National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012

Floor Speech

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Mr. BLUMENTHAL. Mr. President, I thank the chairman, Senator Levin, and the ranking member, Senator McCain, for the immensely important work they have done on the bill we are considering, S. 1867, the National Defense Authorization Act. It is a massively important bill, a big bill, and I want to focus on one part of it--a seemingly small section but a vitally important provision of the bill--that enables our Department of Defense to more effectively counter improvised explosive devices, known as IEDs, which have been a major source of attacks against United States and coalition forces in the wars of Iraq and Afghanistan and threaten not only our troops there but all around the world as well as our coalition partners.

I thank particularly one of my colleagues, Senator Bob Casey, who has been a champion of these efforts against the IEDs or roadside bombs for some time. He has been a relentless and tireless leader in this effort and has included me and others, and I am proud to join him in seeking more effective measures.

This summer saw the highest volume of IED incidents ever recorded in Operation Enduring Freedom, approximately 1,800 a month. That is a staggering and alarming number, and they continue. These devices are deadly and devastating, killing and maiming our troops and causing loss of limbs, traumatic brain injury, posttraumatic stress, and other horrific injuries that are the signature wounds of the ongoing wars. In fact, roadside bombs cause 60 percent of all casualties in Afghanistan. They are the hidden killers in this war.

I speak with the urgency of an elected official whose State citizens are at risk and who are returning with these signature wounds of war and whose lives and limbs can be preserved if we act effectively. I speak as a citizen who has visited the hospitals and the troops who have come back. We have all visited our constituents and their families, their loved ones, their friends and neighbors who have been victims of these terrible weapons of destruction.

Most IEDs in Afghanistan, in fact more than 80 percent, are made with materials originating in Pakistan. There is no magic bullet or panacea to solving this problem or addressing the challenge. It will take a comprehensive fight. Both the provisions contained in the Foreign Operations appropriations bill with regard to Pakistan and the vital force protection equipment in the Defense authorization bill are essential to shutting down the sources of bomb-making materials in Pakistan. They include steps to interdict bomb-making materials at the border and to provide the armor and force protection against the IED threat.

Roadside bombs in Afghanistan are typically made with calcium ammonium nitrate, a very common fertilizer. It is a seemingly innocent product but capable of detonation when processed and packaged in these roadside bombs and then placed in areas where our troops go. This fertilizer from Pakistan accounts for more than 80 percent of the IEDs in Afghanistan. Every day bags of this fertilizer are smuggled to Afghanistan from Pakistan, sometimes hidden in the convoys of goods that cross the open 1,500-mile border. The fertilizer pellets are boiled down and the material is put in a package or container with an explosive detonator that is often linked to a simple trigger system--something such as a tripwire buried in the sand awaiting the tire of a passing vehicle or the foot of an American soldier on patrol. At this moment, thousands of our soldiers and Marines have been injured. Thousands of these bombs are buried in Afghanistan soil and, sadly, many more will be planted in the coming weeks and months.

Again, my colleague from Pennsylvania, Senator Casey, has been a leader in the Senate and, indeed, led a bipartisan group of Senators, including myself, in writing to the Secretary of State to request a greater diplomatic effort by our government to encourage Pakistan to stem the flow of bomb-making materials into Afghanistan. Then, in August, we went on an official trip, a CODEL, to take the message straight to the Government of Pakistan. We met with the most senior leaders of Pakistan and we urged stronger action against the misuse of everyday materials by terrorist groups in making the bombs that kill and maim our troops in Afghanistan. We took this message to officials of Pakistan at the highest level, and they responded with a plan that is supposedly being implemented.

The fact is, stronger measures are needed. We need a crackdown and a shutdown on the bomb-making materials, the fertilizer, and the calcium ammonium nitrate that is transported and smuggled across the border so that it can be made into bombs and maim and kill troops from Connecticut and from across the country--troops who are innocent victims--and the people of Pakistan and Afghanistan themselves who have become victims.

We saw firsthand how our troops seek to protect themselves from these IEDs. In fact, at a sand-swept compound in Helmand Province in Afghanistan our congressional delegation saw the most common types of protective practices and devices, including how our soldiers and marines wear body armor, lie face down in the dirt and drag a 10-foot pole with a hook on the end on the ground to look for the telltale signs of an IED. Other measures range from the use of dogs that sniff out bombs to huge armor vehicles and more advanced technology. But even with the most effective and advanced means of detection and disarming bombs, body armor is still essential to protecting our troops.

