House Begins Debate on Defense Authorization Bill

Press Release

As the House of Representatives begins debate on the Defense Authorization Bill for fiscal year 2009, Congresswoman Rosa L. DeLauro (CT-3) praised the bills commitment to support our troops and to provide the necessary resources to protect the American people and our national interest. As with last year's Defense Authorization, the bill again focuses on restoring our military readiness; taking care of our troops and their families; increasing focus on the war in Afghanistan ; and improving interagency cooperation, oversight, and accountability.

"This is a well-crafted bill that will meet our military's current and future needs. Our soldiers put their lives on the line each and every day and they deserve to have the support, equipment and resources they need to carry out their mission," said DeLauro. "I am also pleased that the Committee will hold the Pentagon accountable for the excessive cost increases for the VH-71 Presidential Helicopter Program and I look forward to the Secretary of Defense's report on this. We must address these cost overruns before we have sunk too much in the program, anything less is a waste of taxpayer dollars."

Of particular interest is the Committee's decision to apply additional pressure on the Department of Defense for the cost over runs and schedule delays on the VH-71 Presidential Helicopter Program. The Defense Authorization bill includes the following language:

The committee understands the need to replace the aging fleet of VH-3 and VH-60 helicopters currently in use by the executive office of the President of the United States . The committee also notes that the total acquisition costs for the VH-71 Presidential Helicopter replacement program are projected to increase from $6.5 billion to $11.2 billion.

The committee notes that this cost increase is above a 25 percent unit cost increase over the program baseline, commonly referred to as a `Nunn-McCurdy breach, ' and will necessitate the certification requirements of section 2433 (e)(2)(A) of title 10, United States Code.

The committee expects that the Secretary of Defense will submit an analysis of the potential advantages and disadvantages of conducting a re-competition for the program when the report, required by section 2433 (e)(2)(A), is forwarded to the Congress.

Also included in the bill for Connecticut 's 3rd Congressional District:

Sikorsky

- 66 UH-60 Blackhawk Helicopters

- 20 MH-60R Seahawk Helicopters

- 31 MH-60S Knighthawk Helicopters

- UH-60A to UH-60L helicopter upgrade

Pratt & Whitney

- 20 F-22A Raptor (each of which uses 2 Pratt and Whitney engines)

- 15 C-17A Globemaster III (each of which has 4 Pratt and Whitney engines)

- 16 f-35 Joint Strike Fighters

- $3.58 billion for additional research and development of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter

- KC-35 Tanker - bill language

- 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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