House Backs FY09 Defense Authorization that Includes Funding for Two Subs Beginning in ‘10

Press Release

Building on his successful acceleration of the submarine program last year, Congressman Courtney announced today that the Fiscal Year 2009 Defense Authorization bill (H.R. 5658) includes language that, if funded through the appropriations process, would boost Virginia-class submarine production to two boats per year beginning in 2010. H.R. 5658 passed last evening by a vote of 384-23, a veto proof margin.

"This is another important step towards our ultimate goal of two boats per year. The world is changing, there are new maritime forces that are growing in different parts of the world, and we need to invest in the future of our submarine force," stated Courtney. "The additional Virginia-class submarine I successfully secured last year took a long-awaited step towards shoring up the future of our submarine force and the workforce in Groton. While this bill is a strong and bipartisan commitment to our submarine force, the authorization and appropriations process is a long and windy road. I will continue to work with my colleagues to advocate for this important investment in the future of our Navy and our submarine force."

In the Fiscal Year 2008 Defense Appropriations Act (P.L. 110-116), Congressman Courtney secured $588 million for the advanced procurement of an additional nuclear submarine to be built in 2011, a year ahead of the Navy's schedule. This critical accomplishment not only added an additional submarine to the fleet, but also helps stabilize the workforce at Electric Boat in Groton, Connecticut.

This year, Congressman Courtney has continued his advocacy on behalf of the submarine industry. In addition to requesting support for achieving a two submarine a year build rate early in the authorization process, Congressman Courtney offered an amendment during the Seapower Subcommittee markup of the NDAA to increase authorization by $300 million and move construction of the additional submarine secured last year from 2011 to 2010, allowing for a staggered build rate of 2-1-2 between 2010 and 2012.

And, last week, Congressman Courtney joined with House Armed Services Committee Ranking Member Duncan Hunter (R-CA) in offering an amendment - the Hunter-Courtney amendment - during full committee consideration to add an additional $422 million, for a total of $722 million, to allow for sustained construction of two submarines a year in both in 2010 and 2011. The authorization must also be funded through the FY09 Defense Appropriations bill.

The NDAA also includes other important initiatives initiated or supported by Congressman Joe Courtney.

The House Armed Services Committee adopted language from Congressman Courtney's proposed PROTECT Act, which improves the body armor testing process by authorizing one agency to test the equipment in a fair and uniform way. This will give our combat troops and their families the peace of mind they need knowing that the equipment they are provided is the best available.

Below is a list of highlights and initiatives undertaken by Representative Courtney and the House in the FY09 National Defense Authorization bill that passed today:

FY2009 National Defense Authorization Act (H.R. 5658)

Connecticut Priorities:

Virginia-Class Submarines - Authorizes one VA-class submarine and, as a result of Congressman Courtney's efforts to increase funding on both in the Seapower Subcommittee and during full committee mark-up, adds $722 million over the President's budget in advanced procurement to enable the Navy to start procuring two ships each year starting in FY10.

Sub Base New London - Authorizes $46 million in military construction for the replacement of Pier 31 at Naval Submarine Base New London. Knowing how critical the replacement of inadequate piers are to the base's ability to accomplish its mission, Congressman Courtney wrote to the Secretary of the Navy last year urging the inclusion of replacement pier funding in the Navy's FY2009 budget request. And, Congressman Courtney requested the committee's support for this important project.

Connecticut National Guard - Supports the President's budget request for the Joint Cargo Aircraft, the 103rd Airlift Wing's future mission. In addition, it authorizes $34 million in military construction across Connecticut: $13 million for a Regional Training Institute (RTI) at Camp Rell in Niantic, $14 million for improvements to a rifle range in East Haven and an additional $7 million requested by Congressman Courtney and the entire Connecticut House Delegation for the expansion of the engine repair shop at Bradley International Airport.

Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) - Authorizes $3.7 billion for 16 F-35 Joint Strike Fighters (JSF), 8 each for the Air Force and Navy. The bill also authorizes $3.5 billion in RDT&E for JSF development, an increase of $526 million for the Navy and the Air Force, to continue the JSF competitive engine program - a total which includes $30 million for technology insertion on Pratt & Whitney's F-135 engine.

F-22 Raptor - $3 billion for 20 F-22 Raptors, plus an additional $523 million in advanced procurement for 20 aircraft in FY10. The President's budget requested no funding for the F-22 beyond FY09, which would have ended the F-22 line at 180, far short of the level needed by the Air Force.

C-17 - Authorizes $3.9 billion to procure an additional 15 C-17 aircraft.

Presidential Helicopter - Authorizes approximately $1 billion for the VH-71 Presidential Helicopter program. The bill also notes the significant cost overruns in the program and expects DOD to report on the alternatives for continued production, including re-competing the increment two helicopter.

Additional requests by Congressman Courtney:

$10 million for accelerated conceptual development of the SSBN replacement (Electric Boat). Under current plans, the replacement for the current sea-based strategic deterrent, the Ohio-class SSBN, is scheduled to begin major design work in 2012 and construction in 2019. However, Congressman Courtney is concerned that waiting until 2012 to begin major design work will strain the specialized design workforce at Electric Boat. Last year, Congressman Courtney secured $5 million to accelerate early conceptual work on the SSBN replacement to get the design workforce started on this important effort. This year, Congressman Courtney continues his advocacy for the Electric Boat design workforce by securing $10 million in the House-passed NDAA to continue conceptual work on the SSBN replacement. This funding would be used to begin initial studies and concept designs of future undersea launched weapons systems.

