March 24, 2015 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S1777 who are poor and may not have health over the next couple of days we will resulting maintenance. This means the insurance without Medicaid, and of make the right decisions for our chil- Department must pay critical atten- course to individuals with disabilities. dren. tion now to the development and exe- So we have a long way to go to prove With that, I yield the floor. cution of a robust F–35 sustainment that we are keeping that promise. I suggest the absence of a quorum. strategy to ensure long term costs are Mr. President, I will conclude with The PRESIDING OFFICER. Will the reduced. some thoughts about the Children’s Senator withhold his request? We must also not forget the current Health Insurance Program. We all Mr. CASEY. I will. purchase price of the F–35 exceeds $110 know this is not only a bipartisan pro- f million per aircraft. It is inevitable gram but a very successful program. that the price of the F–35 will come F–35 JOINT STRIKE FIGHTER From 1997, when it was enacted, to the down as the numbers of aircraft pro- year 2012, the uninsured rate for chil- Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, I support duced goes up. But the quest for price dren fell by half—from 14 percent to 7 the F–35 Joint Strike Fighter. I believe reduction must be central to our cur- percent—across the country, a remark- this is a critical defense acquisition rent and future efforts if we are to be able achievement. It means we are not program which will greatly strengthen able to procure the number of aircraft there yet because we still have 7 per- not only our national security, but required to properly execute our deter- cent who are uninsured, but that is a that of our closest allies and partners. rent strategies and, if necessary, war substantial step forward and a substan- The F–35 Joint Strike Fighter Pro- plans. Indeed, price will have a dra- tial measure of progress for the coun- gram began more than 20 years ago. In matic effect on the ability of our allies try. an age where emerging technologies to purchase the F–35. Therefore, I chal- This program, the Children’s Health are introduced daily and where we have lenge both the Department and our de- Insurance Program, along with Med- become accustomed to instant gratifi- fense contractors to work toward icaid, is helping to reduce disparity in cation, we sometimes grow impatient achieving what many experts agree is health coverage affecting low-income with how long it takes to achieve war- an obtainable goal: a procurement children across the country. Without winning capabilities—and we should. price of less than $80 million per air- legislative action to extend funding be- Yet today, the F–35 stands on the craft, and as close to $60 million per yond September 30 of this year, over 10 threshold of being used effectively and aircraft as possible. If we do this, the million children across America are at decisively in operational missions. current program of record for more risk of losing their comprehensive, af- During its journey, the Joint Strike than 3,000 aircraft will naturally in- fordable—I will say that again, com- Fighter Program Office has encoun- crease. My personal desire would be to prehensive and affordable quality care, tered its fair share of setbacks, and—at see over 6,000 of these aircraft safe- including, by one estimate, 270,000 chil- times—faulty leadership decisions by guarding our precious liberties and dren in Pennsylvania. About 2 million those in government as well as those in those of our allies. of the children currently enrolled in the private sector. From the Pentagon This is an ambitious objective, but it CHIP would likely end up uninsured itself, we heard the accusation of ‘‘ac- is based upon achieving what is best for while the others would face higher pre- quisition malpractice.’’ America and its allies. And I believe miums and higher out-of-pocket costs. The senior Senator from Arizona, everyone in the Department of Defense, We should do the right thing and make JOHN MCCAIN, has repeatedly pointed the F–35 Program Office, and, yes, the sure we have funding in place for 4 out these shortfalls and missteps. I employees of our Nation’s defense con- years for the Children’s Health Insur- echo his frustrations. tractors have this as their central goal. ance Program, not just 2 years. In response to the accusations and Therefore, I am reminded of a story Unfortunately, what we are hearing grievances about the F–35 program, one from our history about the industri- from the proposal sent to us from the could have just thrown one’s hands up alist Collis Potter Huntington. He was House is that the 4-year commitment in frustration. Yet through the re- one of the so-called ‘‘Big Four’’ of the is only 2 years. So we have a lot of newed determination of the F–35’s western railroads during the late 1800s work to do. I believe the right thing to Joint Strike Program Office under the and built the Central Pacific Railroad do on CHIP is to enact what Senate leadership of Lt. Gen. Christopher as part of the first transcontinental Democrats have proposed—a 4-year so- Bogdan, what once was the poster child railroad. He also led and developed called clean extension of the Children’s for acquisition reform has reached other interstate lines such as the Health Insurance Program as soon as vital milestones and will soon be used Southern Pacific Railroad and the possible, and that is S. 522. That would by our combat forces. Chesapeake and Ohio Railway, known be the right thing to do. During his tenure, General Bogdan simply as the C&O. As Huntington We can give speeches and talk a lot has demanded and achieved