Kay Bailey Hutchison: “I fully endorse the comments made by our subcommittee chairman, Senator Feinstein. I am pleased to recommend the…”

“I fully endorse the comments made by our subcommittee chairman, Senator Feinstein. I am pleased to recommend the military construction conference report for fiscal year 2002 to the Senate. We have worked very hard, Senator Feinstein and myself, with our House colleagues, to bring this conference report to a successful conclusion. I thank our colleagues from the House side, the chairman, David Hobson from Ohio, and John Olver from Massachusetts, the ranking member, for working with us in such a collegial way. As Senator Feinstein said, there were many disagreements and, frankly, some different priorities when our two bills passed respectively in the House and the Senate, but we worked hard and in a very productive way to resolve those differences and keep the priorities of each House but within a responsible budget. Everybody gave a little, but I think everyone did the right thing, and I am very pleased with the product. We sought a balanced bill, one that provides funding for planning, design, construction, alteration, and improvement of military facilities worldwide, both for Active-Duty and Reserve Forces. I think this is a very important point because we know our Reserve Forces are stepping up to the plate as we speak. Our President has called 40,000 of them to service, and there could be more.”