$15 million for SSGN/Virginia-class payload tube research and development (Electric Boat). The Navy's budget request no funding for continued design and development efforts of a large diameter weapons launch tube for Virginia class submarines. Congressman Courtney secured an authorization of $15 million for the continued development of advanced payload tubes for SSGN and Virginia class submarines. This authorization would allow for the development of a large diameter launch tube for Virginia class submarines will the capabilities of SSGNs and Virginia-class submarines by allowing them to accommodate new technologies, such as undersea autonomous vehicles, and other emerging technologies.

$4.3 million for integrated ship and motion control technology research (Mystic Innovations). As the Navy continues to explore the replacement of hydraulic systems on surface vessels and submarines with electric systems, this funding will be used to develop an integrated ship and motion control technology system that will operate ship control elements. The funding will allow for a demonstration of this technology and the integration of intelligent control, advanced motor materials, acoustic silencing, electro-mechanical power transfer, and high capacity energy storage devices in the challenging shipboard application of high-speed vessel stabilization and ride control.

$3 million for research into helicopter vulnerability reduction (United Technologies Research Center). Recent events in Iraq and Afghanistan have highlighted the need for lightweight armor protection for air transportation vehicles. This funding will be used to design an armor protection system for cargo and troop transport helicopters to reduce their vulnerability to small arms fire. The research will pursue an armor system for combat helicopters based on battle field experience that can be used to guide the placement and scaling of new armor systems, including light weight ballistic material systems that can be appropriately and selectively integrated into the helicopter to significantly decrease the vulnerability while minimizing the impact on payload and mission.

Other provisions to support our military:

PROTECT Act - Includes language from Congressman Courtney's bill, H.R. 5875, to improve testing of body armor used in combat. The bill clarifies and adds authority for DOD to conduct proper oversight and survivability testing of personnel protective equipment, such as body armor, prior to initial production. Additionally, DOD is urged to use all necessary authorities to ensure urgent operational needs for protective equipment are filled without delay.

Repeal of BRAC - The bill recognizes that the BRAC commission overextended its authority in 2005 and the overall process produced results that have increased costs by 50 percent and minimized savings. Therefore, the bill repeals the commission from BRAC law. Although this does not preclude a future BRAC round, it does require any future BRAC rounds must be conducted with a new process.

Pay Raise - Authorizes a 3.9 percent across the board pay raise for the, an increase of 0.5% above the budget request. This further reduces the gap in pay increases between the uniformed services and the private sector to 2.9%.

Health Care fees - Once again, the bill rejects the President's proposal for increased premiums and co-pays for TRICARE recipients and increased user fees for the TRICARE retail pharmacy program. This will save beneficiaries $1.2 billion in healthcare costs.

Body Armor - Citing concerns with DOD's lack of long-term planning on the body armor industrial base and its ability to rapidly respond to future requirements, the bill requires DOD to establish an executive agent for individual body armor and to create a specific budget line item for body armor and other personnel protection equipment. In addition, the bill authorizes approximately $783 million for the continued procurement and enhancement of current body armor systems.

MRAPs - The bill authorizes $2.6 billion to procure, sustain, transport, and field MRAP vehicles for our troops overseas.

Restoring Readiness - To continue supporting Army and Marine Corps efforts to reset their force, the bill authorizes $8.6 billion for Army reset and $1.8 billion for Marine Corps reset. The bill also authorizes an additional $800 million for procurement of National Guard and Reserve equipment. These funds are to be used to address critical unfunded requirements of the Army National Guard and Army Reserve.

Iraq:

Iraqi Cost-Sharing - The bill requires more burden sharing with Iraq by tying amounts for reconstruction under the Commanders Emergency Response Program (CERP) to Iraqi contributions. For every $1 provided by the Iraqis for the Iraqi CERP fund, $2 may be spent from the U.S. CERP fund.

Budget Oversight - The bill requires DOD to clearly break out its Iraq-related budget items in each future budget request. A similar provision exists for future Afghanistan budget requests.

Status of Forces Agreement - DOD is required to report to Congress on details of any SOFAs that exist, or are signed, between the U.S. and Iraq and how such agreements protect U.S. service members and affect U.S. operations in Iraq.

Ban on Permanent Bases - The bill prohibits the use of funds to establish permanent bases in Iraq and prohibits U.S. control of Iraqi oil revenues. Additionally, the bill defines "permanent" to mean any condition that exists without a stated end date. This forces DOD to set an end date for their occupation of U.S. military installations in Iraq, otherwise they will be considered permanent.

Aerial Refueling Tanker Replacement decision:

Review of Illegal Subsidies - If the World Trade Organization (WTO) rules that an illegal subsidy was given to any large commercial aircraft manufacturer, the bill requires the Air Force to review the potential impact of that subsidy on the recent source selection process for the KC-45 aerial refueling tanker program. If the Air Force determines that the subsidy did impact the competition, then it must find a way to remove the impact from the competition to ensure the fairness of the process.

Prohibition on Illegal Subsidies in Defense Contract Awards - The bill prohibits any future DOD contract from being awarded to a company that benefits from illegal subsidies.

Industrial Base Consideration - DOD is required to consider the potential impact on the domestic industrial base during all future competitions for major program contracts.

Consideration of Employee Benefits - DOD must ensure that no foreign company receives a competitive advantage if its employee benefits costs are borne by the government.

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