Sullivan Applauds Senate Passage of NDAA Conference Report

Press Release

Today, the U.S. Senate passed the conference report for the FY2016 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). U.S. Senator Dan Sullivan (R-AK), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, successfully included an amendment in the final NDAA Conference Report that aims to respond to the plan to downsize the 4-25 Airborne Brigade Combat Team currently stationed at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, AK.

As Russia militarizes the Arctic Region, Sen. Sullivan's amendment requires the Secretary of Defense to create a new military strategy to respond to Russia's provocative actions in the region and to protect U.S. national security interests. Importantly, Sullivan's amendment requires a description of an Operation Plan (OPLAN) for the protection of United States citizens, territory, freedom of navigation, and economic and trade interests in Arctic region. Per definition, this OPLAN will compel the Department of Defense to identify what manpower, weapons systems, equipment, and infrastructure the U.S. needs to ensure American-led peace and stability in the Arctic region.

"While Russia's increasingly aggressive actions in Western Europe make headlines, their moves in the Far East and Arctic High North have not gone unnoticed by the U.S. military in my state," said Senator Sullivan. "The United States is an Arctic nation because of Alaska and my amendment ensures that the U.S. will have a comprehensive and proactive Arctic strategy to project positive American influence into the region. Much of this power projection has its roots in Alaska -- from the 4-25 ABCT and the F-22s at JBER, to the Strykers at Ft. Wainwright and missile defense assets at Ft. Greely and Clear Air Force Station.

"However, as stated by the Secretary of Defense, the Commandant of the Coast Guard, and numerous other senior leaders, we are painfully late to the Arctic. My amendment requires the Secretary of Defense to resource a strategy that will assess and be prepared to fully counter the current threats in the Arctic. And while this amendment is a critical early step, many more steps remain to ensuring a U.S.-led effort to safeguard peace and stability for all nations in the region."

After the vote, Senator Sullivan addressed President Obama's veto threat:

"This year's bipartisan NDAA would be the 54th consecutive NDAA passed the Congress and signed into law. I am dumfounded at the President's threat to veto the defense authorization. He just spent time in Alaska, landed at JBER and met with some of our service members, and now he wants to veto the bill that provides for those very people. He's asked the Congress for more defense spending this year to counter the increasingly complex and diverse array of threats in the world, and in the same breath he issues veto threats. To govern is to prioritize and if the President vetoes this bill, he'll be telling the American public and our men and women in uniform that neither they, nor the security of our country, are his priorities. "

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