On the recordJune 13, 2013
This amendment is unlike anything that you're going to see in the National Defense Authorization Act. That's because this is not a function of Congress. This amendment says the President shall end the permanent basing of the 2nd Cavalry Regiment in Germany and return them to the United States. We don't move troops. There is a reason we don't move troops. There is nowhere in this bill you're going to find any provision that we move troops. That's because, in 10 minutes, we shouldn't have a debate about where troops would be. The gentleman is absolutely, dangerously incorrect. These troops are not like the troops with whom he served in the early seventies. These troops are active in defending the United States and our allies. They are absolutely necessary for forward deployment. We need the 3 to 5 days it would take for these troops to make it to the important areas of Afghanistan, Israel, the Middle East, and it would take 20 days from the United States.
