Saxby Chambliss: “I wish to thank the chairman for his willingness to enter into this colloquy. We had a discussion, as Senator Inhofe…”

“I wish to thank the chairman for his willingness to enter into this colloquy. We had a discussion, as Senator Inhofe said, during the conference meeting last week in which it now is apparent that the process through which the depot language was inserted was not proper. Senator Levin has been very up front and straight forward with us, and I appreciate his willingness to do this today. I know the chairman has already acknowledged there are problems, and I appreciate his commitment to not only discuss it today but to revisit these issues as soon as the next Senate session convenes and address this issue through a truly inclusive process during which all Members and stakeholders can express their views. Clearly, there was a process problem related to how these provisions wound up in the bill, and I think we can all agree that for issues that are as central to so many Members as the definitions of ``depot maintenance'' and ``core,'' the process needs to be inclusive and extensive and both Houses of Congress need to be equally involved. That simply did not happen in this case. Specifically, related to the substance of the provisions, I am extremely concerned the rewrite of the 10 USC 2464 ``core'' statute replaces all references to ``core logistics'' functions in the original statute with ``depot maintenance and repair'' functions.…”