House panel would jettison QDR for new national commission

The House Armed Services Committee is proposing legislation that would eliminate the Quadrennial Defense Review in favor of a new commission tasked with making recommendations for national security strategy.

The QDR -- also known as the Defense Strategy Review -- would be replaced with the “Commission on National Defense Strategy for the United States,” according to a provision in the committee chairman's mark obtained by Inside Defense.

Lawmakers have long derided the QDR for being inadequate to address the rapidly changing global security environment.

“The committee notes that the strategic environment has evolved since the current defense strategy, as outlined in both the 2012 Defense Strategic Guidance and 2014 Quadrennial Defense Review, was formulated,” according to mark. “For example, the strategy does not reflect a resurgent Russian Federation, the rise of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, or the fragile security environment in the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan.”

The new, bipartisan commission would be composed of 12 members: six (three each) determined by the House and Senate Armed Services Committee chairs and six (three each) determined by the ranking minority members of each committee.

“The committee believes that the nation will benefit from such a bipartisan consensus on national security and that a new administration can leverage the work of the commission in its own defense strategy and posture development,” the mark states.