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Congressional Record United States of America PROCEEDINGS and DEBATES of the 107Th CONGRESS, FIRST SESSION

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Congressional Record United States of America PROCEEDINGS and DEBATES of the 107Th CONGRESS, FIRST SESSION E PL UR UM IB N U U S Congressional Record United States of America PROCEEDINGS AND DEBATES OF THE 107th CONGRESS, FIRST SESSION Vol. 147 WASHINGTON, TUESDAY, MAY 1, 2001 No. 57 House of Representatives The House met at 12:30 p.m. Navy’s program of bringing civilians ‘‘There was this long pause, and then f along on military activities for the he said ‘no’ ’’ to the question about purposes of lobbying the Congress of whether or not the civilians had inter- MESSAGE FROM THE SENATE the United States. Now, that is true at fered. He previously said ‘‘yes.’’ A message from the Senate by Mr. one level without debate. That sub- What bothers me now is that this Monahan, one of its clerks, announced marine would not have left port if it House of Representatives, with over- that the Senate has passed a bill of the were not for the need to take 16 appar- sight responsibilities, appears to be ig- following title in which the concur- ently well-connected, politically influ- noring what went on in that situation. rence of the House is requested: ential civilians for a ride. As the New The policy of the Navy of scheduling S. 560. An act for the relief of Rita York Times points out, that purpose trips solely for the edification of civil- Mirembe Revell (a.k.a. Margaret Rita was to build support among these civil- ians in the hope that they will become Mirembe). ians so they will lobby the Congress for political lobbyists appears to be noth- f more money. ing we are going to challenge. MORNING HOUR DEBATES In addition to the excursion for the I do not think any other agency in The SPEAKER. Pursuant to the 16 civilians being the sole reason for the Federal Government guilty of this order of the House of January 3, 2001, that particular submarine going out, practice would be let off so easy. We the Chair will now recognize Members we have questions that the Navy re- are told that we do not have enough from lists submitted by the majority fused to even ask, and certainly to money in the budget for training mis- and minority leaders for morning hour have answered, about the extent to sions, but we had enough money in the debates. The Chair will alternate rec- which the 16 civilians on board a very budget for a mission that had nothing ognition between the parties, with each crowded submarine might have con- to do with training, was not required party limited to not to exceed 30 min- tributed to the terrible tragedy. for training, but was required to show utes, and each Member except the ma- We have a commander who was or- off for 16 civilians. jority leader, the minority leader or dered to take the submarine out for the We do not know who the 16 civilians the minority whip limited to not to ex- purpose of giving the 16 civilians a ride, were. Were they contributors? I did not ceed 5 minutes. who has ended his career. That is a sad think it was a good idea to let contrib- The Chair recognizes the gentleman thing. He appears to have been a very utors sleep in the Lincoln bedroom from Massachusetts (Mr. FRANK) for 5 able, very dedicated man. We have under President Clinton. But we did minutes. other sailors who may be disciplined. not build the Lincoln bedroom solely No one appears to be dealing with the f to let them sleep there. We did not un- policy by which the Navy sent those dergo any expenses to let them sleep INVESTIGATION OF CIVILIANS ON people into that difficult situation, there. NAVY SHIPS CALLED FOR surfacing the submarine in an area Letting people sleep in the Lincoln Mr. FRANK. Mr. Speaker, the ter- where ships would be around, with 16 bedroom seems to me to have probably rible tragedy that led to the loss of civilians present, and the investigation less of a negative impact than sending Japanese lives when one of our sub- conducted by the Navy which led ulti- out a submarine into waters where marines surfaced and crashed into a mately to the resignation of the com- there are civilian ships, just to make 16 ship obviously consists of the loss of mander appeared designed not to get to civilians happy. I would rather those 16 those lives and the trauma of the other the bottom of these questions. civilians have got 16 nights in the Lin- people involved, both on the submarine As the New York Times reported on coln bedroom than to have a submarine and on the Japanese trawler. But there April 22, one of the sailors who had ini- go out there. is another disturbing