Content Manager posted on May 16, 2011 15:40
HASC Marks FY 2012 NDAA
AUSN – Capitol Hill News – 16 May 2011
News You SHOULD Use
House of Representatives – HASC – Marks-Up FY2012 NDAA
The House Armed Services Committee (HASC) approved provision of the FY2012 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) – HR 1540 – last week. A floor consideration on these provisions will be voted on later this month. A full review of HR 1540 can be seen at http://thomas.loc.gov , or www.house.gov/armedservices. The legislation would authorize $553 billion for the Department of Defense’s base budget, $119 billion for overseas contingency operations
Some Personnel Issues
Pay Raise – 1.6 % was included in the HASC version of the NDAA.
Health Care Changes:
Annual Enrollment Fees for Certain Retirees and Dependents. This section would express the sense of Congress that career members of the uniformed services and their families make extraordinary sacrifices to protect freedom for all Americans and that those sacrifices constitute pre-payment for health care during retirement. This section would limit any annual increase in TRICARE Prime enrollment fees to the amount equal to the percentage by which retiree pay is increased beginning October 1, 2012. The one time increase of $2.50/month for individuals and $5.00/month for families was supported by the HASC.
Transition Enrollment of Uniformed Services Family Health Plan Medicare-Eligible Retirees to TRICARE for Life. This provsion would prohibit a Medicare eligible military retiree from enrolling in the managed care program of a designated provider after September 30, 2012.
SBP-DIC: Monthly Amount and Duration of Special Survivor Indemnity Allowance for Widows and Widowers of Deceased Members of the Armed Forces Affected by Required Survivor Benefit Plan Annuity Offset for Dependency and Indemnity Compensation. This section would increase existing monthly amounts and establish additional monthly amounts paid under the Special Survivor Indemnity Allowance to surviving spouses or former spouses of deceased service members who are denied the full amount of their annuity under the Survivor Benefit Program (SBP) due to the offset required by the receipt of Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC) from the Department of Veterans Affairs. The section would also extend the termination date for the Special Survivor Annuity Allowance authority from October 1, 2017 to October 1, 2021.
Endstrengths:
Navy decreased – unfortunately by 2,961 to 325,739; AUSN supporter maintaining end strength at 2011 levels.
Navy Reserve – increased by 700 to 66,200; AUSN supported increasing end strength to meet operational reserve policy. AUSN believes that Navy has taken its fair share of end strength cuts and the operational missions have not decreased. In order to maintain operational readiness, deployments and dwell times – we believe that budget driven cuts need to be reconsidered.
Amendments:
Mil Personnel Amendments (that AUSN Supported), and where approved by HASC:
1) The repeal of “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” will not take place until each individual Service Chief certifies that the personnel in their individual services are fully prepared to implement provisions that will change their service into an openly homosexual service (the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is no longer the sole certifying authority), 2) Same-sex unions will not be able to be performed on US Military Bases,
2) The federal law, the Defense of Marriage Act, is affirmed as it applies to all US military personnel policies, regulations, and benefits.
Seapower
Multiyear Funding for Detail Design and Construction of LHA Replacement Ship Designated LHA-7
Multiyear Funding for Procurement of Arleigh Burke-Class Destroyers
Separate Procurement Line Item for Certain Littoral Combat Ship Mission Modules
The Chairman of the HASC – states: ‘The 2012 defense bill reflects the fact that members of the Armed Services Committee, the broader Congress—and the nation—must make tough choices in order to provide for America’s common defense. We must examine every aspect of the defense enterprise—not as a target for arbitrary funding reductions as the current Administration has proposed—but to find ways that we can accomplish the mission of providing for the common defense more effectively.’ Congressman Buck McKeon – (R-CA), Chair of the House Armed Services Committee.
Use the AUSN Contact Congress function at www.ausn.org to let Congress know – your thoughts on issues on the NDAA (HR1540) or those issues that should be in the NDAA.
Some BILLS To Support: (https://thomas.loc.gov : HOUSE -- HR 1025, HR 948, HR 1003, HR 1283, HR 1263, HR 181, HR 865 -- SENATE – S 491, S 325, S 866, S 542, S 367, S 146, S 696.