[Pages S7821-S7823]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

PROTECTING THE FUTURE OF PICATINNY ARSENAL

Mr. TORRICELLI. Mr. President, I rise today in strong support of the
Fiscal Year 1998 military construction appropriations bill, and would
like to take this opportunity to thank Chairman Burns and Ranking
Member Murray for all of their leadership and hard work on this
legislation. I am especially pleased by two items which were included
in this bill. First, the $1.3 million which will be spent on the design
of a new software engineering center at Picatinny Arsenal in my home
State of New Jersey, and second, language in the bill which urges the
Army to place the construction of the center on its priority list for
fiscal year 1999. I am hopeful that the Army will heed the advice of
the Senate, and make this project a priority for next year.
Throughout our Nation's history, Picatinny Arsenal has provided our
men and women with the high-technology weapons that have helped

[[Page S7822]]

achieve our military victories. Most recently, during Desert Storm our
forces unleashed millions of M-77 submunitions on the Iraqi Army with
devastating results. This grenade-like weapon uses a precision guidance
system and a mini-computer to locate its target as it descends on a
parachute-like device, before it attacks and destroys it. The Iraqis
were so terrified of this weapons, that they dubbed it Steel Rain. I am
proud to say that this weapon was developed by some of this Nation's
finest scientists and engineers at Picatinny Arsenal.
As some of my colleagues may know, Picatinny Arsenal is home to the
Army Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center [ARDEC].
Virtually every piece of weaponry and ammunition in the hands of our
soldiers is developed at Picatinny. In fact, Picatinny is responsible
for 90 percent of the Army's lethality.
Currently, the Fire Support Armaments Center [FSAC], which conducts
the research, development, and engineering for weapons systems such as
artillery, mortars, and the technology behind the fire control for the
entire U.S. Army, has its functions dispersed at several facilities
throughout the base. While our Armed Forces in general, and the Army in
particular, have been subject to drastic downsizing in the post-cold-
war era, the Fire Support Armaments Center workload has increased as
our modern army relies increasingly on ``smart'' weapon technology.
However, while the Center is responsible for a critical area of
expertise in our national security plan, its economic and productive
effectiveness is severely limited because its operations are dispersed
throughout the base. This, combined with the limited space available,
makes work on the larger vehicles like tanks and armored personnel
carriers impossible in all but the best of weather conditions and makes
coordination on the many different components of any given project
nearly impossible.
To remedy this, a new software engineering center has been proposed
which would consolidate many of the Arsenal's operations, thus allowing
work on these vehicles to proceed year round and enhancing Picatinny's
capability to test and upgrade ``smart'' weapons. The proposed Software
Engineering Center would also provide the Army with the ability to
upgrade-technologically existing weapons systems, respond rapidly to
problems encountered in the field, and save the Pentagon money. The
Army estimates that this consolidation will also save $5 million a
year, allowing the project to pay for itself in 3 years. I am pleased
by the Senate's support of the center, and look forward to working with
the subcommittee and the Army to ensure that this state-of-the-art
facility becomes a reality.
Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, the pending military construction
appropriations bill provides $9.183 billion in new budget authority and
$3.064 in new outlays for military construction and family housing
programs for the Department of Defense for fiscal year 1998.
When outlays from prior-year budget authority and other completed
actions are taken into account, the outlays for the 1998 program total
$9.902 billion.
This legislation provides for construction by the Department of
Defense for U.S. military facilities throughout the world, and it
provides for family housing for the active forces of each of the U.S.
military services. Accordingly, it provides for important readiness and
quality of life programs for our service men and women.
The bill falls within the revised section 602(b) allocation for the
Military Construction Subcommittee. I commend the distinguished
subcommittee chairman, the Senator from Montana, for bringing this bill
to the floor within the subcommittee's revised allocation.
The bill provides important increases over the President's request
for 1998, and I urge the adoption of the conference report.
Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that a table showing the
relationship of the conference report to the subcommittee's section
602(b) allocation be printed in the Record.
There being no objection, the table was ordered to be printed in the
Record, as follows:

H.R. 2016, MILITARY CONSTRUCTION APPROPRIATIONS, 1998
[Spending Totals--Senate-Reported Bill; fiscal year 1998, in millions of dollars]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Category Defense Nondefense Crime Mandatory Total
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Senate-reported bill:
Budget authority.......................................... 9,183 .......... ....... ......... 9,183
Outlays................................................... 9,902 .......... ....... ......... 9,902
Senate 602(b) allocation:
Budget authority.......................................... 9,183 .......... ....... ......... 9,183
Outlays................................................... 9,920 .......... ....... ......... 9,920
President's request:
Budget authority.......................................... 8,384 .......... ....... ......... 8,384
Outlays................................................... 9,839 .......... ....... ......... 9,839
House-passed bill:
Budget authority.......................................... 9,183 .......... ....... ......... 9,183
Outlays................................................... 9,909 .......... ....... ......... 9,909

SENATE-REPORTED BILL COMPARED TO

Senate 602(b) allocation:
Budget authority.......................................... ........ .......... ....... ......... ........
Outlays................................................... (18) .......... ....... ......... (18)
President's request:
Budget authority.......................................... 799 .......... ....... ......... 799
Outlays................................................... 63 .......... ....... ......... 63
House-passed bill:
Budget authority.......................................... ........ .......... ....... ......... ........
Outlays................................................... (7) .......... ....... ......... (7)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Note: Details may not add to totals due to rounding. Totals adjusted for consistency with current scorekeeping
conventions.

