So, what else went into that Defense Appropriations bill?

This bill also contains a provision I authored establishing the Civilian Linguist Reserve Corps, CLRC, pilot project. It became abundantly clear

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after the attacks of September 11, 2001, that the U.S. Government had a dearth of critical language skills. The 9/11 Commission report documented the disastrous consequences of this deficiency that, unfortunately, we still have not made enough progress in addressing 4 years after the 9/11 tragedy.

CLRC is designed to address the Government's critical language shortfall by creating a pool of people with advanced language skills that the Federal Government could call on to assist when needed. The National Security Education Program completed a feasibility study of CLRC and concluded that the concept was sound and ``an important step in addressing both short- and long-term shortfalls related to language assets in the national security community.'' It also recommended that a 3-year pilot project be conducted to work out any potential problems. My amendment establishes this pilot project. I want to thank the managers of the bill for working with me to include this worthwhile measure and thank Senator Coleman for cosponsoring my amendment.

I also want to thank the bill managers for continuing to work with me in assisting the families of injured servicemembers. I was pleased that Congress included my amendment on travel benefits for the family of injured servicemembers in the Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act for Defense, the Global War on Terror, and Tsunami Relief of 2005, P.L. 109-13. My amendment corrected a flaw in the law that unintentionally restricted the number of families of injured servicemembers that qualify for travel assistance. Too many families were being denied help in visiting their injured loved ones because the Army had not officially listed them as ``seriously injured,'' even though these men and women have been evacuated out of the combat zone to the United States for treatment. The change in the law now ensures that families of injured servicemembers evacuated to a U.S. hospital get at least one trip paid for so that these families can quickly reunite and begin recovering from the trauma they have experienced.

I introduced my amendment to this bill because the family travel provision in P.L. 109-13 was sunset at the end of the 2005 fiscal year by the conferees. I thank the Senate for adopting my amendment that will make the provision permanent.

The Senate also adopted an amendment I authored requiring the Department of Defense to report on the steps it is taking to clearly communicate the stop-loss policy to potential enlistees and re-enlistees. One of my constituents, a sergeant in the Army, wrote to me earlier this year articulating his frustration with the Army's stop-loss policy. He had been scheduled to be released from service prior to his unit's deployment to Iraq but the stop-loss order kept him in uniform making him feel that his service was completely unappreciated. Part of this sergeant's frustration and the frustration experienced by others who have been put under stop-loss orders stems from the fact that many don't know that the military can keep them beyond their contractual date of separation. They may find out about this policy only shortly before they are deployed to a war zone, as was the case with my constituent. This situation is simply unacceptable.

The sergeant who shared his story with me was killed in Iraq only days after he wrote his letter. With thousands of soldiers still on stop-loss, I am certain that similar tragic stories have played out many times over the last few years. The very least we owe those who volunteer to serve our Nation is full disclosure of the terms under which they are volunteering. My amendment includes a finding that states exactly that. I hope that, by pushing the Department to report on the actions it is taken to ensure that potential recruits know the terms of their service, the Department will take quick action to do just that. One good place for it to start would be to revise DOD Form 4/1, Enlistment/Reenlistment Document, the service contract new enlistees and reenlistees must sign to join the military. Form 4/1 does not currently include information that tells those joining the active component that they may be kept on stop-loss during partial mobilizations. The Department must immediately fix this flaw and take other steps to clearly communicate to our men and women in uniform the terms under which they are volunteering to serve.

Congress has a crucial role in defense oversight and I am disappointed that the Senate has again failed to adopt Senator Dorgan's amendment that would have created a Truman Committee to oversee our efforts in Iraq. This measure was a commonsense way to assure that we carry out our policies in the most effect way possible and not, as now, waste millions if not billions of taxpayer dollars. After all, our shared goal is to get needed resources to our troops and rebuilding efforts not to profiteers.

One measure the Senate adopted that should assist in our oversight responsibilities is my amendment requiring DOD to report on how it will address deficiencies related to key military equipment. According to a recent GAO report, DOD has not done a good job in replacing equipment that is being rapidly worn out due to the military's high operational tempo or even tracking its equipment needs. Military readiness has suffered as a result. My amendment requires DOD to submit a report in conjunction with the President's annual budget request that details DOD's program strategies and funding plans to ensure that DOD's budget decisions address these equipment deficiencies. Specifically, the Department must detail its plans to sustain and modernize key equipment systems until they are retired or replaced, report the costs associated with the sustainment and modernization of key equipment, and identify these funds in the Future Years Defense Program. Finally, if the Department chooses to delay or not fully fund their plan, it must describe the risks involved and the steps it is taking to mitigate those risks.

