7.20.06 COMMITTEE APPROVES FY 2007 DEFENSE SPENDING BILL

WASHINGTON, DC - Today the Senate Appropriations Committee approved the fiscal year 2007 Defense Appropriations bill. The bill provides $453.5 billion in new discretionary spending authority for the Department of Defense for functions under the Defense Subcommittee's jurisdiction, including $50 billion in additional appropriations to fund operations related to the Global War on Terror (GWOT). The Committee's bill recommends $9.1 billion under the President's FY 2007 budget request of $462.6 billion, consistent with the Subcommittee's 302(b) allocation.

This bill reflects an increase of $14.7 billion above amounts provided in the FY 2006 Defense Appropriations Act, excluding supplemental appropriations. It supports an Army end strength of 512,400 Soldiers and a Marine Corps end strength of 180,000 Marines, as recommended in the Senate's National Defense Authorization Bill, S. 2766, through funding in the base bill and Title IX. It also fully funds military pay, benefits, and medical programs, and provides a total of $4.5 billion in General Transfer Authority.

Additional Highlights:

Title I - Military Personnel: $99 billion

• Funds overall Department of Defense end strength of 2,210,000 (1,367,300 for Active component and 842,800 for Reserve Component), through the base bill and Title IX
• Funds 2.2 percent across-the-board pay raise for military personnel, as requested
• Funds the requested increase in Basic Allowance for Housing in support of the Defense Department's initiative to eliminate out-of-pocket housing costs for military members

Title II - Operation and Maintenance: $126.3 billion

• Fully funds key readiness programs critical to prepare forces for combat operations and other peace time missions: OPTEMPO flying hours and steaming days, depot maintenance, training, spare parts, base operations, and facility maintenance
• Adds $40 million for environmental cleanup at Formerly Used Defense Sites (FUDS) to help buy down the backlog of sites

Title III - Procurement: $81 billion

Aircraft

• Fully funds acquisition of 20 F-22A aircraft
• Fully funds acquisition of 12 C-17 transport aircraft
• Fully funds acquisition of 9 C-130J aircraft
• Delays production of Joint Strike Fighter by 1 year to permit additional testing and design maturity
• Defers procurement of the Joint Cargo Aircraft until the Army and Air Force fully define requirements and complete a joint concept of operations
• Reduces request for Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter by $40 million and six aircraft to mitigate schedule risk
• Fully funds 38 UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters
• Reduces request for LUH helicopter by $107 million due to procurement delays
• Transfers production of four EA-18G's to F/A-18E/F production
• Reduces H-1 upgrade procurement by $132 million due to a delay and restructuring of the program
• Reduces KC-130J request by $126 million and two aircraft

Weapons/Missiles

• Fully funds PAC-3 procurement program, as requested
• Fully funds TRIDENT II D-5 LE program
• Fully funds Tomahawk program

Shipbuilding

• Provides $10.4 billion for shipbuilding programs
• Supports the budget request for the two lead DDG-1000 Zumwalt class destroyers
• Provides $300 million to fully fund one LCS; reduces the LCS request by $220 million and one ship due to increasing costs
• Adds $117 million for one T-AGS Oceanographic Survey Ship
• Reduces request for T-AKE due to construction delays

Vehicles/Force Protection

• Funds Army HMMWV and Tactical Vehicles
• Fully funds Army Stryker program
• Fully funds M1 Abrams tank engines upgrades
• Fully funds Marine Corps Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle

Other

• Adds $340 million for National Guard and Reserve equipment

Title IV - Research, Development, Test and Evaluation: $73 billion

Aircraft

• Deletes funds for the Navy Unmanned Combat Air System due to availability of prior year funds
• Adds $340 million to continue developing a second source for JSF aircraft engines
• Reduces VH-71 Executive Helicopter by $125 million due to slow program execution
• Defers additional funding for KC-135 Tanker Replacement due to schedule slip and SDD contract delay
• Supports continued Global Hawk and Predator development at the requested amounts

Space

• Reduces Transformational Satellite Communications (TSAT) by $230 million due to concerns over the amount of program growth
• Reduces Space Radar by $100 million due to uncertainties with the program
• Supports the Space Based Infrared system (SBIRS) High at the requested amount
• Supports the A-EHF and WGS communications satellites at the requested amounts

Shipbuilding

• Fully funds the budget request for the Littoral Combat Ship
• Fully funds the budget request for the DD(X) destroyer program