aspect of that, al- tially indicated that the presence of Now, it is no one’s fault that this led though it is, of course, far less dis- the civilians was a problem, changed to the loss of life. No one wanted that turbing than the loss of life. But we his testimony. Indeed, it appeared that to happen. Everyone is genuinely sad. cannot do anything about the loss of the pressure was on him from the Navy A career of a very distinguished officer life. However, we can do something as to change his testimony. ‘‘It was very has, unfortunately, been lost to this. a House of Representatives, which we dramatic, recalled Jay Fidell, a lawyer But we did allow a submarine to go out are not doing, about the kind of cir- and former Coast Guard judge who fol- there, knowing that this is a dangerous cumstances that led to that. lowed the proceedings as a commen- thing. It is clear that those lives would not tator for the Public Broadcasting Sys- So I hope my colleagues in the House have been lost were it not for the tem,’’ the New York Times reports. with supervisory responsibilities will b This symbol represents the time of day during the House proceedings, e.g., b 1407 is 2:07 p.m. Matter set in this typeface indicates words inserted or appended, rather than spoken, by a Member of the House on the floor. H1665 . VerDate 01-MAY-2001 03:08 May 02, 2001 Jkt 089060 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 7634 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\A01MY7.000 pfrm01 PsN: H01PT1 H1666 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — HOUSE May 1, 2001 look into this policy. I believe we the controls when the submarine shot to the paper became the crucial substitute. He was ought to say to the Navy, look, it is surface, striking and sinking the Ehime to have gotten up from his chair and gone to one thing if you let people observe Maru. Mr. Rumsfeld put a moratorium on ci- a nearby bulkhead to mark the positions on vilians’ handling controls, but otherwise the a scrolling device visible to the officer of the something that is going to be hap- programs are continuing in all services. A deck at intervals of about three minutes, a pening anyway; but scheduling com- Navy official said that no review orders had former submarine commander said. But plicated military events, potentially yet been issued by the Pentagon and that the some of the visitors were crowded into the dangerous ones, just so you can show Navy was conducting a review on its own. narrow path between his post and the plot- off to people who will become political The submarine’s skipper, Cmdr. Scott D. ting paper, and he did not push through them lobbyists? Do not do that anymore. Waddle, is not expected to be court- to update the positions. Petty Officer [From The New York Times, Apr. 23, 2001] martialed. Instead, Admiral Fargo, acting on Seacrest told the National Transportation the court of inquiry’s report, is expected to Safety Board investigators and the prelimi- DESPITE SUB INQUIRY, NAVY STILL SEES NEED announce an administrative punishment on nary Navy inquiry that the presence of visi- FOR GUESTS ON SHIPS Monday, under which Commander Waddle tors had interfered with his task. (By John Kifner) will resign from the Navy, ending his career John Hammerschmidt, the chief N.T.S.B. HONOLULU, APR. 23, 2001.—The Navy’s in- at his current rank with an honorable dis- investigator, said Petty Officer Seacrest re- quiry into the submarine Greeneville’s colli- charge and a full pension. ported that ‘‘he was not able to continue his sion with a Japanese fisheries training vessel On March 20, Commander Waddle’s civilian plotting.’’ But when Petty Officer Seacrest has sidestepped one factor in the fatal crash: lawyer, Charles W. Gittins, seemed to shift appeared before the court of inquiry, testi- a program hugely popular with the Navy direction as he was winding up a rambling fying under a grant of immunity, he said the brass in which thousands of civilians, many closing statement at the end of 12 days of civilians had no effect on his task. wealthy or influential, are invited on excur- hearings. Mr. Gittins raised the question of ‘‘It was very dramatic,’’ recalled Jay M. sions aboard warships in hopes of bolstering the 16 civilians with the retired admiral, Fidell (the brother of Eugene R. Fidell), a support for the services and, ultimately, Richard C. Macke, who made the arrange- lawyer and a former Coast Guard judge, who their financing. ments for the submarine tour. Most of the ci- followed the proceedings as a commentator Adm. Thomas B. Fargo, the commander of vilians had been planning to take part in a for the Public Broadcasting System.
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