Although I am voting for the Department of Defense authorization bill, I am disappointed with the mixed messages that the Senate continues to send to the administration and the country on issues related to the detainees held at Guantanamo Bay. Even as the Senate passed the important McCain amendment on torture, the Senate also included in this bill the Graham amendment, which even as modified would still eliminate habeas review for detainees at Guantanamo Bay. The modification worked out by Senators Graham and Levin would provide detainees with only limited review in the DC Circuit of the procedures for determining whether they are enemy combatants and the procedures the military commissions used to try them. This is an improvement over the original amendment offered by Senator Graham, but it would not allow a court to review any claim that an individual detainee is not, in fact, an enemy combatant. I was very disappointed that this became part of this bill, although I am pleased with the amendment's ban on the use of evidence obtained by undue coercion. It is troubling that after 4 years of congressional acquiescence to the administration on this issue, it took a Supreme Court decision allowing habeas review for the Senate to take action. It is good that the Senate is finally paying attention to this issue, but this amendment is the wrong result. It sends the wrong message about this country's commitment to basic fundamental fairness and the rule of law.

I must also note with some disappointment that this bill continues the wasteful trend of spending billions of dollars on Cold War era weapons systems while at the same time not fully funding the needs of the military personnel fighting our current wars. I think the Senate missed some opportunities when it rejected amendments that could have made the bill better. However, on balance this legislation contains many good provisions for our men and women in uniform and their families and that is why I support it.

Plane passengers salute fallen war hero
Deseret Morning News, All, Sec. Wire, p A01 09-27-2005
By Boston Globe Adrienne P. Samuels


When Delta Flight 1880 landed late Saturday at Logan International Airport in Boston, the pilot went on the intercom to make a request of the passengers preparing to grab their carry-on bags: Sit for a moment and honor a fallen soldier.

"The pilot said, 'We have a hero on this flight and sadly, he isn't with us, but his mother is escorting his remains,' " said Barbara Bell, sister of Sgt. Pierre A. Raymond, 28, an Army reservist from Lawrence, Mass., who died Tuesday in Germany after being wounded in Iraq.

The normal bustle of an emptying airplane immediately ceased, she said.

"He went on to say that 'a sergeant from the Army is escorting them as well,' and then (the pilot) thanked him for doing what he did and for keeping us safe and free."

As Raymond's mother, Santina, got up to walk off the plane, her fellow passengers gave her a standing ovation.

"I was thankful that he was remembered like he was angel," said Santina Raymond, who spent Sunday at her Lawrence home preparing for her son's funeral on Wednesday. "He was a hero, so everybody cheered. It was wonderful. He was wonderful."

Pierre Raymond died from injuries sustained after a Sept. 15 attack near Ramadi, Iraq, where he was hit in the chest and neck with flying shrapnel while in his sleeping quarters. Immediately after he was wounded, Raymond was talking and even flirting with the nurses who treated him, said Bell, who lives in Palo Alto, Calif. But military doctors in Iraq couldn't stop the bleeding and sent Raymond to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany for emergency treatment, where he was kept alive until his family arrived.

"We were all flown out on military orders," said Bell, also a former reservist.

The family stayed at Raymond's side during his last hours.

"Pierre just had this capacity that very few people have. . . . This capacity for life," said Bell, 30. "Even as a kid, we don't have many family photos of him because he was always running in the park."

Bell said her brother joined the Army in 1998 and spent 13 months in Bosnia as a military mechanic. He was discharged in 2001, she said, and spent some time traveling before being called back in the National Guard to serve with the 228th Forward Support Battalion, 28th Infantry Division, which supported a Marine Expeditionary Force. Raymond was dispatched for retraining and arrived in Kuwait in June. He'd barely been in Iraq a week before he was wounded.

For two weeks prior, he called his mother nearly every morning at 6 a.m., Boston time, his sister said. "He'd even sent letters saying Kuwait was kind of boring," Bell said. "He was waiting to be attached to a unit."

Raymond went to high school in Salem High School in New Hampshire and attended Northern Essex Community College for a short time. He enjoyed fixing cars and joined the Army in part to use his skills as a mechanic. In Iraq, he was maintaining Bradley fighting vehicles.

A funeral Mass will be said at 10 a.m. Wednesday at St. Patrick Church in Lawrence.

Besides his mother and sister, Raymond leaves his father, David, of Londonderry, N.H.; and two brothers, Joseph, 26, and Alfio, 32.