Missile Defense

• Provides $9.3 billion for missile defense programs
• Provides an additional $225 million for test infrastructure, operations support, and additional interceptors for Ground-Based Missile Defense
• Adds $73 million for Arrow co-production and Short Range Ballistic Missile Defense
• Adds $100 million for AEGIS Ballistic Missile Defense, including SM-3 missile procurement and Ballistic Missile Signal Processor
• Reduces Kinetic Energy Interceptor by $200 million, consistent with the Senate's National Defense Authorization Bill, S. 2766

Other

• Provides $3.5 billion for the Future Combat System, an increase of $380 million over FY 2006, and a decrease of $243 million from the request for excess management reserve and program overhead

Title V - Revolving and Management Funds: $2 billion

Title VI - Other Department of Defense Programs: $23.9 billion

Defense Health Program: $21.4 billion

• Provides $245 million for cancer research:
• $150 million for the Breast Cancer Research Program
• $80 million for the Prostate Cancer Research Program
• $15 million for the Ovarian Cancer Research Program
• Provides $45 million for a medical research fund

Chemical Agents and Munitions Destruction: $1.3 billion

• Supports the President's budget request for the destruction of chemical agents and munitions

Drug Interdiction and Counter-Drug Activities: $978.2 million

• Provides $51.3 million above the President's budget request
• Adds $25 million for the National Guard State Counter-Drug support programs.

Title IX - Additional Appropriations: $50 billion

• Provides $50 billion in additional funding for operations related to GWOT. Contingency funding in this bill is made available pursuant to section 402 of the concurrent resolution on the budget for fiscal year 2007
• Provides a total of $2.5 billion in Special Transfer Authority

Military Personnel: $5.8 billion

• Provides pay and allowances for mobilized Reserve and Guard Soldiers to provide military operations support to GWOT
• Provides Special Pays to include Imminent Danger Pay to Active, Reserve, and Guard Soldiers who are deployed in support of GWOT
• Provides additional Combat Benefits for death and traumatic injury
• Supports required Pre- and Post-Mobilization Training for Reserve and Guard units and personnel
• Provides funding to support an Army National Guard end strength of 350,000 Soldiers

Operation and Maintenance: $36.3 billion

• Funds are provided for continued military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan to include: ground operations, flying hours, ship steaming days, aircraft and vehicle maintenance, logistics support, civilian personnel, and transportation
• Provides $735 million for body armor and personal protection equipment
• Provides $1.2 billion for the Afghanistan Security Forces Fund and $1.4 billion for the Iraq Security Forces Fund to allow indigenous security forces to assume greater responsibility for their own security
• Provides $1.5 billion for the Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization
• Maintains quarterly reporting requirement and the 5-day advance notification to Congress before making any transfer from Security Forces Funds and Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization Fund

Procurement: $7.3 billion

Aircraft

• Provides $105 million to replace the battle loss of seven UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters
• Provides $70 million for the purchase of five UH-60M Blackhawk helicopters for the Army National Guard
• Provides $331 million to replace the battle loss of 11 CH-47 Chinook helicopters
• Provides $50 million to replace battle lost Apache aircraft
• Provides funds for aircraft survivability
• Provides $542.5 million to fund 3 C-17 transport aircraft
• Provides $177.6 million to procure the Large Aircraft Infrared Counter-Measure System for C-17 and C-130 aircraft

Missiles

• Fully funds Air Force Hellfire requirements for additional Predator orbits
• Provides $76.815 million for replacement of Marine Corps Javelin wartime expenditures
• Provides $61.3 million for Marine Corps TOW Bunker Buster missiles

Army Vehicles/Force Protection/Communications Equipment

• Provides $41.5 million for replacement of Stryker vehicle combat losses
• Provides $25 million for Stryker vehicle armor
• Provides $238.8 million for Bradley reset
• Provides $130 million for BFIST Fire Support Vehicles
• Provides $70.3 million for M88A2 Improved Recovery Vehicle
• Provides $440 million for Abrams tank reset
• Provides $50 million for Abrams M1A2SEP vehicle combat losses
• Adds $614.7 million for Up-armored HMMWVs and $364 million for HMMWV Fragmentation kits and Gunner Protection Shields.
• Provides $220 million for Army Medium Tactical Vehicles and $201.5 million for Heavy Tactical Vehicles
• Provides $83 million for Armored Security Vehicles
• Adds $137 million for Army Tactical Operations Centers

Marine Corps Vehicles/Force Protection/Communications Equipment

• Provides $451.5 million for Marine Corps Up-armored HMMWVs
• Provides $90 million for Marine Corps radio systems
• Provides $201.4 million for Marine Corps Unit Operations Centers
• Provides $60 million for command and control equipment

Navy

• Provides over $250 million for replacement of combat losses and force protection equipment for deploying units

Other : $374 million

• Provides $374 million for increased fuel costs in the Defense Working Capital Funds