Marking Up the NDAA in House Armed Services Subcommittees

Lamborn Adds Amendment Prohibiting Reliance on China & Russia for Weather Data

4/23/15

This week, the Subcommittee on Strategic Forces and the Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Capabilities have released their legislative proposals for the Fiscal Year 2016 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).

Congressman Lamborn successfully added an amendment during the Strategic Forces Subcommittee markup which will prohibit the DOD from relying on Chinese and Russian weather satellites over CENTCOM, which the Pentagon had been considering.

Please click HERE to watch the amendment being added

Congressman Lamborn specifically authored or advocated for a number of provisions which were incorporated into the underlying bill including the following:

- Language establishing a major force program for space, which was recommended by the Rumsfeld Space Commission, and will help promote a strong space budget.

- Language supporting better ways for the DOD to purchase commercial satellite communications.

- Language fixing the launch provisions affecting United Launch Alliance.

- Language prohibiting any integration of US or NATO missile defenses with Russian missile defenses.

- Language requested by USAFA standardizing how they name facilities.

From his leadership position in the two Subcommittees, Congressman Doug Lamborn supports the following additions to the NDAA.

Strategic Forces (courtesy of House Armed Services Committee Communications)

Space

In light of the growing foreign threats, the mark prioritizes national security space by creating a new major force program category for space, and establishes the steps to strengthen national security space stewardship, leadership, management, and organization within the Department of Defense;

Authorizes the Committee’s priority of a new U.S. space propulsion capability to end U.S. reliance on Russian rocket engines by 2019;

Sends the Air Force back to the drawing board on the next-generation weather satellite system by withholding all funding for the program until it is redesigned to guarantee warfighter requirements are met;

Drives smarter, more cost-effective acquisition in milsatcom space programs through new pilot approaches, streamlined acquisition, and establishing proper accountability through centralized management in the Department of Defense to save taxpayer dollars;

Establishes new approaches to get better and more timely intelligence directly into the hands of warfighters.

Nuclear Weapons

Authorizes and sets priorities within the NNSA Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation program and prohibits funding for NNSA threat reduction activities in Russia;.

Creates a forcing function to ensure implementation of concrete reforms to the DOE/NNSA governance and management system recommended by an independent congressional advisory panel;.

Takes action to address the $3.6 billion backlog of deferred maintenance at NNSA.

Missile Defense and Other

Directs DOD to begin development of military capabilities to counter Russia’s violation of the INF treaty;

Directs the development of military strategies in response to Russia’s actions with respect to deployment of nuclear weapons on Ukrainian soil and with respect to deployment of the Club-K covert cruise missile system;

Directs the creation of a program of record for a Multiple-Object Kill Vehicle for the Ground-based Midcourse Defense system, to accelerate the development of this advanced capability to boost homeland defense capability;

Would require the modification of the Aegis Ashore site in Romania, and the planned site in Poland, to provide enhanced Anti-Air Warfare capability for defense of the sites from regional threats, including against cruise missiles from Russia;

Requires the relocation of the Sea-based X-band Radar to a site on the East Coast by 2020, and, directs immediate work on site design and other study and process work to homeport such radar on the East Coast, while ensuring the missile defense of Hawaii.

Emerging Threats and Capabilities (courtesy of House Armed Services Committee Communications)

Fully resource and authorize U.S. Cyber Command programs and activities, as well as all Military Service cyber programs and science and technology Cyber initiatives to enhance a Cyber mission force that defends our national security objectives;

Direct the Secretary of Defense to identify and assess Cyber vulnerabilities on legacy weapons systems and mission systems;

Direct GAO to review DoD technology transitions efforts to ensure effective and timely transition of technologies developed by industry and the DoD laboratories to war-fighters;

Direct GAO to review U.S. policies and technologies to improve the ability to produce advanced semiconductors and microelectronics to mitigate security risks from procuring those items from foreign sources;

Fully resource and authorize U.S. Special Operations Command programs and activities;

Extend for two years a family support pilot program for Special Operations Forces and their families;

Fully resource the U.S. Special Operations Command Preservation of the Force and Families program;

Make permanent the authorization for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Special Operations Headquarters, placing an enduring emphasis on this partnership comprised of more than 26 countries;

Extend DoD’s authority to assist in the recovery of isolated personnel overseas;

Provides additional funding to energize counter ISIL technology and operations programs;

Direct the Secretary of Defense to provide a strategy to counter unconventional warfare threats being posed by Russia, Iran, and others;

Provide the Secretary of Defense with authority to establish a pilot program to counter adversarial propaganda efforts, like those undertaken by Russia, al Qaeda, and ISIL;

Extend a critical authority for the Department of Defense to engage with foreign countries to enhance their own capabilities to respond to incidents involving weapons of mass destruction;

Direct the Secretaries of Defense and State to notify and brief Congress when an embassy or consulate evacuation takes place, ensuring proper congressional oversight during these sensitive operations; and

Streamline reporting requirements placed on DoD by eliminating or modifying a number of mandated annual reports.