Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008

Floor Speech

INTELLIGENCE AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2008 -- (House of Representatives - May 10, 2007)

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Mr. MARKEY. Madam Chairman, I thank the gentlelady for her leadership on this issue.

As the Chairman of the Select Committee on Global Warming, I conducted
a hearing 3 weeks ago in which Retired General Gordon Sullivan, speaking for eleven senior retired three- and four-star admirals and generals, released and testified on a report entitled ``National Security and the Threat of Climate Change,'' which called for global warming to be fully integrated into the military and defense planning.

Here's what General Sullivan testified to. He said that he was the Army chief of staff when we lost 19 men in Mogadishu. He testified before the Select Committee on Global Warming that with more drought we will see more disasters such as Black Hawk Down. Drought caused famine, famine caused food relief, food relief caused warlords to fight over it, the warlords fighting caused the U.S. to intervene, and 19 U.S. fighting men were killed. He added, and I quote, that the same thing is what is driving Darfur and there has to be some recognition that these issues are at the heart environmentally related.

These are men who have dedicated their lives to protecting our country. They are asking us to do a National Intelligence Estimate about what the impact is of climate leading to drought, leading to famine, leading to conflicts, leading to the American military or other of our allies having been dedicated to preserving the peace. That is no small request from 11 retired three-star generals and admirals.

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Mr. MARKEY. Madam Chairman, I thank the gentlelady for yielding.

It is not inappropriate for the CIA to tell us how the increasing scarcity of water could exacerbate the very failed state conditions which breed terrorism. It is not politically correct to want the military services to know how polar ice melt could alter the patrols of our submarines or how rising sea levels could threaten not only our naval facilities but also our crucial shipbuilding infrastructure.

It is not pre-9/11 mindset that wants to study how our ability to project power from the Pacific would be damaged if our crucial air base at Diego Garcia, average elevation 4 feet above sea level, changes from a land-based stationary aircraft carrier to a sub-sea ruin.

That is in the interest of the national security of our country.

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