the speaker pro tempore: on this vote the yeas are 245, the nays are 181. the previous question is ordered. the question is on adoption of house resolution 572.

those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it. the gentleman from california. mr. dreier: on that i ask for the yeas and nays, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the yeas and nays are requested. those favoring a vote by the yeas and nays will rise. a sufficient number having arisen, the yeas and nays are ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. this will be a five-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of

the speaker pro tempore: on this vote the yeas are 222, the nays are 202, the resolution is adopted. without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid upon the table. pursuant, the unfin,ished business is the question on agreeing to the speaker's approval of the journal which the chair will put de novo. the question is on agreeing to the speaker's approval of the journal. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, the ayes have. it the journal stands approved. -- have it. the journal stands approved.

the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from colorado rise? mr. polis: mr. speaker, i send to the desk a privileged report from the committee on rules for filing under the rule. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title. the clerk: report to accompany house resolution 578, resolution providing for consideration of the bill, h.r. 2996, making appropriations for the department of the interior, environment and related agencies for the fiscal year ending september 30, 2010, and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: referred to the house calendar and ordered precipitationed. -- printed.

please clear the well. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from missouri rise? mr. skelton: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that members may have five legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks on the previous bill and also to file extraneous material thereof. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered.

the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to house resolution 527 and rule 18, the chair declares the house in the committee on the whole house on the state of the union for consideration of h.r. 2647. the chair appoints the gentleman from pennsylvania, mr. altmire, to preside over the committee of the whole.

the chair: the house is in the committee of the whole house on the state of the union for which the consideration of h.r. 2647, which the clerk will read by title. the clerk: a bill to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2010 for military activities of the department of defense to prescribe military personnel strengths for fiscal year 2010 and for other purposes. the chair: pursuant to the rule, the bill is considered read the first time. the gentleman from missouri, mr. skelton, and the gentleman from california, mr. mckeon, will each control 30 minutes. the chair now recognizes the gentleman from missouri. mr. skelton: mr. chairman, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the chair: without objection. the gentleman is recognized. mr. skelton: mr. chairman, i rise in support of h.r. 2647, the national defense authorization act for fiscal year 2010. the house armed services committee brings before the house a bill reported out of the committee by a vote of 61 to

zero. this consensus was achieved after a great deal of hard work and our mark lasted almost 17 hours. we considered 129 amendments, we adopted 107 of them. we had an excellent debate on the issues in the best traditions of our committee. i am confident we will have a similar experience here in the full house. mr. chairman, i'm pleased to be joined in support of the bill by my friend and my partner, buck mckeon. i'm thrilled that he is our ranking member and i commend him for jumping in head first on his first official day on the job. which, of course, was a full day for our markup. he's been a very able and constructive partner as well as when required a skilled opponent. i must, however, mention our esteemed colleague, john mchugh, who's agreed to become secretary of the army, but who leaves our committee having established a

lasting legacy, especially on issues of personnel. in this debate, mr. chairman, we will consider and i'm confident we will adopt an amendment that is sponsored by both mr. mckeon and i, that is a tribute to the work of john mchugh on our committee. likewise, i must thank the subcommittee chairman, ranking members who contributed so much toward this bill. they did their homework and i'm pleased with the outcome of their efforts. they solved almost every problem set out for them and they accomplished a lot of good government at the same time. they were able to -- ably assisted by our committee staff, that amazing committee staff, professionals as well as the office of the legislative council and the office of parliamentarian. this bill authorizes $550.5 billion in budget authority for the department of defense and

the national security programs of the department of energy. the bill also authorizes $130 billion to support ongoing military operations in iraq and afghanistan during the fiscal year 2010. these amounts are essentially equal to the president's budget request for items in the jurisdiction of our committee. . h.r. 2647 supports america's service members and providing the necessary resources to keep americans safe. the bill provides our military personnel with 3.4% pay raise, an increase of .5% above the president's request. the bill includes a number of initiatives to support military families. in this, the year of the military family, we provide funds to establish a center for care for military members and their families --