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I rise today to discuss the military
construction appropriation bill before us today. Senator Burns and
Senator Murray are to be congratulated on crafting a measure that
adequately meets our military needs while at the same time addressing
the pressing concerns of our soldiers.
Mr. President, at a time when our services are having difficulty
meeting their recruiting goals and retention is suffering, it is more
important than ever that the military address quality of life issues.
Unfortunately, the administration has chosen to ignore the reality and
not budget the appropriate resources for this goal.
The budget for all military construction contained in the Senate bill
totals just over $9 billion, almost $800,000 above what the
administration requested. As anyone who has visited some of our
installations can tell you, this money is desperately needed.
I salute the work of Senators Burns and Murray as well as their
staffs. Their ability to prioritize within the declining budget is
crucial to improving the everyday lives of our soldiers and their
families. Mr. President, if we are going to continue to ask more from
our military around the world, the very least we can do is to provide
them with adequate housing and facilities. In addition, it should be
pointed out that the committee worked with both the House and Senate
authorizing committees and did not appropriate funds for any project
that was not authorized.
I hope all of my colleagues will join me in supporting this excellent
bill.
Mr. LAUTENBERG. Mr. President, I rise to express my strong support
for several New Jersey projects included in the Senate's version of the
fiscal year 1998 military construction appropriations, as well as
several New Jersey projects included in the House version of this
legislation. As a member of the Appropriations Committee, I hope all of
these projects will be included in the final version of the bill.
I appreciate the willingness of the chairman and ranking member to
include $1.3 million in design funding for a new software engineering
facility at Picatinny Arsenal. This funding will allow the Picatinny to
consolidate the design, development, testing, configuration control,
field release and maintenance of weapon systems, simulators, and
trainers. It will result in reduced cost for the Army and will improve
efficiency in the software engineering process.
I also appreciate the willingness of the Senate subcommittee to
provide funding for two important projects at McGuire Air Force Base.
The Senate's bill includes $9.954 million for an air mobility
operations group warehouse, which will increase the efficiency of the
base's mobility operations. Additionally, it includes $35.217 million
for an ambulatory health care center replacement. This new facility
will house a full-service outpatient operation and provide adequate
space for clinics, ambulatory surgery, ancillary services, storage,
offices, and administration. It will improve the quality of care
provided to our military personnel.
In addition, the House version of this bill provides $9.03 million
for an ammunition supply point at Fort Dix, $8.8 million for a fire
station at McGuire Air Force Base, $2.05 million for a fire station at
Fort Monmouth, and $7.3 million to build 35 units of family housing at
Picatinny Arsenal. These

[[Page S7823]]

are meritorious projects that deserve the support of the conferees. I
hope the conferees to this bill will agree to include these projects to
improve the quality of life and to support the missions at New Jersey's
military installations in the final version of this legislation.
These projects are vital to New Jersey's defense infrastructure, and
to those who work on these bases. I hope the chairman and ranking
member will support these important New Jersey projects in the
conference agreement to the fiscal year 1998 military construction
bill.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the committee
amendments are considered and agreed to en bloc.
The committee amendments were agreed to.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is on the engrossment of the
amendments and third reading of the bill.
The amendments were ordered to be engrossed and the bill was read the
third time.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Chair informs the Senator from Washington
that she has 5 minutes, 29 seconds remaining on her time. Does she wish
to use it or yield it back?
Mrs. MURRAY. I yield my time back.
Mr. BURNS. I yield my time back.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is, Shall the bill, H.R. 2016, as
amended, pass? The yeas and nays have been ordered. The clerk will call
the roll.
The bill clerk called the roll.
The result was announced--yeas 98, nays 2, as follows:

[Rollcall Vote No. 192 Leg.]

YEAS--98

Abraham
Akaka
Allard
Ashcroft
Baucus
Bennett
Biden
Bingaman
Bond
Boxer
Breaux
Brownback
Bryan
Bumpers
Burns
Byrd
Campbell
Chafee
Cleland
Coats
Cochran
Collins
Conrad
Coverdell
Craig
D'Amato
Daschle
DeWine
Dodd
Domenici
Dorgan
Durbin
Enzi
Faircloth
Feingold
Feinstein
Ford
Frist
Glenn
Gorton
Graham
Gramm
Grams
Grassley
Gregg
Hagel
Harkin
Hatch
Helms
Hollings
Hutchinson
Hutchison
Inhofe
Inouye
Jeffords
Johnson
Kempthorne
Kennedy
Kerrey
Kerry
Kohl
Landrieu
Lautenberg
Leahy
Levin
Lieberman
Lott
Lugar
Mack
McConnell
Mikulski
Moseley-Braun
Moynihan
Murkowski
Murray
Nickles
Reed
Reid
Robb
Roberts
Rockefeller
Roth
Santorum
Sarbanes
Sessions
Shelby
Smith (NH)
Smith (OR)
Snowe
Specter
Stevens
Thomas
Thompson
Thurmond
Torricelli
Warner
Wellstone
Wyden

NAYS--2

Kyl
McCain

The bill (H.R. 2016), as amended, was passed.
Mr. BURNS. Mr. President, I move to reconsider the vote.
Mrs. MURRAY. I move to lay it on the table.
The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Kempthorne). Under a previous order, the
Senate insists on its amendments, requests a conference with the House,
and the Chair appoints the following conferees.
The Presiding Officer appointed Mr. Burns, Mrs. Hutchison, Mr.
Faircloth, Mr. Craig, Mr. Stevens, Mrs. Murray, Mr. Reid, Mr. Inouye,
and Mr. Byrd, conferees on the part of the Senate.
Mr. BURNS. I thank Senator Murray's staff, Dick D'Amato, Emelie East,
and also on my staff Sid Ashworth, Kelly Hartline, and Jennifer
Chartrand. I also thank Ben McMakin and Mazie Mattson. It was a
pleasure working with these folks. They did the majority of the work.
I yield the floor.

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