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Veterans Legislation: FederalHouse-Senate Agreement on 2010 Defense Authorization Bill | October 8, 2009
On Wednesday, the House and Senate Conferees reached a deal on H.R. 2647, the Fiscal Year 2010 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). Both the full House and Senate are expected to approve the deal shortly. H.R. 2647 contains a number of helpful provisions to the Guard, including:
* Adds $600 million in the National Guard and Reserve Equipment Account (NGREA), for a total of $6.9 billion, to address equipment shortfalls in the National Guard and Reserves (Sec. 105)
* Extends eligibility for TRICARE Standard to reserve retirees who have not yet reached the age of 60, commonly referred to as "TRICARE for Grays" (Sec. 705)
* Authorizes the secretaries of the military departments to vary Selected Reserve end strength by two percent above authorized levels (Sec. 418)
* Requires the Secretary of the Army to submit a report to Congress describing the utilization of non-dual status technicians in the Army National Guard (Sec. 417)
* Requires the Secretary of the Army to submit a report to Congress assessing the feasibility of creating a trainee, transients, holdees, and students (TTHS) account within the Army National Guard (Sec. 416)
* Increases DOD's cost share for the National Guard Youth Challenge Program from 60 to 75 percent of the cost of the program (Sec. 593)
* Extends the eligibility of reserve component members who are issued or covered by a delayed-effective-date active-duty order in support of a contingency operation for TRICARE coverage from 90 days to 180 days before the date on which the period of active duty is to commence (Sec. 702)
* Prohibits DOD from retiring fighter aircraft and moving the people assigned to those missions until the Secretary of the Air Force submits a report (Sec. 131)
* Combat Air Forces Restructuring Provision (Sec. 1075)
* Mandatory Mental Health Screenings Pre and Post-Deployment (Sec. 708)
* Formal Authorization for the Secretary of Defense to Use Appropriated Funds for the National Guard State Partnership Program (Sec. 1210)
* Requires the Secretary of Defense to report on the various reintegration programs being administered in support of National Guard and reserve members and their families, and to report on the administration of the Yellow Ribbon Reintegration Program (Sec. 597)
* Enhances transitional dental care for members of the reserve components on active duty for more than 30 days in support of a contingency operation (Sec. 703)
* Adds $595 million for construction projects for the National Guard and Reserves, including 200 million in programmatic increases in each category at the discretion of the service secretaries (Title XXVI) |
| Senate Appropriations Bill | October 7, 2009
On Tuesday night, the Senate approved the Fiscal Year 2010 Defense Appropriations Bill. Overall, the Senate bill appropriates $25 billion for the National Guard, nearly $850 million over the President's request of $24.2 billion. The Senate version includes a substantial amount of money in National Guard and Reserve Equipment (NGREA) funds, including $1 billion for the Army National Guard and $175 million for the Air National Guard. These NGREA funds, which are fully transparent, give the Reserve Component chiefs the ability to directly procure high-priority, dual-use items of equipment.
The House and Senate will now enter conference negotiations to work out a final spending bill, as the House previously passed their version in July.
Several amendments were offered during floor consideration; of the amendments considered, 3 were of particular importance to the National Guard.
Senator Christopher S. Bond, (R-MO) sponsored SA 2596, an amendment that would require the Air Force to submit a report to congressional defense committees before retiring any tactical aircraft as announced in the Combat Air Forces structuring plan in May 2009. The report would describe plans for personnel and bases affected by retirement of the aircraft and plans for filling force structure and capability gaps. It would explain criteria for selecting bases and aircraft to retire, estimate the funds saved by retiring the aircraft, and outline how those funds would be spent.
Senator Bernard Sanders (I-VT) introduced an amendment that would require $20 million of the funding provided for overseas contingency operations be made available for outreach and reintegration services under the Yellow Ribbon Reintegration Program, in addition to any amounts already available for such services.
Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) introduced an amendment that would require the Secretary of Defense to provide Congress with a modernization priority assessment for respective components of the Reserve and National Guard within 30 days of the bill's enactment. This amendment, would have imposed an additional layer of bureaucracy to the National Guard and Reserve's spending decisions.
Also, the C-17 amendment from Senator John McCain (R-AZ) is always of interest to the entire Department of Defense. The amendment would reduce the amount provided for Air Force aircraft procurement by $2.5 billion, the amount provided for C-17 aircraft in excess of President Obama's budget request. |
| House Veterans Affairs Committee Approves Five Bills | | Five bills passed out of the House Veterans Affairs Committee on May 6th and are on their way to a full House vote. | |
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