Date: 2016-05-19
Speaker: VAN HOLLEN (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Chair. I rise today in opposition to H.R. 4909. the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017. because it fails to support our troops serving overseas. The House Armed Services Committee reported a bill that uses a budget gimmick to circumvent funding caps Congress passed into law on a bipartisan basis. and by doing so it not only undermines the budget process. it puts our troops at risk. The bill cuts $18 billion from what our military commanders say is needed to support our troops overseas. and shifts those funds into the base defense budget to purchase billions of dollars of weapon systems the Defense Department did not even request. Consequently. the bill provides only enough funding for the troops deployed in Afghanistan and Iraq through April. 2017. This would then force Congress to pass an emergency supplemental to ensure that troops who are serving in harms way have the resources they need for the remainder of the year. We shouldnt gamble with the troops we send off to battle. They deserve predictable support for the entire year as they execute their missions. particularly in view of the dangers they face. Representative ELLISON offered an amendment to undo part of this gimmick. His amendment cuts $9.4 billion of Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) funds the bill shifted to procurement for weapons DoD didnt ask for and puts it back into operations and maintenance. where DoD requested it for overseas operations. I supported the amendment because it puts the troops first. It gives them the certainty they need while they carry out their missions. It is also what our military commanders say they need. Unfortunately. that amendment did not pass. As the Ranking Member of the House Budget Committee. I also have worked hard to defend the integrity of the budget process and to end the abuse of the OCO designation to circumvent budget caps. I offered a bipartisan amendment with Representative MULVANEY that attempts to help reduce this abuse in the future. The amendment codifies criteria developed by OMB to clarify when military spending should be designated as contingency operations. To provide the necessary resources for a strong military and vital domestic investments. it is imperative our budget process be transparent and deliberative. Using budget gimmicks perpetuates bad decisions. increases debt by obfuscating spending. and in this case. puts the troops at risk. This NDAA once again abdicates Congressional responsibility to revise and update the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF). The 2001 AUMF has been used to conduct a broad range of military operations across the world for the past fifteen years. Rather than act to narrowly target that authority to meet our current operational and national security requirements. Congress has continued to provide the Executive with a blank check to deploy American ground troops in many places in the Middle East and elsewhere around the globe. Representative LEE offered an amendment to force Congress to meet its constitutional obligations regarding its war powers. While I do not believe we should totally eliminate all authorities under the 2001 AUMF. I do believe we need to dramatically reduce its scope and end the grant of blank check authority to the Executive.