[Congressional Record: July 7, 1997 (Senate)]
[Page S6877-S6906]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:cr07jy97-13]


        NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR FISCAL YEAR 1998

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senate will now resume consideration of S. 
936, which the clerk will report.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       A bill (S. 936) to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 
     1998 for military activities of the Department of Defense, 
     for military construction, and for defense activities of the 
     Department of Energy, to prescribe personnel strengths for 
     such fiscal year for the Armed Forces, and for other 
     purposes.

[Excerpt]

  Mr. ROBB. Mr. President, I would like to take just a few minutes to 
discuss an amendment I am offering to this year's DOD authorization 
bill that will make a real difference in the lives of all members of 
the naval service--and eventually all members of our Armed Forces. It 
will eliminate many long lines and hours of frustration, it will 
substantially reduce recordkeeping errors and it will save the DOD and 
the taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars. And it represents the 
next phase of the effective utilization of smart card technology--a 
technology I have been encouraging and working on for many years.
  Mr. President, when a new recruit joins the service today, he or she 
faces a long and tedious registration process. A typical new recruit 
faces hours of waiting in line to fill out forms with his or her name, 
date of birth, rank, military I.D. number, and so forth, only to be 
sent over to another line to fill out another form with much of the 
same information again. Not only is this process aggravating for our 
new recruits--it is a waste of the Armed Service's time and personnel. 
It takes dozens of people countless hours to process in each new 
recruit through this inefficient system, costing the service valuable 
time and money, that it could be putting to better use elsewhere.
  Once registered, a new recruit is issued a handful of ID's and cards 
to carry. A typical service member today might be required to carry a 
general ID card, an immunization card, a meal card, an equipment card, 
a weapons card, a military driver's license, a vehicle registration, a 
card to pick up mail, a card to carry if staying as a guest at another 
base, and if lucky enough to be stationed near some good fishing, a 
fishing permit. With so much clutter, it is not uncommon for a service 
member to misplace one of their cards, which wastes even more of the 
military's time and resources replacing them.
  For years, I have been looking at ways that the military could 
streamline the methods it uses for its registration and recordkeeping, 
looking for a way to improve what I saw as an outdated and inefficient 
system of issuing multiple cards containing duplicate information.
  The Government and the private sector have been using cards for years 
as a means of information storage. Many of the earliest cards had just 
a name and number much like the Social Security card that is still in 
use today. As the need for increased security and efficiency in the 
transfer of information from a card grew however, we saw the 
introduction of cards that relied on new information storage systems 
like bar codes and magnetic stripes, much like the kind found on 
today's credit cards, ATM cards, telephone calling cards, and in dozens 
of other card-based applications. And as the technological capabilities 
of cards have increased, so has the number of cards that each of us 
carries every time we leave our residence.
  Mr. President, we now stand on the brink of a new explosion in card 
technology, one that promises to offer us even greater convenience and 
efficiency in everyday life, saving money and time while increasing our 
control over the information we provide to others. After years of 
research and development, I am pleased to report that a new user-
friendly card technology will soon allow us to replace the handful of 
cards now used in the DOD with a single, multiapplication ``smart'' 
card.
  Mr. President, with the amendment that I am offering today, next 
year,

[[Page S6905]]

