By Emelie Rutherford
The Senate voted yesterday against debating the defense authorization bill because of Republican qualms with Democrats’ tactics and a proposed change to policy on gay troops, likely stalling consideration of the legislation until November.
Meanwhile, supporters of both Boeing [BA] and European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co. (EADS) filed dueling amendments to the fiscal year 2011 defense authorization bill regarding whether the Pentagon should consider a trans-Atlantic trade dispute when weighing bids for the Air Force aerial-refueling tanker contract.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) failed to muster the 60 votes needed yesterday to end a Republican filibuster and proceed to considering the bill that sets Pentagon policy for the fiscal year starting Oct. 1.
The Senate voted 56-43 on the cloture motion that would have allowed Reid to move to the bill. Reid needed the support of all 59 Democrats and one Republican, but in the end lost the support of even two Democrats, Sens. Blanche Lincoln and Mark Pryor, both from Arkansas. Reid voted against the bill for procedural reasons.
Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), who was considered a needed vote in proceeding with the legislation, voted against cloture and said she was upset with Reid for limiting Republican amendments to the bill. Reid planned to allow a vote on one amendment related to Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, which would strike the language from the legislation approved by the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC).
“I will defend the right of my colleagues to offer amendments on this (Don’t Ask Don’t Tell) issue, and other issues that are being brought up in connection with the defense authorization bill, and there are many controversial issues in this bill,” Collins said.
SASC Chairman Carl Levin (D-Mich.) repeatedly insisted amendments beyond the three Reid talked about last week would be considered, and said the majority leader is willing to work with Republicans.
Reid had said he planned to consider three amendments, which would kill the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell changes, help some children of illegal immigrants become citizens, and ban senators from placing secret holds on presidential nominees.
Collins actually supports language in the bill, which many Republicans oppose, allowing the repeal of the Pentagon’s Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy, which prevents gay troops from serving openly.
SASC Ranking Member John McCain (R-Ariz.) does not support the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell rollback in the bill, and charged the policy change would allow a “short-circuiting” of the Pentagon’s review of the policy via a survey of troops.
Also yesterday, Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) touted on the Senate floor an amendment that would add to the bill language forcing the Pentagon to consider a World Trade Organization (WTO) finding that Airbus received illegal subsidies from European nations.
Murray filed the amendment with Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.), who like Murray supports Boeing’s bid to build the Air KC-X tanker, which EADS, Airbus’ parent company, also wants to make.
The WTO in a preliminary report also said Boeing received illegal subsidies from the U.S. government. Boeing backers argue the trade body found more-egregious violations on Airbus’ part, including the receipt of launch aid.
Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), a supporter of EADS’ tanker bid, filed a contrasting amendment that he said would ban the Pentagon from letting politics alter the aircraft contract contest. Shelby said his amendment would ensure “any action the secretary of defense may undertake with respect the competition to replace the Air Force’s ageing refueling tanker remains consistent with the commitments and obligations of the United States to World Trade Organization agreements.”
It was not clear yesterday if the Senate will consider either WTO amendment.
Senators submitted six amendments to the defense bill on Monday, including one from Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) striking language from the bill allowing abortions at military hospitals. No weapon-systems-related amendments were filed Monday.
Even before yesterday’s vote Reid said the Senate will not finish debating the defense authorization bill until senators return to Washington in November after the mid-term elections. The Senate currently is slated to recess on Oct. 8.
The White House’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) called for the bill’s passage in a Statement of Administration Policy released yesterday. Because the legislation does not include two measures President Barack Obama vehemently opposes–continuing development of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter’s second engine and building more C-17 cargo aircraft– OMB’s statement does not threaten a presidential veto of the bill. (The House-passed defense authorization bill and House Appropriations Defense subcommittee-approved appropriations legislation, though, call for continuing the F-35 second engine, developed by General Electric [GE] and Rolls-Royce.)
The SAP cites multiple qualms the White House has with the legislation before the Senate, including cuts in requested funding for the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS) program and several National Nuclear Security Administration efforts. The statement also objects to the bill’s proposed expansion of the Defense Production Act for developing advanced technologies for ground vehicles.
The OMB notes the SASC-approved authorization bill heeds the administration’s topline Pentagon budget request of $726 billion. While the House-passed authorization legislation sets the same level of funding, House and Senate appropriations panels have called for cutting the requested amount by billions of dollars.
A budget-setting defense appropriations bill is not expected to pass Congress before FY ’11 starts, and lawmakers are preparing a continuing resolution that will temporarily fund the Pentagon at FY ’10 levels after Sept. 30.