With $600 Billion Defense Spending Bill, House Waffles on Weapons Procurement but Stands Strong on Arms Control
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: MAY 20, 2008
CONTACT: Travis Sharp
Washington, D.C. – In a new analysis of the $600 billion fiscal year 2009 Defense Authorization bill scheduled to be voted upon Thursday, May 22 by the House of Representatives, analysts at the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation drew attention to ongoing problems with weapons system procurement, but applauded the House’s efforts to strengthen arms control initiatives.
Read the Center’s full analysis online.
"This bill should be setting off alarms at the Pentagon and on Capitol Hill," said Christopher Hellman, Military Policy Fellow at the Center. "The committee expressed concerns about dozens of specific programs, about the Army's long-term acquisition plan, and about the chaos in the Navy's shipbuilding accounts. Yet despite this, they opted not to cancel any programs, and even added billions for systems that the Defense Department didn't request."
In its markup of the 2009 Defense Authorization bill, the House Armed Services Committee recommended an overall authorization level of $601.4 billion, the amount requested by the administration. This $601.4 billion total includes $70 billion for ongoing military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, $515.2 billion for the Department of Defense, and $16.2 billion for the Department of Energy's nuclear weapons activities.
“From slashing funding for missile defense in Europe to increasing nonproliferation funding to mandating critical reviews of Missile Defense Agency activities, the committee achieved a good balance of arms control priorities,” added Travis Sharp, Military Policy Analyst at the Center.
Noteworthy actions taken by the committee included:
-A 3.9 percent pay raise for military personnel, 0.5 percent above the administration's request
-A $371 million cut from the administration’s request for missile defense in Europe
-No funding authorized for specific Reliable Replacement Warhead (RRW) programs, in defiance of the administration’s $33.3 million request
-Hundreds of million of dollars in additional unrequested funding for nuclear nonproliferation programs, including Cooperative Threat Reduction (“Nunn-Lugar”) and Global Threat Reduction Initiative
-$4.4 billion in unrequested funding for C-17 transport planes and F-22 “Raptor” fighter aircraft
-A study of the impact of illegal subsidies on the source selection for the KC–45 aerial refueling aircraft program
-$400 million in advance funding to either move forward with DDG-1000 procurement or restart DDG-51 procurement
Read the Center’s full analysis online.
For background information on Iraq and Afghanistan supplemental budgeting, see the Center's online resources.
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