>> mr. speaker, the house is not in order. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman will proceed. mr. skelton: increased allowances for senior noncommissioned officers and authorize the transportation of a second vehicle for members who are changing stations from or to a nonforeign area outside the united states. the bill provides funding to enhance the scholarship program to support the troops and their families. the mark fully funds the president's budget request for our military training, equipment, maintenance, facilities upkeep. and by doing so, the committee continues its efforts to address readiness shortfalls that have developed over the past eight years. some of these concerns in this mark, we have added $1.6 billion to operation and maintenance,

including $395 million for navy aviation and ship depot maintenance, $762 million to achieve 100% for the requirement of sustainment of facilities, including the department of defense schools, which, by the way, are excellent. and $450 million to improve the quality of army training barracks. the war in afghanistan is a critical mission that is finally getting the attention it demands. and i have been saying that for quite some time. to ensure our strategy in both countries is effective and achieves the intended goals within well-defined timelines, the bill requires the president to assess american efforts and regularly report on progress. it also authorizes the new pakistan counterinsurgency fund to allow our commanders to help pakistan quickly and more effectively go to the terrorists -- after the terrorists in their safe havens.

on iraq, the committee supports the president's policy while also upholding the congress' responsibility to provide oversight to the process of drawing down of the mountain material purchase and transport buildup in iraq after tremendous expense to our taxpayer. in the area of nonproliferation, the bill strensthens the department of defense's threat reduction program. the bill fully supports the department of energy nonproliferation programs and adds substantial funding in support of the president's plan to secure and remove all known vulnerable nuclear materials that can be used for weapons. the bill takes additional steps on acquisition reform beyond what we did in the bill on weapons acquisition, which was enacted and signed into law by the president last month. it ensures that the quadrennial

defense review currently being undertaken by the department of defense both complies with the law and gives congress the insight it needs to make judgments about force structure and changes. in summary, mr. chairman, i believe this bill can be supported by every member of this house. i recognize that some have objections to current defense policy and there are issues and feel compelled to oppose the bill. that is their right. but in those cases, i believe solid progress is made in this bill toward protecting our national security in the right way. i ask the members to vote for h.r. 2647 for our troops, their families, for a strong national defense for our nation. the object of our affection, mr. chairman, are the young men and young women in uniform who do professional, outstanding work for our country.

this bill helps them in their efforts. all of us are proud of them. and i hope that the vote on this bill, when we vote tomorrow, will reflect that pride in the military of the united states of america. i reserve the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from california. mr. mckeon: thank you, mr. chairman. i yield myself such time as i may consume. the chair: the gentleman is recognized. mr. mckeon: as legislators we meet once again to address the wide range of important national security issues undertaken by the departments of defense and energy. we all take our legislative responsibilities very seriously. this is especially true during the time of war and it's always true of my good friend and colleague, armed services committee chairman ike skelton. i would be remiss without saying a word about the outgoing ranking member john mchugh. we agree this committee, this

congress and the 23rd district of new york will all miss the leadership of john mchugh. i look forward to speaking more about john later in our debate. as a result of chairman skelton's efforts to put forward this bill, our committee reported out the national defense authorization act for fiscal year 2010 last wednesday. the vote was unanimous, 61-0. consistent with the long-standing bipartisan practice of the armed services committee, this bill reflects our committee's strong support for the brave men and women of the united states armed forces. this legislation acknowledges that the united states has a vital national security interest in ensuring that afghanistan does not once again become a safe haven for terrorists, supports a comprehensive counterinsurgency strategy that is adequately resourced and funded by congress and calls on the president to provide our u.s. military commanders with the military forces they require

in order to succeed. in iraq, the committee ensures that congress will support the president's plan to redeploy combat forces while providing our commanders on the ground the flexibility to hold hard fought security gains and ensure the safety of our forces. mr. chairman, we owe our soldiers, sailors airmen and marines the best available equipment, training and support in order to provide them with the best possible tools to undertake their missions and return safely. the provisions that are already in this bill go a considerable way in demonstrating this support, but we can and should improve it. congress and particularly the armed services committees in both chambers have the obligation to ensure that the department of defense develops and deploys defensive capabilities that protect the american people, are forward deployed forces and our allies. this includes promising programs