greater furthered the C&O’s extension through about how we all support kids, and it is performance and accountability among the Virginia peninsula, he opened the nice to say that and it is nice to vote his own staff and his industry partners. pathway for West Virginia’s coal indus- once in a while for programs and strat- He has established and is executing a try to reach the coal piers in the har- egies that help kids, but I believe the corrective plan. With that said, there is bor of Hampton Roads. Seeing a need test is a lot tougher than that. The test still much more to do. The problems for export shipping, he started the will come on this budget vote—a test General Bogdan and the collective F–35 Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry- on whether we support children. If we team are overcoming did not occur in dock Company in 1886. are cutting Medicaid by hundreds of an instant, nor will they be fixed in an Huntington started a long tradition billions of dollars over the next 10 instant. of superb shipbuilding, and he is also years, if we are cutting the SNAP pro- Accordingly, today, I call on my col- credited with giving the shipyard its gram by tens of billions of dollars or leagues to support the F–35 and provide motto. The motto simply states: ‘‘We more, maybe even higher than that the F–35 Program Office with the back- will build good ships here. At a profit if over the next 10 years, and if we are ing it needs to achieve critical future we can. At a loss if we must. But al- not doing the right thing on children’s milestones. ways good ships.’’ This motto is embla- health insurance—and I could go down In addition, the Congress must con- zoned on a plaque and fixed to a gran- a longer list—then we are not doing tinue to challenge the Department, the ite monument at one of the entrances what we need to do for children. They F–35 Program Office, and the program’s to the yard. This motto defined the don’t have lobbyists, they don’t give industrial partners to reduce not only mindset of generations of ship builders campaign contributions, they don’t each aircraft’s initial purchase price, at the yard. have power, and they may be voiceless, but the cost of using and maintaining In 1968, the privately held Newport but we have an obligation in both par- this strike fighter in the decades that News Shipbuilding and Drydock Com- ties and in both Houses to be their follow. As history teaches us, upwards pany merged with another company. voice. But I am afraid we are headed of 80 percent of the total ownership Thereafter, the ‘‘Good Ship’’ monu- down a road with a budget that harms costs of a weapon system resides not in ment was removed due to its misalign- children substantially, and I hope that the purchase price, but in its use and ment with the ‘‘new’’ company’s goals.

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The ‘‘Good Ship’’ motto is a lesson ity in Tennessee; the MOX Fuel Fabrication I also want to hear more about your plans for us all, but especially for the F–35 Facility in South Carolina; and the Pluto- for storing the Navy’s used nuclear fuel. Program Office and its industry part- nium Facility in New Mexico. We talked a lot in our hearing last week ners. We should all rally around a Combined, these projects could cost as with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission ‘‘Good Strike Fighter’’ motto. After much as $20 billion dollars to build, and over about Yucca Mountain and storing used nu- all, these jets are being built for our the past four years, Senator Feinstein and I clear fuel from commercial reactors, and I’d have worked hard with the NNSA to keep like to hear from you how this issue impacts men and women in uniform, to protect costs from skyrocketing and to make sure your operations. our rights and liberties as well as those hard-earned taxpayer dollars are spent wise- With that, I would recognize Senator Fein- of our allies. ly. We need to make sure these projects are stein to make her opening statement. The fighting spirit of the United on time and on budget. f States and her allies can enable the F– Senator Feinstein and I have focused much 35 Joint Strike Fighter to emerge from of our oversight on the Uranium Processing ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS its challenges like the mythical phoe- Facility, because costs had increased every nix: reborn, regenerated and renewed. time we would get a status update. Three years ago, we began holding regular TRIBUTE TO LINDA HODGDON But for this to succeed, we must com- meetings with the NNSA administrator and ∑ Ms. AYOTTE. Mr. President, today I mit ourselves to excellence—in es- his team. sence, the ‘‘Good Strike Fighter’’ We said we wanted 90 percent design com- congratulate New Hampshire commis- motto. The war fighter, the American pleted before we began construction and sioner of administrative services Linda people, our allies and partners, and the urged the NNSA to take aggressive steps to Hodgdon on her retirement and to rec- whole free world are depending on it. get costs under control. ognize her nearly 30 years of dedicated The administrator asked Thom Mason, the public service to New Hampshire and f laboratory director for Oak Ridge National our Nation. NATIONAL NUCLEAR SECURITY Laboratory in Tennessee to head a Red Team Commissioner Hodgdon has distin- ADMINISTRATION to review the project. The result of that re- guished herself as an extraordinary view may be a model for how to keep these Mr. ALEXANDER. Mr. President, I kinds of projects on time and on budget. public servant. Linda’s administrative ask unanimous consent that a copy of The Red Team’s report included 17 rec- and analytic talent, commitment to my