December 20, 2012

Highlights of H.R. 4310: FY13 Defense Authorization Bill (Conference Report)


Noteworthy

  • Floor Situation: Majority Leader Reid has indicated a desire to complete action on this.
  • Executive Summary: The Administration’s fiscal year 2013 defense budget request was $631.6 billion, composed of $543.1 billion for the base budget and $88.5 billion for ongoing operations in the war against terrorists (or what the Administration labels “Overseas Contingency Operations” (OCO)). The bill provides $633.3 billion in budget authority, of which $544.9 billion is for the base budget and $88.5 billion is for OCO.

Overview

The Administration’s fiscal year 2013 defense budget request was for $631.6 billion, which was composed of $543.1 billion for the base budget and $88.5 billion for OCO. Of the $543.1 billion base budget request, $525.3 billion was for the Department of Defense and $17.8 billion was for the national security programs of the Department of Energy. CBO scored the final request as seeking $646.7 billion in budget authority for fiscal year 2013, which included matters outside the jurisdiction of the Congressional Armed Services Committees.    

 The bill provides $633.3 billion in budget authority for national defense programs, of which $544.9 billion is for the base budget and $88.5 billion is for OCO. When the bill is entirely accounted for to include mandatory programs and matters outside the jurisdiction of the Armed Services Committees, it authorizes $648.7 billion in budget authority, which is $1.7 billion more than the President’s request for all these matters.   

Of particular note, the bill authorizes the following amounts:

  • $98.4 billion in procurement funding, which is $966 million more than the President’s budget request;
  • $69.9 billion in funding for research, development, test, and evaluation, which is $530 million more than the requested level;
  • $175.6 billion for operation and maintenance, which is $630 million more than the request;
  • $135.8 billion for military personnel, which is $646 million more than the request;
  • $88.5 billion for Overseas Contingency Operations, which is $48 million more than requested;
  • $17.4 billion for atomic energy defense activities, which is $395 million less than the request; and
  • $10.4 billion for military construction, which is $810 million less than the request.
  • The bill authorizes an across-the-board military pay raise of 1.7 percent, as well as various other bonuses and special pay authorities aimed at encouraging enlistment, reenlistment, and continued service by active duty and reserve military personnel.

Noteworthy Bill Provisions

  • The bill does not authorize or otherwise include the Administration’s proposed Tricare enrollment fees or increases to other Tricare fees.
  • It does however, at section 712, establish Tricare pharmacy co-pays, and limits (until fiscal year 2022) any annual increase in these co-pays to the percentage increase by which retiree pay is increased.
  • This is paid for, in part, by the creation, at section 716, of a five-year pilot program requiring Tricare for Life beneficiaries to refill prescription maintenance medications through the national mail-order pharmacy program.
  • Section 315 prohibits the use of Defense Production Act funds in fiscal year 2013 to construct a biofuel refinery until the Department receives matching contributions from the Departments of Energy and Agriculture.
  • Section 361 et seq authorizes the creation of the National Commission on the Structure of the Air Force, but does not freeze near-term force structure changes pending the recommendations of the Commission.
  • Section 704 authorizes the use of Department funds for abortion in cases of rape and incest.
  • Section 1022 extends for one year the prohibition on the use of funds to construct or modify facilities in the United States for the purpose of receiving Guantanamo detainees.
  • Section 1025 requires the Secretary of Defense to notify Congress at least 10 days prior to transferring a detainee out of the Parwan detention facility in Afghanistan to the custody of the Afghan government or any other country.
  • Section 1027 prohibits for one year the use of funds to transfer to the United States Khalid Sheikh Mohammed or any other Guantanamo detainee.
  • Section 1028 extends for one year the certification requirements the Secretary must make in order to transfer a Guantanamo detainee out of U.S. custody.
  • The amendment adopted in the Senate exempting U.S. citizen al Qaeda terrorists captured on U.S. soil from certain consequences of joining the enemy, namely excepting them from military detention, is not included in the final bill. Section 1029 states the 2001 Authorization for the Use of Military Force or the fiscal year 2012 Defense Authorization Act shall not be construed to deny in an Article III court any Constitutional or habeas rights to any person in the United States who would be entitled to such rights in the absence of those laws.
  • Section 1213 directs the Secretary of Defense to notify the congressional defense committees of any presidential decision to change force levels in Afghanistan.
  • Section 1225 requires the President to deliver to Congress any bilateral security agreement with Afghanistan before entering into it.
  • Section 1233 expresses the sense of Congress that the United States should be prepared to take all necessary measures, including military action if required, to prevent Iran from threatening the United States and its allies with a nuclear weapon. Section 1234 further provides nothing in this Act shall be construed as authorizing the use of force against Iran.
  • The Iran sanctions provisions as passed out of the Senate remain mostly intact at section 1241 et seq.
  • Sections 1261 and 1266 in combination authorize certain satellites and related items controlled by the U.S. Munitions List to be transferred to the control of the Commerce Control List, subject to certain determinations. The bill limits the items that can be transferred back to the Commerce Control List to those items that were under its control at the time of enactment of the fiscal year 1999 Defense Authorization Act. Moreover, it prohibits the export or transfer of these items to China, North Korea, or any state sponsor of terrorism, to include launching such an item in those countries.
  • Section 1286 expresses the sense of Congress regarding the situation in the Senkaku Islands to acknowledge Japanese administration of the Islands (without taking a position on the ultimate sovereignty of the Islands) and to reaffirm the U.S. commitment to Japan under the Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security.
  • Section 3114 directs the Secretary of Energy to construct at Los Alamos a building to replace the functions of the existing Chemistry and Metallurgy Research Building. It limits the cost of the building to $3.7 billion. It further provides no funds may be used for a plutonium strategy that does not include achieving full operational capability of this replacement building by December 31, 2026. To secure ratification of New START, President Obama promised to accelerate the design and engineering phase of this project. This section holds the President to that promise, which he tried to abandon in this year’s budget request.