Hill finishing Work on '06 Defense Authorizations.Congress at press time was preparing to complete its action on the 2006 National Defense Authorization Act The National Defense Authorization Act is the name of a United States federal law that is enacted each fiscal year to specify the budget and expenditures of the United States Department of Defense. .The House of Representatives passed its version on May 25 by a vote of 390 to 39. The full Senate was scheduled to take up its bill in June. After that, the two houses will appoint members to a conference committee to work out the differences between the two measures. Congress' goal is to send the legislation to the White House for signature before the August recess, scheduled to begin on July 28. Here is how the two versions compare: Overall Funding Levels. Both the Senate and the House authorized au·thor·ize tr.v. au·thor·ized, au·thor·iz·ing, au·thor·iz·es 1. To grant authority or power to. 2. To give permission for; sanction: $441.6 billion for the Defense Department and for the national security programs of the Energy Department, an increase of $21 billion--or 3.1 percent above the amount provided for 2005--and $20.9 billion more than in 2004. In addition, both bills contained $50 billion in supplemental funding that will be needed early in 2006 to pay for un-programmed costs of operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and the global war on terrorism Terrorist acts and the threat of Terrorism have occupied the various law enforcement agencies in the U.S. government for many years. The Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996, as amended by the usa patriot act . Unlike the annual defense appropriations bill, authorization legislation includes military construction, which this year is set by both houses at $12 billion. Appropriations for military construction are provided in a stand-alone appropriations bill. Authorization legislation sets amounts that government organizations, including the Pentagon, can spend on specific programs. Appropriations bills provide the actual funds for those programs. In addition, both Senate and House bills include a 3.1 percent across the board pay raise for military personnel. Other significant aspects of the two bills are as follows. The Senate added: * $586.4 million for combating terrorism Actions, including antiterrorism (defensive measures taken to reduce vulnerability to terrorist acts) and counterterrorism (offensive measures taken to prevent, deter, and respond to terrorism), taken to oppose terrorism throughout the entire threat spectrum. Also called CBT. . * $1.4 billion for force-protection gear. * $336.7 million to accelerate the CVN-78 next-generation aircraft carrier, LHA A popular freeware compression program developed by Haruyasu Yoshizaki that uses a variant of the LZW (LZ77) dictionary method followed by a Huffman coding stage. It runs on PCs, Unix and other platforms as its source code is also free. (R) amphibious-assault-ship replacement programs and the second ship in the DD(X) class of destroyers. * $115.4 million for unmanned aerial vehicles
* $246.8 Million for Navy and Marine Corps research and development programs. It fully funded the Army's Future Combat Systems, at $3.4 billion, and the Air Force's F/A-22 Raptor aircraft, at $3.7 billion, programs. The House added: * $735 million for nine additional C-130J transport aircraft. * $250 million for armor for Army vehicles. * $2.5 billion for two additional DDG-51 Aegis-class destroyers. * $418 million for construction of the LHA(R) replacement. * $384.4 million for an additional T-AKE T-AKE Auxiliary Cargo (K) and Ammunition (E) Ship, MSC Manned (naval ship type) cargo ship The House also authorized a multiyear contract for 42 additional C-17 cargo aircraft A cargo aircraft is an airplane designed and used for the carriage of goods, rather than passengers. This role demands a number of features that makes a cargo aircraft instantly identifiable; a "fat" looking fuselage, a high-wing to allow the cargo area to sit near the ground, a . It reduced the Army's Future Combat Systems program by $400 million. Acquisition and Financial-Management Reforms. Both bills address the Pentagon's acquisition and financial management. The House version would require the department to monitor changes in its original, baseline cost estimates for major acquisition programs and to provide alternatives to pursuing a system that is technologically unachievable or fiscally impractical. The House bill also would establish a "Contingency Contracting Contracting performed in support of a peacetime contingency in an overseas location pursuant to the policies and procedures of the Federal Acquisition Regulatory System. See also contingency. Corps" to reduce perceived delays and deficiencies in the Pentagon's effort to meet the needs of today's war fighter under existing "rapid acquisition authority," created by Congress last year to react to urgent requirements issued by operational combatant commanders A commander of one of the unified or specified combatantcommands established by the President. See also combatant command; specified combatant command; unified combatant command. . The Senate added several provisions designed to improve the department's financial management and oversight of its acquisition programs. One provision would increase the size and quality of the acquisition workforce. Another would prohibit the use of "other transactions" authority for prototypes that cost in excess of $100 million and ensure that the Procurement Integrity Act applies to all such transactions. Yet another measure would require specific congressional authorization for any purchase of a major weapon system under procedures established for the procurement of commercial over-the-counter items. The Senate bill also attempts to address problems in the defense acquisition workforce by increasing the overall size of the acquisition workforce by 15 percent and requiring the defense secretary to conduct a strategic assessment and develop a human-resources strategic plan for the acquisition workforce. Foreign Trade. As in the previous two years, both bills contain provisions addressing foreign-trade issues. The Senate included authorization for the defense secretary to waive To intentionally or voluntarily relinquish a known right or engage in conduct warranting an inference that a right has been surrendered. For example, an individual is said to waive the right to bring a tort action when he or she renounces the remedy provided by law for such domestic source or content requirements if the secretary determines that a country with a reciprocal defense procurement memorandum of understanding A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) is a legal document describing a bilateral or multilateral agreement between parties. It expresses a convergence of will between the parties, indicating an intended common line of action and may not imply a legal commitment. with the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. has not increased exports of defense items to China during the previous year. In addition, the Senate included similar waivers for rapid acquisition authority, giving the department greater flexibility to address combat emergencies and an exception from the "Buy American" Act for the procurement of perishable per·ish·a·ble adj. Subject to decay, spoilage, or destruction. n. Something, especially foodstuff, subject to decay or spoilage. Often used in the plural. food outside the United States. The bill includes a section spelling out that all provisions in the measure must be consistent with U.S. international trade agreements. The House version included an amendment that would modify the "Buy American" Act significantly by requiring that all end products purchased by the Department of Defense must be manufactured in the United States and that at least 51 percent of the cost of the contents for the end item must be spent in the United States. House and Senate Appropriations Committees In the United States government, the Appropriations Committee can refer to either:
NDIA NDIA National Defense Industrial Association NDIA New Doha International Airport (Qatar) GOVERNMENT POLICY Peter M. Steffes Vice President, Government Policy psteffes@ndia.org Ruth W. Franklin Director, Procurement rfranklin@ndia.org Ann Stockwell Director, International Trade Policy and Programs astockwell@ndia.org Chandra Hubbard Manager, Government Policy chubbard@ndia.org Meredith Kyttle Government Policy Staff mkyttle@ndia.org |
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