Posts Tagged ‘Congress/DOD’

While the Pentagon is reviewing its force posture in Europe and Asia with the intent to consolidate the overseas footprint of the military services, officials should not overlook the “significant numbers” of facilities and personnel of the major defense agencies, the Senate Armed Services Committee notes in its report accompanying the fiscal 2013 defense authorization bill the panel approved last month. To ensure those agencies are not ignored, the committee directs the deputy defense secretary to evaluate the feasibility and cost savings associated with closing overseas facilities and consolidating operations of the 16 defense agencies to existing facilities within the U.S. …

The Senate Armed Services Committee asks DOD to study whether energy savings performance contracts can be used more broadly, including to construct power generating plants, according to the committee report accompanying the fiscal 2013 defense authorization bill it approved last month. The panel also is interested in whether the contracts can be used to acquire mobile energy sources, including electric and natural gas-powered vehicles and charging stations on installations …

Yes, they are, potentially, as eloquently described by a New York Times journalist reporting on Sen. Lindsey Graham’s attempt to warn South Carolina residents of the devastating impact that up to $500 billion in automatic spending cuts over the coming decade would have on the Pentagon’s budget as well as the state’s numerous military installations. The Republican senator isn’t the only lawmaker riding across the land to warn the populace about what may happen if the first year’s portion of the budget sequester, $55 billion in DOD spending, goes into effect starting in January …

Citing conflicting statements from senior Pentagon officials characterizing the extent to which the military has excess infrastructure, the Senate Armed Services Committee is requesting the Government Accountability Office to review the processes DOD uses to make such determinations, according to the panel’s report accompanying the fiscal 2013 defense authorization bill it approved last month. “Senior Army officials have been quoted as stating that the Army has no interest in another BRAC round. Yet, recent briefings to the committee suggest that the Army does have excess capacity …

Lawmakers cannot afford to wait until after the November election to replace $500 billion in automatic cuts to defense spending with an alternate deficit reduction plan, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Friday. “I don’t like the idea of putting everything off till after the election. I think it gets real dangerous when you start piling all of the crises into one period after the election and hope that you can solve all those issues …

House lawmakers last week approved an amendment to the fiscal 2013 military construction spending bill prohibiting the use of funds to modify structures at an installation outside of an authorized BRAC round. The amendment’s author, Rep. Jon Runyan (R-N.J.), said the provision would stop DOD from “any efforts to impose a back-door BRAC through informal channels.” “This amendment is yet another victory in our fight to protect the jobs and mission of Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst,” Runyan said. The House and Senate versions of the FY 2013 defense authorization bill include more far-reaching language intended to stop DOD from realigning missions outside of a base closure round.

DOD’s Readiness and Environmental Protection Initiative has recorded numerous successes stabilizing or elimination encroachment threats at dozens of locations, according to the 2012 REPI Report to Congress. Through fiscal 2011, the program has protected more than 215,000 acres for 60 locations in 24 states. Sites that have reached goals to secure test and training capabilities include Fort Carson, Colo.; Naval Air Station Fallon, Nev.; Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md.; Townsend Bombing Range, Ga.; and Fort Custer, Mich. …

House lawmakers passed an appropriations bill Thursday evening that would provide $10.6 billion for all military construction programs in fiscal 2013, a $2.4 billion drop from current year spending. Some of the reduction in the military construction and veterans affairs spending bill reflects a deliberate pause in milcon proposed by the Air Force, accounting for $839 million of the decline. A reduction in requirements for BRAC 2005 explains a small part of the decrease as well …

Defense Department spending on combat operations and other activities in Afghanistan and Iraq would be subject to the budget sequester set to take effect in January, a change from an earlier determination that the Overseas Contingency Operations account would be exempt. As a result, the $55 billion in automatic spending cuts to be imposed in fiscal 2013 would be spread over a larger number of defense programs, minimizing the pain on any single account …

After delivering remarks intended to dissuade Congress from making changes to the Defense Department’s fiscal 2013 budget request that could result in a “hollowing” of the armed forces, Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton Carter on Wednesday offered a robust defense of the Pentagon’s push to reduce its dependence on fossil fuels. In response to a reporter’s question that followed his speech at the American Enterprise Institute, Carter indicated that the department opposes language in the House and Senate versions of the defense authorization bill barring it from purchasing biofuels …