I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 857 

To amend section 251A of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit 

Control Act of 1985 to eliminate the Department of Defense sequestration for fiscal years 2013 and 2014 and sequester such eliminated sums 

over a period of fiscal years 2015 through 2021. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 27, 2013 

Mr. COOK introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on the Budget, and in addition to the Committee on Appropriations, for 

a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for 

consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To amend section 251A of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 to eliminate the Department of Defense sequestration for fiscal years 2013 

and 2014 and sequester such eliminated sums over a 

period of fiscal years 2015 through 2021. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Protect Troops at War 

5 Act of 2013’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. 

2 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 

3 (1) On August 2, 2011, the President signed 

4 into law S. 365, the Budget Control Act of 2011, 

5 which reduced defense discretionary spending by 

6 $478 billion over ten years. 

7 (2) The Budget Control Act of 2011 also estab8 lished a sequestration in the event that a Joint Se9 lect Committee on Deficit Reduction could not agree 

10 on an additional $1.2 trillion in savings by Novem11 ber 2011. 

12 (3) The Joint Select Committee on Deficit Re13 duction was unable to reach an agreement, which 

14 triggered sequestration, resulting in an additional 

15 $495 billion reduction in defense spending over the 

16 same ten-year period. 

17 (4) If these reductions in defense spending re18 main intact, the total portion of defense spending as 

19 a percentage of the total U.S. budget will be at its 

20 lowest point since before World War II. 

21 (5) Sequestration alone would reduce our mili22 tary force to its smallest level since 1940, resulting 

23 in the separation of more than 100,000 soldiers, 

24 sailors, Marines, and airmen. 

25 (6) Since 2009, the number of troops has more 

26 than doubled in Afghanistan from 30,000 to 66,000 


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1 today. During the same period, Congress has ac2 tively reduced the budget for the Department of De3 fense. 

4 (b) PURPOSE.—It is the purpose of this Act to: 

5 (1) Avoid deeper, irresponsible defense cuts in 

6 the face of an increasingly dangerous world that un7 necessarily threaten our national security and will 

8 cost American lives in armed conflict abroad. 

9 (2) Invest in advanced military technology in 

10 order to equip the U.S. military with the best re11 sources available to defend our country. 

12 (3) Not allow the strategy of the U.S. military 

13 to be driven by budget constraints, which is unac14 ceptable. The strategy should drive the budget. 

15 Avoiding cuts while our troops are at war allows 

16 necessary time to adjust strategy for the restruc17 tured force post-Afghanistan. Before the House 

18 Armed Services Committee, Chairman of the Joint 

19 Chiefs General Dempsey testified ‘‘If you want [your 

20 military] to be doing what it’s doing today, then we 

21 can’t give you another dollar.’’. 

22 (4) Ensure that the U.S. military forces are 

23 adequately prepared. Commandant of the Marine 

24 Corps, General Amos, in his statement before the 

25 House Armed Services Committee remarked, ‘‘By 


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1 the end of calendar year 2013, less than half of our 

2 ground units will be trained to the minimum readi3 ness level required for deployment.’’. Sequestration, 

4 if left unchecked, will cost American lives. The hol5 low force experienced during the Korean War would 

6 be today’s reality. 

7 (5) Halt irresponsible budget cuts because no 

8 amount of savings can justify the loss of one Amer9 ican service member. 

10 SEC. 3. POSTPONEMENT OF FY 2013 AND 2014 DEFENSE SE11 QUESTRATION. 

12 Section 251A of the Balanced Budget and Emer13 gency Deficit Control Act of 1985 is amended by adding 

14 at the end the following new paragraph: 

15 ‘‘(12) Notwithstanding paragraphs (5) and (8), 

16 there shall be no reductions under this section to 

17 discretionary appropriations or direct spending for 

18 fiscal year 2013 or 2014 for the defense function. 

19 The reduction that would otherwise have occurred 

20 shall be added to and distributed equally among the 

21 sequestration for the defense function for fiscal 

22 years 2015 through 2021.’’. 


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1 SEC. 4. TRANSFER AUTHORITY FOR FUNDING OF DEPART2 MENT OF DEFENSE UNDER CONTINUING RES3 OLUTION AND SEQUESTER CONSISTENT 

4 WITH AMOUNTS AUTHORIZED BY NATIONAL 

5 DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR FISCAL 

6 YEAR 2013. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—In accordance with subsection (b), 

8 the Secretary of Defense may transfer amounts appro9 priated for the Department of Defense by the Continuing 

10 Appropriations Resolution (Public Law 112–175) among 

11 accounts of the Department of Defense. 

12 (b) TRANSFERS CONSISTENT WITH AMOUNTS AP13 PROPRIATED OR AUTHORIZED.—In the event of any trans14 fers under subsection (a), the total amount in any account 

15 of the Department of Defense that is available for obliga16 tion and expenditure in fiscal year 2013 shall be consistent 

17 with, and may not exceed— 

18 (1) if a regular appropriation Act making ap19 propriations for the Department of Defense for fis20 cal year 2013 is enacted before the date of the 

21 transfer, the level provided for that account for that 

22 fiscal year by applicable provisions of such Act; or 

23 (2) if no such Act is enacted before the date of 

24 the transfer, the amount authorized to be appro25 priated for that account for that fiscal year by appli26 cable provisions of division A of the National DeVerDate Mar 15 2010 05:06 Mar 01, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H857.IH H857

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1 fense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013 (Pub2 lic Law 112–239). 

3 (c) NOTICE TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 15 days 

4 before any transfer under subsection (a), the Secretary of 

5 Defense shall submit to the congressional defense commit6 tees a report setting forth a description of the transfer, 

7 including the amount of the transfer and the accounts 

8 from and to which the funds were transferred. 

9 (d) TRANSFER SUBJECT TO NOTIFICATION RE10 QUIREMENTS.—In addition to the notice required under 

11 subsection (c), a transfer under subsection (a) shall be 

12 subject to the applicable notification requirements for re13 programming in division A of Public Law 112–74. 

14 (e) TRANSFER AUTHORITY.—The transfer authority 

15 provided by subsection (a) is in addition to any other 

16 transfer authority provided by law. 

17 (f) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘‘congres18 sional defense committees’’ has the meaning given that 

19 term in section 101(a)(16) of title 10, United States Code. 

Æ 


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