NW Riverside News

On June 15, Defense Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Ken Calvert issued the following statement after the Fiscal Year 2024 Defense Appropriations bill was advanced by the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee:
“As Chairman, I wanted the Fiscal Year 2024 Defense Appropriations bill to send a clear message to our adversaries that the U.S. military will have the tools it needs to win any fight. To address the increasing global threats, this bill prioritizes investing in America’s military superiority, shaping a more efficient and effective workforce, promoting a culture of innovation, and taking care of servicemembers. Our subcommittee also scrutinized the Defense Department’s budget request and found $20 billion in cuts that I have redirected to improve the lethality and readiness of the force.

No threat in the world today is claiming more American lives than the fentanyl crisis. Within the whole of government approach to this epidemic, this bill advances the Defense Department’s role in a historic way. The Subcommittee is providing record-high investments in Defense Department drug interdiction and counter-drug activities. To prioritize combatting the trafficking of fentanyl by Mexican drug cartels, we are transferring Mexico from the jurisdiction of NORTHCOM to SOUTHCOM, which has a long history of successful international and interagency counter drug operations.

I am proud that my bill includes a historic pay increase – an average of 30% – to help junior enlisted servicemembers keep up with the rising cost of living. By including the pay increase, this bill takes a big step towards relieving some of the financial stress felt by servicemembers and their families as well as helping our services meet their recruiting goals.”

 

Bill Summary

(Source: House Appropriations Committee)

The Defense bill funds agencies and programs under the jurisdiction of the Department of Defense (DOD) and Intelligence Community, including the Military Services, Central Intelligence Agency, and the National Security Agency. For Fiscal Year 2024, the bill provides $826.45 billion in new discretionary spending, which is $285.87 million over the President’s Budget Request and $28.71 billion – or 3.6% – over the FY23 enacted level.

The bill prioritizes funding to counter China, optimize DOD’s workforce, promote innovation, support servicemembers and their families, and increase DOD’s role in combatting the flow of fentanyl, synthetic opioids, and other illegal drugs into the United States.

 

Fiscal Year 2024 Defense Appropriations Bill

Ensuring servicemembers and their families have the support they need by:

• Funding a 5.2% pay raise for our servicemembers, including a historic pay increase for junior enlisted servicemembers of an average of 30%;
• Directing the Department to assess on-installation childcare capacity and staff hiring challenges and to develop a plan to reduce wait time; and
• Supporting youth-focused programs such as Impact Aid, National Guard Youth Challenge, Sea Cadets, Young Marines, and STARBASE.

Counters China by:

• Making a historic investment in security cooperation funding for Taiwan;
• Supporting training programs for Taiwan, including through the National Guard State Partnership Program;
• Prioritizing the delivery of defense articles and services to Taiwan;
• Rejecting the Biden Administration’s inadequate shipbuilding plan by preventing 4 ships from early retirement;
• Increasing investments in 5th and 6th generation aircraft like the F-35 and Next Generation Air Dominance; and
• Including over $9 billion for the Pacific Deterrence Initiative, which bolsters U.S. military capabilities in the Indo-Pacific region.

Optimizes the Pentagon’s civilian workforce by:

• Cutting $1 billion of the President’s Budget Request to increase the size of the civilian workforce;
• Directing the Department to reassess the number and roles of its civilian personnel needed for its core mission, tasks, and functions and ensuring the Department has an appropriate workforce for areas that directly serve the warfighter, like depots and shipyards; and
• Providing funding to accelerate the Department’s digital transformation of business practices through the Chief Data Artificial Intelligence Office.

Innovates and modernizes the Military by:

• Investing in next-generation fighter aircraft, helicopters, tactical combat vehicles, and submarines;
• Empowers combatant commanders to quickly obtain the cutting-edge technology and weapons they need and to rapidly get them to the warfighter;
• Funding the modernization of the nuclear triad: the B-21 Raider, the Columbia Class Submarine, and Sentinel;
• Providing significant funding for the Defense Innovation Unit and the military services to accelerate acquisition processes;
• Fully funding the Office of Strategic Capital to maximize the use of private capital for defense emerging technologies and manufacturing; and
• Including increased funding for the successful program to Accelerate the Procurement and Fielding of Innovative Technologies (APFIT).

Enhancing DOD’s role in countering the flow of illicit fentanyl and synthetic opioids by:

• Providing $1.16 billion for the drug interdiction and counterdrug activities account, which is $275 million above the President’s Budget Request;
• Increasing funding for the National Guard Counterdrug Program;
• Increasing funding for train and equip programs to counter illicit fentanyl and synthetic opioids and the transnational criminal organizations that contribute to the fentanyl crisis, particularly the Sinaloa and Jalisco drug cartels; and
• Transferring Mexico from U.S. Northern Command to U.S. Southern Command, which enables better coordination and prioritization.

A summary of the bill is available here.

Bill text is available here.

 

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Issues: Defense

Original source can be found here.