Pakistan's plan to address the IED smuggling supply chain, which is a threat to its own people as well as our soldiers and marines, has yet to prove effective. The plan addresses border security, regulation of fertilizer materials, and promoting public awareness of the threat posed by these IEDs. But we cannot rely on Pakistan's goodwill to ensure this important work is given the priority it requires.

There can be no ambiguity, no doubt, no uncertainty in our relationship with Pakistan, and that is why I support the even stronger measures Senator Casey has championed in a process he has suggested that would withhold any assistance if verification cannot be accomplished. The Pakistanis need to prove with action, not mere plans or conferences, that they are stemming and stopping the flow of fertilizer. They need to prove more than good will or good intentions but effective action to stem and stop the flow of all of the bomb-making materials across the border.

We also must support efforts by the Department of Defense to procure and deploy body armor and equipment, such as this bill does, that protects all our troops in harm's way. We are all familiar with the force protection development such as enhanced ceramic plates and redesigning vehicles with V-shaped hulls to deflect blast impact. These advances, make no mistake, came at great expense in terms of blood and treasure to our Nation. We learned how to properly equip our troops in some respects for these measures. But even as the end of Operation Enduring Freedom is now in sight, the requirement to develop even better protection continues and it must be relentless and tireless.

We cannot abandon our efforts. We simply cannot abandon this fight to protect our troops in the field. The lessons learned will serve to honor our commitment to ensure that the brave men and women who protect our freedom and protect our safety and security have the best protection we can provide them.

Enhanced ballistic armor, including underwear protection--or blast boxers--are essential to combatting the threat of roadside bombs. When an IED detonates against dismounted troops, it blasts sand and fragments that shred skin, literally tears apart the skin of our troops. Covering their legs and groin area with flexible armor can prevent amputation of a limb or worse.

I have asked and been informed about delivery of this equipment. To date, 165,000 of the tier 1 sets of blast protection have been delivered into theater. The Marine Corps received 15,000 sets of tier 2-level protection, delivered 4 days ahead of schedule. By the middle of next month, the Army will also receive its complete requirement of tier 2-level sets.

This armor was adapted from one of our allies, British forces, and the Army has now established domestic production of the equipment. I am hopeful that additional types of protection will also be processed and produced and sent and I hope it will be expeditiously.

When I learned of this lifesaving equipment and the challenges involved in delivery, I wrote to the Department of Defense urging swift delivery of the body armor. I was joined by colleagues Senators Casey, Bennet, and Whitehouse. I am hopeful this program will be an example of our body armor procurement system working effectively. I am hopeful it will set an example and provide a model for this body armor being provided expeditiously, as it is needed. I look forward to our passing the Defense authorization bill, which continues these efforts to supply body armor and equipment needed for troops in Afghanistan.

This bill provides also for the equipment needed to interdict IEDs, from the small backpacks carried by our troops to UAVs to giant Buffalo vehicles. Interdiction also requires the right specialized equipment to detect materials to make those IEDs as they are smuggled across the porous Afghan-Pakistan border. This effort also requires training and awareness of both our military personnel and our allies in this fight. As of September 2011, the Afghan border police had 20,852 personnel. This growth is encouraging.

But the border police have problems with endemic corruption, and they are effective only to the extent that our special forces augment this effort. Our special forces, our special operators, should be encouraged and enabled to continue this effort. Interdiction is an integral part to larger efforts to understand battles based in this region. Force alone can't solve this problem. We need better intelligence and the right detection equipment, combined with the efforts of our special forces. It must be truly a comprehensive effort, as the Defense authorization bill clearly recognizes. We need to show all who live on both sides of this border that the cost of supplying the ingredients of these bombs that kill and maim our troops is too high for them, just as it is too high for us to tolerate.

Let me again thank chairman Senator Levin and ranking member Senator McCain for their recognition of this problem. Our Nation has spent more than $ 1/2 trillion in support of the war in Afghanistan. We have sustained more than 2,800 coalition casualties. An Afghanistan that is stable and self-sufficient certainly is our goal, and it depends upon the tactical success of these efforts.

IEDs remain the weapon of choice of our enemy. Should we not learn to successfully counter the threat of IEDs, we will see this asymmetrical threat repeated on the battlefield, wherever our troops are deployed around the world.

Given the enormity of this challenge, I urge my colleagues to remain committed to this goal, remain true to this strategy, and counter these IEDs. We must authorize both our foreign operations expenses and this bill and I thank my colleagues for their truly bipartisan support of these efforts.

I yield the floor.

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