remarks at the Senate Appropria- ommendations, nearly all of which the NNSA the prudent use of tax dollars, and her tions Subcommittee on Energy and has now adopted, to keep the uranium facil- exceptional work ethic resulted in her Water Development be printed in the ity within a $6.5 billion budget with comple- holding increasingly challenging and tion by 2025. RECORD. responsible positions throughout New There being no objection, the mate- Based on these recommendations, the Ura- Hampshire’s State government. She nium Facility will now consist of at least rial was ordered to be printed in the two buildings—one with high security and started her service in 1985 as a finan- RECORD, as follows: one with less security—with construction of cial analyst in the Governor’s office, NATIONAL NUCLEAR SECURITY these buildings to begin once their design is and has since served in various posi- ADMINISTRATION at 90 percent. tions with the Department of Trans- We’re here today to review the president’s As I understand it, NNSA recently com- portation, Department of Health and fiscal year 2016 budget request for the Na- pleted a portion of the site preparation for Human Services, as well as the Depart- tional Nuclear Security Administration, this project under budget by $10 million. ment of Justice. In 2008 she was ap- which is a semi-autonomous agency within That’s a good start, but there’s a lot more pointed to serve as the commissioner of work to be done. the Department of Energy that is responsible the Department of Administrative for managing our nuclear weapons stockpile, I’m going to ask you more today about the reducing global dangers posed by weapons of uranium facility, particularly about your Services. Throughout her career serv- mass destruction, and providing the Navy schedule for completing the design and when ing the people of New Hampshire, with safe and effective nuclear propulsion. you anticipate construction can begin. Linda has earned a reputation for her This is the subcommittee’s third hearing I also want to ask you about how you are exemplary commitment to fulfilling this year on the president’s budget request, applying the lessons we learned from the Red the fiduciary duty we all have to spend and I look forward to hearing our witnesses’ Team Review Team and to the other big con- tax dollars wisely, and she has worked struction projects, and look forward to any testimony. to boost efficiency and increase ac- The NNSA, has an important national se- updates you can provide. curity mission, but faces many challenges. General Klotz, I know you plan to go to countability. That’s why we need to do what we were sent Tennessee tomorrow to see the progress on On a personal note, I had the oppor- here to do—to govern. this project. I appreciate your hands-on ap- tunity to work with Linda when she Governing is about setting priorities, and proach to making sure this important served as the director of administra- we are going to have to make some hard de- project is delivered on time and on budget. tion for the New Hampshire Depart- cisions this year to make sure the highest Another large portion of the budget re- ment of Justice from 2004 to 2006. Dur- priorities are funded. quest is the work NNSA is doing to maintain ing my tenure as attorney general I The president’s 2016 budget request for de- our nuclear weapons stockpile, and I want to fense spending is about $38 billion higher make sure we are spending taxpayer dollars came to value and greatly appreciate than what is allowed under the spending caps effectively. Linda’s work managing our budget and in the Budget Control Act. The budget request includes $1.3 billion to many other administrative functions In fact, if spending this year is consistent continue the four ongoing life extension pro- within the office. Her skill, dedication, with the Budget Control Act, fully funding grams, which fix or replace components in and hard work played an integral role NNSA’s budget request alone would require weapons systems to make sure they’re safe in the success the office enjoyed. When almost the entire increase in defense spend- and reliable. Linda took on a task you knew it These life extension programs are needed ing for all defense programs—including the would be done thoroughly, profes- Department of Defense. but they are very expensive, and I will ask We will work with Senator Cochran and you today whether you will be able to meet sionally, and on time. Linda was a Senator Mikulski to increase the sub- your production deadlines on time and on trusted member of my leadership team, committee’s defense spending allocation, but budget. who was greatly appreciated by all of we’re going to need your help to understand Naval Reactors is responsible for all as- the members of the office. the NNSA’s most urgent priorities, and that pects of the nuclear reactors that power sub- As Commissioner Hodgdon retires is why we are holding this hearing. marines and aircraft carriers. Naval Reac- from public service, I commend her on I’d like to focus my questions on three tors is currently designing a new reactor a job well done. The government of the main areas, all with an eye toward setting core that will not need to be refueled during priorities: the life of the ship. State of New Hampshire and the lives Keeping large construction projects on This work will save taxpayers billions of of the people of our State are better off time and on budget; Senator Feinstein and I dollars because we won’t have to build two because of her exemplary service. I ask have worked pretty hard on that. extra submarines to make up for those that my colleagues to join me in thanking

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