Kansas Common Sense - Introducing Amendments to the National Defense Authorization Act

Statement

This week, the Senate took up the National Defense Authorization Act. I submitted a number of amendments to the bill, including:

Protecting National Guard Role in Cyber Missions: This amendment would support the Kansas National Guard and Department of Defense (DoD) Reserve Components by protecting their ability to carry our cyber missions in support of DoD and safeguarding our nation. As part of the DoD strategy requirement in Section 945 of the Senate version of the NDAA, passage of this amendment would halt, and likely prevent cuts to the 177th Information Aggressor Squadron (IAS) based at McConnell Air Force Base in Wichita. The 177th is critical not only to Kansas National Guardsman, but also as a national security asset for the DoD and other organizations that require cyber mission support.

Funding POW/MIA Recovery Efforts: As a member of the Senate Veterans' Affairs and Appropriations Committees, I introduced an amendment expressing the sense of the Senate that recovering and identifying personnel who are prisoners of war or missing in action (POW/MIA) should not be subject to the annual appropriations process. During the lapse in appropriations and government shutdown in October 2013, several POW/MIA cases, including one for a Kansan, previously scheduled to occur through the Joint POW/MIA Accountability Command this fall were postponed due to the lack of funding from an annual appropriations bill. This unfortunate circumstance led to my decision to offer this amendment. We must make certain any lapse in appropriations due to a government shutdown does not delay the excavations of our nation's heroes who have been waiting decades to be welcomed home. My amendment strives to prevent such scenarios from happening again.

I also sponsored an amendment to require the submission of a report by the Department of Defense in order to maintain their responsibility and accountability for bringing home Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl, who is currently a POW/MIA in Afghanistan. POW/MIA service members deserve a hero's welcome home to a grateful nation and their recovery should never be delayed or postponed.

Protect Military Technicians: The government shutdown impacted our National Guard serving our state and this nation. This week I introduced an amendment that would protect the pay of dual-status military technicians (MILTECH) in the Kansas National Guard and across the country by treating them the same as Active Duty personnel in the case of a lapse in appropriations. The financial well-being and readiness of those serving our country must not suffer due to gridlock on Capitol Hill. This amendment would provide the Department of Defense the authority and latitude to maintain pay and benefits for all military technicians.

This amendment is consistent with my previous effort of bringing together a bipartisan group of 49 U.S. Senators who sent a letter to Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel urging that the National Guard and Reserves, and the civilians who support our troops, receive pay during the government shutdown.

Promoting Federal IT Savings, Accountability and Transparency: I introduced the Federal Information Technology Savings, Accountability, and Transparency Amendment to improve the way the government purchases and builds technology. The systemically-flawed rollout of Healthcare.gov is one high-profile example of IT procurement failures, but sadly, this is the norm for big-government technology spending. The federal government spends roughly $80 billion annually on information technology, but a recent study from IT researcher Standish Group shows that 94 percent of all Federal IT projects result in cost overruns, project delays, or are abandoned altogether, wasting billions of dollars annually. This is unacceptable.

My amendment, introduced with Senator Johanns and Senator Tom Udall, would improve the IT procurement process by empowering federal Chief Information Officers (CIOs), elevating their role in civilian agency budget planning processes, and increasing their ability to optimize how agencies use information technology. This increased accountability and transparency will make certain your tax-dollars are spent more effectively.
Calling for Assessment of Al Shabab Threat: I also introduced an amendment which requests a classified, joint intelligence assessment from the Departments of State and Defense and the Director of National Intelligence to evaluate the threat of Al Shabab to the United States and U.S. citizens in east Afruca.

As Al Shabab attempts to seek resources and recruits within the United States and successfully carried out an attack on civilians in Kenya, it's imperative that we adequately assess the risk this U.S. designated foreign terrorist organization poses both domestically and to Americans serving in the region. Soldiers from Kansas' Fort Riley deployed in the Horn of Africa are the first Regionally Aligned Brigade (RAB) in the Army with a specialized mission set of operations and theater security cooperation. Recent studies or reports on Al Shabab are currently lacking, necessitating the need for an assessment.

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