The Senate Appropriations defense subcommittee this morning marked up the fiscal year 2013 military spending bill.
The subcommittee proposes allocating $511 billion for the base budget and $93.3 billion for Overseas Contingency Operations, panel Chairman Daniel Inouye (D-HI) said in a statement. "The allocation is equivalent to the Department of Defense's fiscal year 2013 budget request, and is consistent with the defense caps set in the Budget Control Act. It is nearly $29 billion less than what Congress enacted in fiscal year 2012, primarily due to the drawdown of forces in Afghanistan," he added.
Other highlights include:
The bill funds key programs to strengthen our military readiness, and provides additional funding for unanticipated costs that surfaced after the budget submission, such as: $150 million for repairs on the USS Miami, which was damaged in a fire; $293 million for the Navy's increased presence in the Persian Gulf; and nearly $1 billion to mitigate projected shortfalls for fuel and second destination transportation costs.
The recommendation restores or provides additional force structure to ensure that our military can meet its commitments around the world. Let me highlight a few examples:
For the Department of the Army, the bill adds over $700 million for Army aircraft, primarily to modernize, replace combat losses, or procure new helicopters. It adds funds to continue Abrams upgrades and procure additional Hercules vehicles and Patriot interceptors.
For the Department of the Navy, the recommendation ensures a healthy force as we shift our focus to the Pacific. It includes nearly $2.4 billion to reverse the Navy's proposal to prematurely retire nine ships that have over 100 years of service life remaining. This funding is adequate to man, operate, equip, and modernize these ships in order to minimize future costs which the Navy has not budgeted for. In addition, the recommendation provides $1 billion to fully fund an additional Destroyer and $777 million for advance procurement of an additional Virginia-class submarine.
For the Department of the Air Force, the bill provides over $800 million to comply with the Senate Armed Services Committee's direction to pause Air Force-proposed force structure adjustments until a national commission reports to the Congress.
For the Missile Defense Agency, the bill provides additional funds for a missile warning radar and Standard Missile-3 interceptors that were removed from the budget request.
To view the full statement, click here.
(UPDATE 12:50 p.m.: The full committee is scheduled to mark up the bill on Thursday at 10:30 a.m.)