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Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent for 4 minutes.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, the bill before the Senate contains the conference agreement reached by the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee with the House on the bill H.R. 3610, the Fiscal Year 1997 Department of Defense Appropriations Act. I am proud of this bill, and urge all Members to support the conference report.

We initially reported this bill to the Senate on June 21, 1996. We passed the bill in July, and intended to proceed to conference. Sadly, the House chairman, Bill Young, was temporarily out of action due to heart surgery. I am pleased to report that Chairman Young's vigorous and determined leadership this past month testified to his complete recovery from the problems that caused his brief absence in July.

Despite this delay, we completed our work on Thursday, September 12, and expected the bill to come back before Congress the following week. Intervention by the White House resulted in the delay that brings the defense bill before the Senate today, as part of this omnibus appropriations package. Happily, the content of the bill remains as set by the conferees earlier this month.

The conference report provides a total of $243.946 billion in new budget authority for the Department of Defense for 1997. That total is $950 million less than the level passed by the Senate, and $1.3 billion less than the House passed bill.

Compared to the President's budget, the bill provides $9.268 billion more than he sought for 1997. But when compared to the 1996 level, including all the supplementals for Bosnia and other overseas contingencies, this bill is effectively a freeze at the 1996 level. In my view, the amounts provided in this bill are the bare minimum that can be provided for our national defense .

This conference report remains true to the priorities set by the Senate in its version of the bill. We have fully funded the pay raise for military personnel, and added funds above the President's request for housing, barracks, and health care. This conference report truly enhances the quality of life for military personnel, their families, and retirees. That is our obligation and duty, and we have discharged that responsibility in this bill.

The increases in the bill compared to the President's budget are spread among all titles. Personnel spending is increased by $233.7 million. Operation and maintenance spending is increased by $701 million. Procurement spending is increased by $5.7 billion, but remains $253 million less than the amount provided by Congress for 1996. Research and development accounts are increased by $2.7 billion, an increase of $951 over the level provided for 1996.

The increase for R&D addresses the commitment of this Republican majority Congress to put us on the path to a meaningful ballistic missile defense program. I especially note the increase of $325 million for national missile defense , including funds for the Air Force Minuteman II based national missile defense concept. We must accelerate to the maximum extent technology will permit work on a real national missile defense system. The funds in this conference report keep us on that path.

Additionally, we provide $137 million for breast cancer research in the conference report, and $45 million to establish a new prostate cancer research initiative through DOD. I want to note Chairman Hatfield's leadership in expanding the funding in the bill to fight prostate cancer.

I want to close by thanking my friend from Hawaii, Senator Inouye, for his commitment to getting this bill through, and working to achieve a true bi-partisan consensus. Additionally, it was a great pleasure to work once again with the House subcommittee, led by Chairman Bill Young, and the ranking member, Jack Murtha.

This conference report is a compromise. We sought to accommodate the concerns of the Joint Chiefs, our colleagues, and the Secretary to the maximum extent possible. I ask all my colleagues understanding where we were not able to fully fund their concerns--we started this conference with a difference of $16 billion between the two bills. I believe the bill reflects a fair settlement between the House and Senate positions, and I urge adoption of the conference report by the Senate.