CommunityEditor
06-11-2009, 07:21 PM
When the House Armed Services Committee meets next week to approve the 2010 defense budget, it also will take up two resolutions ordering the Defense Department to produce its 30-year plans for shipbuilding and aircraft procurement.
The two resolutions demanding the release of the information will come June 16 at a meeting scheduled mainly to approve HR 2647, the 2010 defense authorization bill, which will include a wide range of defense policy issues including personnel, operations, research, weapons purchases and other items.
Rep. J. Randy Forbes, R-Va., is chief sponsor of the two resolutions, HR 477, the demand for the 30-year shipbuilding plan, and HR 478, the demand for the Defense Department’s 30-year aviation construction plan.
In both cases, the resolutions call on the Defense Department to turn over the long-range reports, plus the background information involved in their formation, within 14 days after the measures passes the House of Representatives.
Forbes introduced the two resolutions June 1 after he tried but failed to get the Navy to provide lawmakers with a congressionally mandated report on future defense plans.
Forbes and other Republicans have been critical of the Obama administration for its refusal to talk about what might happen with the defense budget for 2011 and beyond, deferring discussions until an ongoing study — the Quadrennial Defense Review — is completed later this year.
The two resolutions sponsored by Forbes are known as resolutions of inquiry, which under House rules cannot be ignored. They must be voted on by the armed services committee within 14 legislative days.
Forbes, ranking Republican on the armed services committee’s readiness panel, said refusal to provide long-range defense plans is unprecedented and disappointing.
“At a time when China is rapidly closing the 23-ship gap between their navy and ours, and at a time when our Navy is operating with $4.6 billion in unmet requirements, Americans would be shocked to know that the Department of Defense cannot or will not produce a key plan for the future of our naval fleet,” Forbes said in a statement. “Amidst restructuring at the Department of Defense, it is unacceptable to argue our nation can rely on last year’s shipbuilding plan.”
Although there are lawmakers in both parties who are unhappy with the close hold the Obama administration has put on budget documents, it is not clear whether Forbes will be able to get Democrats to vote with him.
He has just eight sponsors for each resolution, all members of the House Armed Services Committee, and all Republicans.
Article: http://www.militarytimes.com/news/2009/06/military_shipbuilding_aircraft_060909w/
The two resolutions demanding the release of the information will come June 16 at a meeting scheduled mainly to approve HR 2647, the 2010 defense authorization bill, which will include a wide range of defense policy issues including personnel, operations, research, weapons purchases and other items.
Rep. J. Randy Forbes, R-Va., is chief sponsor of the two resolutions, HR 477, the demand for the 30-year shipbuilding plan, and HR 478, the demand for the Defense Department’s 30-year aviation construction plan.
In both cases, the resolutions call on the Defense Department to turn over the long-range reports, plus the background information involved in their formation, within 14 days after the measures passes the House of Representatives.
Forbes introduced the two resolutions June 1 after he tried but failed to get the Navy to provide lawmakers with a congressionally mandated report on future defense plans.
Forbes and other Republicans have been critical of the Obama administration for its refusal to talk about what might happen with the defense budget for 2011 and beyond, deferring discussions until an ongoing study — the Quadrennial Defense Review — is completed later this year.
The two resolutions sponsored by Forbes are known as resolutions of inquiry, which under House rules cannot be ignored. They must be voted on by the armed services committee within 14 legislative days.
Forbes, ranking Republican on the armed services committee’s readiness panel, said refusal to provide long-range defense plans is unprecedented and disappointing.
“At a time when China is rapidly closing the 23-ship gap between their navy and ours, and at a time when our Navy is operating with $4.6 billion in unmet requirements, Americans would be shocked to know that the Department of Defense cannot or will not produce a key plan for the future of our naval fleet,” Forbes said in a statement. “Amidst restructuring at the Department of Defense, it is unacceptable to argue our nation can rely on last year’s shipbuilding plan.”
Although there are lawmakers in both parties who are unhappy with the close hold the Obama administration has put on budget documents, it is not clear whether Forbes will be able to get Democrats to vote with him.
He has just eight sponsors for each resolution, all members of the House Armed Services Committee, and all Republicans.
Article: http://www.militarytimes.com/news/2009/06/military_shipbuilding_aircraft_060909w/