Conferees authorize $400 billion for Defense programs
House and Senate conferees approved $401.3 billion in budget authority for fiscal 2004 defense programs late Thursday, with additional funding authorization for the Air Force to acquire new Boeing tanker aircraft.
The House passed the conference report Friday morning on a 362-40 vote. The Senate is expected to act on the measure next week.
The bill includes $74.2 billion for procurement, $63.4 billion for research and development, and $114.4 billion in funding for operations and maintenance.
Highlights of the conference resolution include provisions intended to strengthen the U.S. defense industrial base in a number of ways, including using existing Pentagon databases to report levels of foreign procurement and the market sectors they affect, along with the elimination of foreign sources of supply that fail to deliver military systems, parts and components as a result of political opposition to U.S. counterterrorism or military operations.
The provisions call on the Defense secretary to identify all critical components and essential U.S. capabilities necessary to produce key major military weapons systems, and to create a Defense Industrial Base Capabilities Fund to foster U.S. production of parts and materials critical to the operation and performance of military systems. One provision would create an incentive program to encourage U.S. defense contractors to use U.S.-made machine tools to get special preferences from the Pentagon in contracting.
Following a news conference Friday, House Armed Services Committee Chairman Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., said the provisions will help ensure reliable domestic sources of weapons and equipment for the U.S. military. He also said the legislation is not intended to harm defense cooperation with U.S. allies who have harshly criticized Hunter's "Buy American" proposals.
"They're not being punished," Hunter said, adding that he has had constructive discussions with British officials and others regarding his industrial base concerns.
Hunter was especially pleased with the removal of what he referred to as a "poison pill" included in the Senate version of the bill that would have exempted countries engaged in bilateral Declaration of Principles agreements with the United States from most current and future Buy American legislation.
The legislation also allows for the Pentagon to implement a merit-based management system for civilian personnel, a hotly contested issue that came under fire by Senate conferees. And it addresses the Pentagon's desire to eliminate unnecessary infrastructure through the base realignment and closure (BRAC) process.
Hunter's committee noted in a news release that while current BRAC law requires the Defense secretary to assess future threats, it does not specifically require the military to retain the infrastructure necessary to support operational surges to meet those threats.
"Therefore, the conferees required the secretary of Defense to evaluate the probable threats to national security and determine the surge requirements necessary to meet those threats," the statement said. In addition, the conferees required the secretary to use this determination throughout the BRAC process.
The conference report also provides for concurrent receipt for military veterans whose retirement benefits were, until now, offset by the amount of disability coverage for which they were eligible. In addition, military personnel will receive a 4.15 percent average increase in base pay, a reduction in the average amount of housing expenses, extension of special pay and bonuses for active duty personnel through Dec. 31, 2004, an increase in the family separation allowance for service members with dependents, and an increase in the rate of special pay for those subject to hostile fire and imminent danger.