under a pilot program that I have been working closely with the 
Department of Defense and the Department of the Navy to develop, a new 
recruit will not face the long and wasteful lines, the duplication of 
information or the cumbersome bundles of cards that many of us 
remember. Instead, upon arriving at boot camp, each new sailor and 
marine will be issued a single card: the MARC card. Short for 
Multitechnology Automated Reader Card this card will be used across the 
entire Navy and Marine Corps next year, and if it works as well as some 
of us believe it will, we will then extend it to all of the Armed 
Forces.
  The MARC card is a remarkable achievement. The MARC card can carry 
your security clearance. The MARC card can carry your meal information. 
The MARC card can hold your immunization records. The MARC card can 
serve as your room key.
  Mr. President, the long-term savings that will result from this 
program will be substantial; the improvements in the increased speed 
and quality of services will be enormous. With the MARC card, we can 
reduce support infrastructure, thereby improving our tooth-to-tail 
ratio while making our sailors' and marines' lives easier.
  The MARC card is one of the first widespread applications of the most 
exciting new card technology on the market today: the smart card. Smart 
cards, like the MARC card, rely on an integrated circuit chip--a 
microchip--to store more information and data than was ever before 
possible on a single card. Within each card is a small microprocessor 
along with a sizable memory capacity, which gives each smart card the 
capabilities of a small microcomputer.
  The capabilities of the smart card are so great that a single card 
can perform all of the functions that this entire stack of cards that I 
am holding up right here used to perform of still perform today, for 
that matter, and will perform dozens of new time-saving applications as 
well. Unlike older cards, the smart card is easily updatable, and has 
the capability to constantly take on new information.
  Yet the real strength of smart cards, like the MARC card lies not in 
the convenience of carrying so much information on a single card, but 
in the money that we can save as a result. By harnessing the strength 
and memory of a small computer inside of a portable plastic card, a 
multitude of new applications can be offered that will increase the 
efficiency of Government, cutting down expensive and unnecessary 
administrative costs while reducing waste, fraud, and abuse at all 
levels of government.
  Mr. President, I have seen this card in action, and the savings and 
increased efficiency it can offer the members of our Armed Forces are 
really impressive.
  In the past, when our sailors would dock at a naval base upon their 
return from sea they faced a long and tedious process of waiting in 
line after line to check in to their shore station. Often taking up to 
a week a sailor would need to fill out countless forms to register for 
quarters, for medical treatment, for security clearance, for his next 
assignment, for the mess hall et cetera.
  But today at the Smart Base in Pascagoula, MS, the first naval base 
to automate its operations using the MARC card, a sailor who arrives 
off of the U.S.S. Yorktown faces a check-in time of just a few 
minutes. By simply walking up to a kiosk, he can insert his MARC card 
into a reader not unlike an automatic teller machine, and within 
seconds be assigned his quarters and other necessary information, while 
personal data needed by the command is simultaneously zipped 
electronically around the rest of the base. His MARC card even serves 
as his room key.

  Not only does this process save sailors a lot of wasted time, but it 
reduces the number of administrative staff needed to check in an entire 
ship. To process every sailor from an arriving ship, a base need only 
have a handful of staff on hand and a few kiosks that interact with the 
MARC card.
  Mr. President, the MARC card can improve the efficiency of every 
operation across the military. Let me give you an example. Today, when 
a sailor or marine heads to a mess hall to eat, he has to show his ID 
card, as well as his meal card to one of the duty personnel, who 
tediously records the information from both cards by hand into a 
ledger. After each meal another officer must spend hours reconciling 
who ate what on that particular day, at a great expense both in the 
time involved and the money it costs. On average, it takes a mess hall 
4 to 6 hours a day to account for all the meals that are eaten.
  With the MARC card, however, sailors and marines will simply swipe 
their cards through a reader as they enter the mess hall and be 
automatically accounted for by a computer. Anyone who tries to sneak an 
extra meal without paying is caught in the act, which helps the Navy 
reduce fraud. After each meal, the officer in charge of the mess hall 
will only need to call up a file on their computer to account for the 
meals served. The total time involved is reduced from several hours to 
just a few minutes.
  Not only will this project save the Navy time and money--the food 
service savings alone will save over $2 million in the first year, a 
savings of 49 percent--it will also allow our Armed Forces to allocate 
more resources to the duties they most need to focus on. From security 
access to dining hall access, from checking out weapons to checking out 
library books, the MARC card can save the Armed Forces thousands of 
hours a year in wasted administrative costs.
  The $36 million I am asking for in this amendment does not authorize 
any new spending--it only redirects the use of $36 million within the 
Navy and Marines O&M account that has already been authorized by the 
committee. Because the MARC card program has been so effective in 
reducing the costs of general administration in the military, our 
investment of $36 million in an expansion of the MARC program will save 
the Navy and Marines O&M account many millions more in fiscal year 1998 
and beyond.
  By investing $36 million, in the MARC program, the Navy's project 
manager, estimates that the savings to O&M from using the three MARC 
applications, already in place across the Navy and Marines will top 
$134 million in FY 98.
  Now that's just the savings from using the MARC card in three 
applications--Food Service, Security Access, and Clearance 
Verification.
  As other applications are deployed, the savings may top $200 million 
in just FY 98, and well over $500 million over the next 5 years.
  Mr. President, with the budget situation, that we face today we are 
compelled to look to all areas of the government to eliminate needless 
administrative services and streamline the many duties that our 
government performs.
  In this era of reinventing government, smart card technology has 
potential applications not just in the military but all across the 
government.
  By eliminating long waits in lines at government agencies, by 
eliminating the manual entry of data all across government agencies, by 
doing away with duplication of data across the government by 
eliminating fraud, smart cards can slash the administrative costs of 
government while improving the quality and speed with which many 
government services are delivered.
  Mr. President, the technology is here, in our hands, and the savings 
to be had are real, immediate, and substantial. I firmly believe that 
we should move forward with applying smart card technology, not only in 
the military, but all across the government.
  Mr. President, I realize that smart cards are still a new technology 
right now, and that they're unfamiliar to many potential users.
  I am aware that some people are uncomfortable with the idea of having 
a single card for everything they need.
  Placing so much information on a single card raises more than a few 
eyebrows over privacy and security concerns.
  And I know that a lot of people are concerned that by placing so much 
personal information on a single card an employer might have access to 
medical records, or a librarian might be able to find out what you ate 
for lunch that day.
  Let me say that I share these concerns.
  But in fact, Mr. President, while all this information may be carried 
on a