in the areas of missile defense. in a year where iran and north korea have demonstrated the capability and intent to pursue long range ballistic missiles and programs, this bill endorsed reductions to capabilities that would provide a comprehensive missile defense system to protect the u.s. homeland of forward deployed troops and our allies. we need to take steps that would reverse the administration's 35% reduction to a critical component of the national missile defense system located in alaska and california, which is designed as a last line of defense to protect the u.s. homeland. it's unfortunate that we have been forced to trade national missile defense capabilities for more theater missile defense. both are necessary and both could have been adequately funded without such deep cuts. building on the bill that the

president signed in may, this legislation takes a number of important steps on major weapons programs. i'm pleased this bill provides $368.8 million in advanced procurement funding for 12 additional f-22's. keeping the f-22 production line open is not only necessary to meet military requirements, but also sustains a critical sector of the defense industrial base and provides over 95,000 direct and indirect jobs at a time when our economy is struggling through recession. as a nation, we owe more than our gratitude to the brave men and women in uniforms for the sacrifices they make to protect our freedom. i'm pleased that this legislation includes 3.4% pay raise, which is half a percentage point above the president's request. i commend chairman skelton to working towards the suspension

bill addressed earlier today. i remained concerned that we weren't able to fund surviving spouses and allowing taxes to tricare for those who received early retirement. if this is to be the year of the military family, we must make it a priority to fund these programs, too. one of the few years where there is disagreement is detainee policy. these are differences that i believe need to be debated and given a vote within the full house. many members believe the american people do not want detainees in guantanamo brought to the sovereign territory of our country. i'm disappointed we will not debate amendments dealing with the transferor release of detainees from guantanamo bay, cuba, boo the united states. finally, i strongly agree with many members who believe that congress should do everything possible to ensure that the detainee pictures presently subject to the freedom of

information act are not released. the president and our military commanders determined that these photos, if released, would risk the safety of u.s. forces in iraq and afghanistan. given the overwhelming support for this language in the senate, i regret we could not address this issue on the house floor today. as in years past, i believe that this legislation reflects many of the armed services committee's priorities in supporting our nation dedicated and courageous service members. i thank the chairman and helping to stay focused on delivering a bill that protects, sustains and builds our forces. i look forward to working with my colleagues to improve and pass h.r. 2647 and i reserve the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from missouri. mr. skelton: the member i'm about to yield to for three minutes will be giving her last

presentation in this house, for she will be very shortly a member of the administration within the state department with a high ranking position. we wish her well as well as wishing her well in her upcoming marriage. i yield three minutes to my friend, my colleague, the distinguished chairman of the subcommittee on strategic forces, the gentlelady from california, ms. tauscher. the chair: the the gentlewoman from california, ms. tauscher is recognized for three minutes. mrs. tauscher: thank you for those kind words. it has been a pleasure to work with you and my colleagues on the committee and my colleagues in the house. thank you for your patriotic service. i am pleased to rise in support h.r. 2647, the national defense authorization act for fiscal year 2010 and i will summarize the portions which i have

chaired for the past three years. i thank my colleagues on both sides of the aisle including ranking member turner for his hard work and always good willingness to work in a bipartisan way. h.r. 2647 includes $14.3 billion for the department of energy national security programs not including nuclear nonproliferation. $9.3 billion, the amount the president requested and $11 billion for military programs, $9 billion for air force base programs. the department of energy, national security programs in the bill authorizes $6.5 billion for nuclear activities. h.r. 2647 authorizes a new stockpile management program to provide better guidance to the national nuclear program and establish limits on that maintenance. the bill also adds the required new lab to lab peer review as

part of the annual assessment of the nuclear stockpile. for missile defense. the bill authorizes the president's request of $9.3 billion, including $8 billion for missile defense agency of the the bill focuses on the highest priority threats in making our missile defense system more effective. the bill shifts away from the exabets approach of the last few years, which preponderance meant if a contractor could build it, m.d.a. could fund it and whether or not the combatant command rsers requested it. the programs fell behind schedule and went way over budget. and we are currently spending millions of dollars to fix and upgrade. director general patrick o'reilly told our committee, the process leading up to the request was the first that involved the combatant commanders in a meaningful way and the first with a f