Senate Proceeding on Sep 19th, 2007 :: 7:35:15 to 7:40:16
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7:29:35 to 7:35:15( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Richard Durbin

7:34:56 to 7:35:15( Edit History Discussion )

Richard Durbin: army today. for the president to said say he is sending the troops into battle, they deserve to have the senate stand up for them and to pass the webb amendment. the presiding officer: under the previous

7:35:15 to 7:35:28( Edit History Discussion )

Thomas Carper: order, the senator from delaware is recognized. mr. carper: thank you, madam president. i rise in support of the webb amendment. i've had a chance tonc think a tbout this issue that isha before us

7:35:15 to 7:40:16( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Thomas Carper

7:35:28 to 7:35:43( Edit History Discussion )

Thomas Carper: today wearing other than a hat as my united states senator. during the vietnam i serve id for five years on active duty as a naval fly officer and spent three tours in southeast asia during that

7:35:43 to 7:35:57( Edit History Discussion )

Thomas Carper: period of time. i spent another 18 years after that as a reserve naval flight officer, and made mission commander of the aircraft. and for the eight years before i came here to the united statesd

7:35:57 to 7:36:15( Edit History Discussion )

Thomas Carper: senate from 1993 to 2001 i wore another hat and that was commander and chief of the delaware national guard, a force that served in the last 15 years, two wars, in iraq and the persian gulf so i have

7:36:15 to 7:36:31( Edit History Discussion )

Thomas Carper: had a chance to think of this not as a person just that sets policy if the senate but as someone who has worn the uniform and as commander and chief of my state's national guard. i first heard of this idea

7:36:31 to 7:36:44( Edit History Discussion )

Thomas Carper: that senator webb has come up with of better equaling active duty time to dwell time to catch up and retrain and reunite with their families for active duty personnel, i had some questions about it.

7:36:44 to 7:36:58( Edit History Discussion )

Thomas Carper: and i know others do, as well. one of the questions, i thought what if the president or the secretary of defense felt a particular individual, certain skills or unit that brought certain attributes to a fight,

7:36:58 to 7:37:10( Edit History Discussion )

Thomas Carper: if they were needed, could the president or the secretary of defense intercede and be able to say, we need this individual, we need this unit. as it turns out, that concern has been addressed. what if

7:37:10 to 7:37:27( Edit History Discussion )

Thomas Carper: you had an individual who said, i know i'm entitled to twelve months done time or two years downtime, dwell time back home but i don't want to use that, i want to go back and i want to serve and the

7:37:27 to 7:37:38( Edit History Discussion )

Thomas Carper: question is, does this amendment and these provisions allow that to happen. it does. a number of legitimate questions have been raised about the intent and the practical effect of the legislation. i

7:37:38 to 7:37:51( Edit History Discussion )

Thomas Carper: believe that they have been addressed in a go way. another concern was, if we enact this amendment, if we pass this amendment, if it is passed as part of defense authorization bill, does it take effect

7:37:51 to 7:38:04( Edit History Discussion )

Thomas Carper: immediately? if it took effect immediately i wouldn't want to be secretary of defense or the navy. i would want to figure how to make this work. it will not be easy but given a reasonable amount

7:38:04 to 7:38:17( Edit History Discussion )

Thomas Carper: of time it could work. senator webb has changed the early language of the bill, after consulting with secretary gates and i thank you for that. in order to say, we will provide, after enactment of this

7:38:17 to 7:38:29( Edit History Discussion )

Thomas Carper: provision, signed into law, four months during which the secretary of defense and our services have a chance to figure out how to actually work with this and make it work. i want to say thank you for providing

7:38:29 to 7:38:45( Edit History Discussion )

Thomas Carper: the kind of flexibility that is needed if we'reoing to enact this kind of legislation. i think it's good policy. major concerns i had and others share have been addressed. the last thing i want

7:38:45 to 7:38:58( Edit History Discussion )

Thomas Carper: to say, i want to talk about what it is like to be a reservist or guards man. my squad, my active duty squad flew out of a naval air station north of philadelphia. if the men -- and we were all men

7:38:58 to 7:39:22( Edit History Discussion )

Thomas Carper: at that time -- if we thought we would be deployed and go away for a year or two and come back for a year and maybe go away for a year or two we would not have much in terms of reenlistment. they would

7:39:22 to 7:39:36( Edit History Discussion )

Thomas Carper: come back, we would be gone. that is just the facts. they have families to support will that's their priors and they have businesses and jobs to run. they need what is allowed to allow them to keep commitments

7:39:36 to 7:39:48( Edit History Discussion )

Thomas Carper: to their families and their employers and to keep, in many cases, commitments to their own employees for the businesses they hav e started and gone on to run. this, this is a good proposal, better

7:39:48 to 7:40:02( Edit History Discussion )

Thomas Carper: actually, than the proposal we voted on several months ago. i would urge my colleagues to, particularly those on defense -- most people have made up their mind; particularly those on the fence -- you

7:40:02 to 7:40:16( Edit History Discussion )

Thomas Carper: can vote for this knowing that the questions that need to have been addressed have been, and the people who will benefit from this would very much appreciate our taking this ep. thank you very much. i

7:40:16 to 7:40:32( Edit History Discussion )

Harry Reid: yield back my time. mr. reid: macht. the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: there will come a time in the not too distant future when people will write what we as a senate did, what

7:40:16 to 7:53:13( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Harry Reid