[[Page S6906]]

single card, powerful encryption technology ensures that personal 
information is seen only by those who the individual wants to see it.
  The technology available today allows us to select what information 
is carried on our smart card and guarantees that we are the only ones 
who can grant access to that information.
  Even though we can store our financial and medical records on the 
same smart card the card's microchip is divided into separate 
compartments that make it impossible for our bank to see our medical 
records and our doctor to see our last bank deposit.
  And if we should lose our card, anybody who finds it will discover 
that it's useless to them.
  Because without the proper authorization code that only the 
individual knows--and with more sensitive applications, without 
biometric authentication like hand geometry scanners--the card won't 
work in the hands of anybody but its owner.
  Just as our ATM card is useless to a thief without the proper PIN 
number, a thief will find that, without authentication by its owner, a 
stolen smart card is a worthless piece of plastic.
  In an era where our personal information is becoming increasingly 
easier for others to access, where our very personal and private 
activities can be electronically tracked, smart cards are a way to 
return control over this information where it belongs: in the hands of 
the individual.
  And with modern-day encryption and other security measures built into 
the chip on a smart card, the information on this card is more secure 
from theft or fraud than any credit card or ATM card in use today.
  Mr. President, there is no doubt of the need for increased 
efficiency, security, and portability of information across all sectors 
of our Government.
  We have the technology, literally, in our hands to make it happen.
  Already, several other Government agencies have begun to implement 
this technology in a variety of applications across Government.
  Today, for example, smart cards are used as identification and 
security badges in Government buildings.
  In States like Wyoming, pilot programs are underway to use smart 
cards to electronically disburse WIC and food stamp benefits.
  In several western States, a smart card called the health passport is 
being used to increase the portability and accessibility of an 
individual's medical records while safeguarding their confidentiality.
  At colleges like the University of Michigan, a single smart card can 
call up a student's financial aid records, buy her books, and open the 
door of her dorm.
  On our subways, and our military bases, in our hospitals, and our 
schools, across the public and private sector, smart cards can cut down 
the time we spend on burdensome administrative work and save us 
valuable time and resources.
  But the reason I'm so enthusiastic about this new technology, Mr. 
President, is not just because smart cards can eliminate waste.
  I'm not here speaking today simply because smart cards can save us 
time and money.
  I'm strongly supportive of this new technology because smart cards 
can make our lives better and easier.
  Whether it's reducing the time we wait in line at a government office 
or providing a doctor the information needed to save a life smart cards 
can make our entire infrastructure more user-friendly and efficient; 
smart cards make technology work better for us.
  I am confident that pilot smart card programs, like the MARC program, 
will demonstrate the effectiveness of smart cards and the need for this 
technology across government, and will lead to increased use of this 
technology in our future.
  That's why I'm so excited about it, and that's why I'm so pleased the 
managers seem willing to include this provision in their manager's 
amendment.
  With that, Mr. President, I thank the chair, and I yield the floor.
  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, I just want to commend the Senator from 
Virginia on his amendment. It is a very thoughtful amendment, the 
product of months, and, indeed, years of work by Senator Robb. I hope 
that in the next day or two we will be able to work with the majority 
to see this amendment is adopted.
  I want to commend the Senator on his constant attack on waste and his 
constant effort to achieve efficiency, not just in the military, but 
all branches of Government.
  Mr. ROBB. I thank the distinguished Senator from Michigan. I did not 
display my own MARC card here, but it is my hope that in the not-too-
distant future not only will all members of the Armed Services, but all 
members who interact or interface with our Federal Government will have 
one of these and be able to use them in the same efficient way that the 
MARC card is being used today, and is being used in this particular 
experiment.
  I yield the floor.
  Mr. THURMOND. I want to say to the able Senator from Virginia, 
Senator Robb, that you made a very interesting discourse here. What the 
Senator is recommending appears to deserve serious consideration. That 
consideration, I am sure, will be given by the committee.
  Mr. ROBB. I thank the distinguished chairman of the committee and the 
senior Senator from South Carolina.
