IV 111th CONGRESS 1st Session H. CON. RES. 148 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES June 11, 2009 Mr. Davis of Kentucky (for himself and Mrs. Davis of California) submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services CONCURRENT RESOLUTION Expressing the sense of Congress that comprehensive national security reform is urgently needed to enable our Government to meet the novel and complex challenges of the 21st century, and calling on the Executive Branch to implement reforms that achieve greater agency integration for the effective use of the Nation’s power, military and nonmilitary.

Whereas the President of the United States stated in his address to a Joint Session of Congress on February 24, 2009, “To meet the challenges of the 21st century—from terrorism to nuclear proliferation; from pandemic disease to cyber threats to crushing poverty—we will strengthen old alliances, forge new ones, and use all elements of our national power.”; Whereas the United States position of world leadership, the country’s prosperity and freedoms, and the safety of its people are challenged by a multitude of new, changing, and increasingly complex threats, and the current economic crisis will likely result in added instability around the world and additional challenges to the United States; Whereas the United States national security system must be able to act quickly and with agility in employing all elements of national power from across the government in order to meet these challenges; Whereas these new challenges require the effective and efficient integration of the capabilities of the various departments and agencies of the Executive Branch; Whereas the current economic situation’s effect on the United States Government’s budget requires that the United States national security system operate with a heightened level of efficiency; Whereas it is increasingly apparent that the Cold War-era national security system of the United States is misaligned with the 21st century security environment; Whereas the current United States national security system creates strong departments and agencies, but has ineffective and inefficient collaborative mechanisms that can lead to mistakes, mismanagement, and waste despite the best and admirable efforts of government personnel at all levels; and Whereas the only way to achieve effective and efficient national security policy and implementation is to create new mechanisms, processes, and incentives in the Executive Branch in order to achieve true interagency collaboration across the various departments and agencies: Now, therefore, be it

That Congress recognizes the urgent need to reform the United States national security system in order to employ all elements of national power effectively and efficiently to meet the challenges of the 21st century security environment.