Mike Levin: “Let me thank my friend from Arizona for his great work on this bill and the way in which he and our members, our…”

“Let me thank my friend from Arizona for his great work on this bill and the way in which he and our members, our brothers and sisters on the committee, including the Presiding Officer, worked so well together on a bipartisan basis and the way our staffs worked together. We are now in a position where we can consider amendments, as the Senator from Arizona said, pending the receipt of amendments for our consideration. I yield the floor. Mr. McCAIN. Madam President, what is the pending business before the Senate? The PRESIDING OFFICER. The pending business is the McCain-Levin amendment No. 1092. Mr. McCAIN. I think that is the Levin-McCain amendment. The PRESIDING OFFICER. That is correct. Mr. McCAIN. I would like to discuss that amendment. This amendment is a result of the effort made by our committee staff and other members of the committee to identify a very serious problem that can affect our Nation's security; that is, the counterfeiting of critical components that end up in our defense systems--in some cases, helicopters; in some cases, aircraft; in some cases, missiles--literally every high-tech aspect of our Nation's defense systems. We traced, in hearings under Senator Levin's leadership, the way in which, through different shell companies, these parts that originate in China that are counterfeit end up, through various establishments and then by our major parts suppliers, in our weapons systems.…”