Tony Thurmond: “today the Senate considers the conference report to accompany the Strom Thurmond National Defense Authorization Act for…”

“today the Senate considers the conference report to accompany the Strom Thurmond National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1999. I want to thank all the members of the conference committee for their hard work and cooperation. To give the Members of the Senate some insight into the complexity and magnitude of the work involved in the conference process, we had to reconcile nearly 1,000 funding differences and craft compromises for over 570 legislative issues in disagreement between the House and Senate bills. The conferees succeeded in settling the many difficult issues in this complex process only by putting the national interest above all others. I particularly want to thank Senator Levin, the ranking member of our committee, for his continued leadership and support. I also want to acknowledge the contributions of Senator Coats, Senator Kempthorne, and Senator Glenn. This is their last defense authorization bill. On behalf of the committee and the Senate, I wish to thank them again for their dedication to the national security of our country and their support for the young men and women who serve in our armed services. We will miss their valuable counsel next year. Mr. President, I also want to acknowledge the contribution of the staff of the Senate Armed Services Committee in bringing our conference process to closure. We on the committee are very proud of our staff.”