The US House of Arms Committee passed a number of proposals to improve the combat effectiveness of the US military in the Indo-Pacific region

By Lieburg- Voice of America

The US Congress continues to review the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2021. A relevant group of the House of Representatives Military Committee discussed and passed a number of proposals at a revision meeting on Tuesday (June 23, 2020) to enhance the military capabilities of the US military in the Western Pacific and deal with China’s military challenges.

Rep. Doug Lamborn, the Republican leader of the Military Preparedness Team of the Military Commission, said at the meeting: "The world is becoming more and more dangerous, and the challenge to the national security and economic interests of the United States is increasing. China and Russia and our great powers Competition shows that the US military needs to invest more resources in new technologies, because our advantages in cyber, space, and precision weapons are not static."

Lambourn told VOA in January this year about the National Defense Authorization Act for the consideration of the new fiscal year by Congress: "I hope there will be no war. However, as the minority leader of the Military Commission’s Readiness Group, I will ensure that when we have tonight When we are fighting, we are ready to fight. We will examine related issues."

The proposal prepared by the House Armed Services Committee's combat readiness group after unanimous voting included a request for the Department of Defense to regularly report to the Congress on the deficiencies of the U.S. military in the deployment of military power and logistics supplies. One of the provisions requires the Pentagon to submit a fuel supply management strategy to meet the current and future combat readiness needs of the US military in the Indo-Pacific region.

The House Military Committee’s Maritime Force and Force Delegate Affairs Group also held a National Defense Authorization Law revision meeting on Tuesday. Members of the two political parties agreed to strengthen the US Navy’s troop transport capability and recommended to the Plenary of the Military Commission that the Navy add eight warships in the new fiscal year, including the first new-generation Colombia-class strategic submarine and two Virginia-class attack submarines .

Admiral Gil, the Navy’s Minister of Warfare, said earlier when he was questioned by Congress. Because of the total budget constraints, the Navy had to make some difficult choices when submitting the budget report for the new fiscal year, including reducing the purchase of Virginia. Class attack submarine to protect the most important weapons research and development projects such as the Columbia class strategic nuclear submarine.

The Senate Military Commission has completed the revision of the National Defense Authorization Law for fiscal year 2021, which has a total military expenditure of $740.5 billion.

The House Military Committee plans to complete this revision in the next few weeks and submit it to the House of Representatives for voting.