Washington, DC - Senate Defense Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Daniel K. Inouye (D-Hawaii) delivered the following opening statement (as prepared for delivery) at today's Subcommittee Markup.
"Today the
Subcommittee meets to make recommendations for the Fiscal Year 2013 Defense
Appropriations Bill. The Defense
Subcommittee allocation for the base budget is $511 billion and for Overseas
Contingency Operations is $93.3 billion.
The allocation is equivalent to the Department of Defense's fiscal year
2013 budget request, and is consistent with the defense caps set in the Budget
Control Act. It is nearly $29 billion
less than what Congress enacted in fiscal year 2012, primarily due to the
drawdown of forces in Afghanistan.
"Due to budget
reductions mandated by the Budget Control Act, the Department of Defense
reduced its planned spending over the next decade. While the bill before you today supports many
of the Department's proposals, we recommend several adjustments to restore
force structure, fund shortfalls identified after the budget submission, support
increases authorized by the Senate Armed Services Committee, and add funds for
several competitive research initiatives.
"This bill continues
this Committee's longstanding commitment to support our men and women in
uniform and their families. It provides
for the readiness of our forces, recommends sufficient force structure to meet
global demands, and maintains our technological edge. It complies with the earmark moratorium and
contains no congressionally directed spending items.
"The bill fully funds
the requested military endstrength and the 1.7 percent authorized pay raise for
military personnel. In addition, the
bill adds over $390 million for military personnel shortfalls that were
identified to the Committee after the budget was submitted.
"We recommend over
$33 billion for the defense health program, including an additional $273
million to fully fund TRICARE benefits that were authorized by the Senate Armed
Services Committee.
"The bill funds key
programs to strengthen our military readiness, and provides additional funding
for unanticipated costs that surfaced after the budget submission, such as: $150 million for repairs on the USS
Miami, which was damaged in a fire; $293 million for the Navy's increased
presence in the Persian Gulf; and nearly $1 billion to mitigate projected
shortfalls for fuel and second destination transportation costs.
"The recommendation
restores or provides additional force structure to ensure that our military can
meet its commitments around the world. Let
me highlight a few examples:
"For the Department
of the Army, the bill adds over $700 million for Army aircraft, primarily to
modernize, replace combat losses, or procure new helicopters. It adds funds to continue Abrams upgrades and
procure additional Hercules vehicles and Patriot interceptors.
"For the Department
of the Navy, the recommendation ensures a healthy force as we shift our focus
to the Pacific. It includes nearly $2.4
billion to reverse the Navy's proposal to prematurely retire nine ships that
have over 100 years of service life remaining.
This funding is adequate to man, operate, equip, and modernize these
ships in order to minimize future costs which the Navy has not budgeted for. In addition, the recommendation provides $1
billion to fully fund an additional Destroyer and $777 million for advance
procurement of an additional Virginia-class submarine.
"For the Department
of the Air Force, the bill provides over $800 million to comply with the Senate
Armed Services Committee's direction to pause Air Force-proposed force
structure adjustments until a national commission reports to the Congress.
"For the Missile
Defense Agency, the bill provides additional funds for a missile warning radar
and Standard Missile-3 interceptors that were removed from the budget
request.
"Let me assure you
that we made each of these adjustments while bearing in mind the Department?s
concern that adding back force structure could cause future unaffordable bills
for the Department. The increases in
this bill are carefully targeted to minimize that budget strain while ensuring
we maintain a strong global posture.
Accelerating the modernization or procurement of some equipment today
will free up funds in future years that can be used to sustain needed force
structure or invest in new capabilities.
Furthermore, this bill adds funds for nearly every shortfall that the
Department identified to the Committee after the budget was submitted, thus
eliminating the need to reprogram billions of dollars next year for these
" must
pay
" bills. By targeting some additional
spending today, we are helping to relieve some pressure on future defense
budgets.
"In order to fund the
initiatives I highlighted, the bill makes reductions to underperforming
programs in the Department's budget request.
There are 475 line-item reductions recommended in this bill. Most of these reductions are made as a result
of program terminations, schedule delays, program changes since submission of
the budget last February, inadequate justification, unaffordable future year
costs, or corrections to poor fiscal discipline.
"I believe this is a
balanced bill and I urge my colleagues' support. It reduces unnecessary funding in order to
ensure that our men and women in uniform and their families are provided the
best support and equipment. At the same
time, it ensures that our nation's defense is strong during an unprecedented
time in our history when we are faced daily with new and unpredictable
challenges.
"Before I call upon
the Vice Chairman for his opening remarks, I would like to thank him and his
staff - Stewart Holmes, Brian Potts, Alycia Farrell, Rachelle Schroeder, and
Mike Hansen - for continuing this Committee's tradition of bipartisan
cooperation in crafting this important bill.
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