The FY06 Defense Appropriations Bill could be taken up by the Senate for consideration as soon as Thursday afternoon.
For those of you keeping score, there are now both subcommittee prints and full committee prints of the Senate Appropriations bill out in the wild. One manager's amendment was accepted during markup, and according to a summary floating around there are over 20 technical corrections and amendments that were adopted as part of the package -- some had to do with research and development.
Additionally, it is looking increasingly likely that the Authorization bill could be added to the Appropriations bill as an amendment. (See various news sources for more specific details.) Generally, Subcommittee Chairman Stevens said that he would not object if Chairman Warner and Ranking Member Levin were able to limit debate on the Authorization amendment and the Senate was able to get the entire measure off the floor by the end of next week. (Note that there is a recess scheduled that could apply necessary pressure to wrap up consideration.)
More than 200 Amendments were still pending on the authorization bill when it was pulled from the floor in July -- including the Kennedy-Collins Amendment. Agreements would need to be reached to limit the number of second degree amendments to the proposed first degree authorization amendment to the appropriations bill.
No agreements have been reached at the moment and Warner and Levin are still working on moving the authorization bill as a free standing bill.
Here are some PRELIMINARY 6.1 and 6.2 indications from the Senate Defense Appropriations Subcommittee mark of their FY06 bill. (These numbers are still subject to change.) As with the House Appropriations, in general, expect both 6.1 and 6.2 to be above the budget request but below FY05 levels.
Overall, 6.1 is up about 9-10% over the PBR, but down about 5% from FY05.
Army 6.1: up about 15-18% over PBR, but down about 8-10% from FY05
Navy 6.1: up 4-6% over PBR, down 3-5% from FY05
AF 6.1: up 6-8% over PBR, down 3-5% from FY05
Defense wide 6.1: up about 11% over PBR, and UP slightly over FY05
6.2 is above the PBR in every area except defense wide; and below FY05 in every area except Air Force and Defense Wide 6.2 which have increases.
6.3 is up across the board compared to the PBR, yet again down compared to FY05.
In terms of which is looking better at the moment, without seeing any details or language, in terms of raw dollars:
Army 6.1: Senate
Navy 6.1: House
AF 6.1: Senate
Defense wide 6.1: House
Army 6.2: House
Navy 6.2: Senate
AF 6.2: House
Defense wide 6.2: House
Sorry the details are so sketchy -- the subcommittee hasn't released specifics publicly and I'm old fashioned about seeing the numbers myself before getting too specific.
Full Committee mark is tomorrow. We'll get you the details as soon as we have them.
The FY06 Defense Appropriations bill was passed by the Senate subcommittee today. Full committee markup is expected on Wednesday, with floor action coming as soon as the end of this week.
S&T details will be posted as they become available.
The prospect for movement on the Senate authorization bill remains unclear. There are rumors that it could be added as an amendment to the appropriations bill, but reports are that Senators Warner and Levin are still attempting to get time on the floor for their bill to move independently.
The Senate is expected to move on the defense appropriations bill next week. The subcommittee will mark up the bill on Monday, September 26 at 10:00 am in Dirksen 192. The full committee could then mark up the bill as soon as Wednesday.
The National Academies Committee on Science, Technology and Law, Government-University-Industry Research Roundtable, and Committee on Scientific Communication and National Security, are holding a workshop on the Department of Defense (DOD) Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to Amend the Defense Federal Acquisition Supplement (DFARS). This workshop will take place on Friday, September 16, from 1:00-4:00pm, at the National Academies Keck Center, Room 100, 500 Fifth Street, NW, Washington, DC.
If you cannot attend, you may participate in the workshop by listening to a live audio webcast. This does not require registration.
You may register online starting Friday at: http://www7.nationalacademies.org/stl/
An agenda will be posted next week.
For additional questions or concerns regarding this workshop, please email ehuthnan@nas.edu.
(If you are on the CNSR listserve, a fax registration form has been sent out. Please note the fax number was corrected in a later email update. Thank you.)