 4.6-percent increase in the basic allowance for quarters. The conference report also includes an increase of $850.0 million above the administration's request for military construction funding. Approximately 60 percent of this increase is dedicated to quality of life programs, especially military housing.

The conference agreement addresses some of the most serious modernization concerns we have identified, while maintaining a balance between current and future readiness.

The agreement provides for an increase of approximately $900 million for ballistic missile defense programs. This increase will support aggressive developments for national missile defense , Navy Upper Tier, and the theater high-altitude area defense system.

The conference report does not include any legislative provision concerning theater missile defense demarcation. During conference, the President's National Security Adviser informed the conferees that the administration had already concluded that the tentatively agreed-upon TMD demarcation agreement constitutes a substantive change to the ABM Treaty. Given that the Constitution and existing law require any substantive change to the ABM Treaty to be submitted to the Senate for advice and consent, the conferees agreed that additional legislation on this matter is not required.

With regard to the ABM Treaty succession issue, the conference report also does not include any legislative provision. The statement of managers clearly expresses the view that any agreement to multilateralize the ABM Treaty would constitute a substantive change requiring Senate advice and consent. In order to avoid a confrontation over this issue that would lead to a veto of the Defense Authorization Act, the conferees agreed that this matter should be considered separately from the Defense Authorization Act.

We addressed modernization shortfalls in this bill by

including increases for sealift and airlift programs, and robust funding for the construction of new warships, such as the Seawolf submarine and the Arleigh Burke class destroyers. The conference contains a number of funding increases to bring advanced technologies to the battlefield and to support the increasing variety of missions our military men and women are being ordered to carry out around the world. We have authorized increases for additional JSTARS aircraft, greater numbers of critical night vision equipment, as well as providing funds to accelerate the development of the Army's Comanche helicopter and nonlethal weapons programs.

Mr. President, I want again to express my appreciation to my colleagues, especially the subcommittee chairmen and ranking members, for working together to reach this responsible conference agreement so expeditiously. I note with sadness that this is the last authorization conference during which the committee will benefit from the friendship, knowledge, and wisdom of Senator Sam Nunn, Senator Bill Cohen, and Senator Jim Exon. Senator Cohen has been a leader in the cause of reforming the acquisition process and has managed the process of recapitalizing our Navy's fleet in a constrained fiscal environment. During his tenure on the committee, Senator Exon has been a dedicated advocate of a strong, affordable defense .

Senator Nunn has worked tirelessly to help us put together legislation that reflects the broadest possible bipartisan consensus. I am personally grateful to him, and the entire Nation owes him a debt of gratitude for the work he has put in on this bill and the many other pieces of national security legislation in which he has played such a vital role over the years, including the landmark Goldwater-Nichols Reorganization Act of 1986.

Mr. President, we would not have been able to complete work on this conference agreement had it not been for the ceaseless work of our majority and minority staffs. Our two staff directors, Les Brownlee and Arnold Punaro did an outstanding job directing the process and keeping our

staffs focused on responsible outcomes.

I ask unanimous consent that a list of the committee staff associated with this bill be printed in the Record at the conclusion of my remarks.

The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Grams). Without objection, it is so ordered.

(See exhibit 1.)

Mr. THURMOND. Mr. President, finally, I want to express my appreciation to Senator Stevens and Senator Inouye, the chairman and ranking member of the Defense Subcommittee on Appropriations, for their willingness to work with us in a spirit of unprecedented cooperation through our process this year. I believe that both of our committee's bills have benefitted from this relationship.

With the attacks against Iraq this week, we are reminded again of the vital role our military is fulfilling around the world. Many of the Senators who have expressed concern about the funding levels in this bill have also gone on record in support of the President's recent actions in Iraq as well as his earlier decision to send our troops to Bosnia. These deployments are costly. They require continuing investments in weapons modernization, spare parts support, and training in order to ensure that our men and women in uniform are well led and can perform such operations efficiently and with a minimum of risk. As Senators consider their votes on this vital legislation, they should be mindful of our obligation to support the men and women in our Armed Forces and the need to maintain an adequate level of funding for these forces that we so frequently call upon to go into harm's way.