[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 45 (Wednesday, April 16, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3266-S3268]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




THE FISCAL YEAR 1998 DEFENSE BUDGET AND THE MILITARY SERVICES' UNFUNDED 
                             PRIORITY LISTS

  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, during the consideration of the annual 
defense budget in each of the last several years, the Armed Services 
Committee has asked each of the military services to provide a list of 
unfunded priorities--that is, programs that were not included in the 
defense budget request submitted to the Congress. For obvious and very 
understandable reasons, the military services have responded to these 
requests with a great deal of enthusiasm.
  Again this year, the chairman of the Armed Services Committee, 
Senator Thurmond, asked each of the military service chiefs to indicate 
to the committee how they would allocate up to $3.0 billion in 
additional funds above the fiscal year 1998 budget request. Last month 
each of the four service chiefs provided the committee with a list of 
$3.0 billion for specific programs not funded in the budget request.
  Mr. President, the Armed Services Committee needs to hear the 
priorities of the military services--but we also have a responsibility 
to view these priorities in a broader context. The so-called unfunded 
priority lists submitted to the committee reflect only individual 
service priorities. They do not necessarily reflect the joint service 
priorities of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs or the warfighting 
commanders in chief.
  General Shalikashvili made this point earlier this year to the 
committee when he said during our February 12 hearing in reference to 
these unfunded priority lists:

       I would put in as strong a plea as I can that you then ask 
     what the overall prioritization is within the joint context, 
     because we are talking of a joint fight. And so to understand 
     why one system should be put forward versus another, you 
     really ought to see what the joint priority on it is, and how 
     that particular system, in the eyes of the joint warfighter, 
     then contributes to the overall fight. Obviously then you 
     will make a judgment. But I would ask that you do not look at 
     service lists without putting it in the context of a joint 
     view on the importance of that item or the other.

  Mr. President, one of the driving forces behind the Armed Services 
Committee's work on the landmark Goldwater-Nichols Department of 
Defense Reorganization Act 10 years ago--which our former colleague and 
now Secretary of Defense Bill Cohen played a key role in--was the need 
to enhance the joint perspective within the Defense Department. I agree 
very strongly with General Shalikashvili's view that the Armed Services 
Committee--and the Senate--should have the benefit of the joint 
perspective before we take any action on any of the items on the 
military services' unfunded priority lists. We have a responsibility to 
ensure that the programs we fund make the greatest possible 
contribution to the joint warfighting capability of our Armed Forces.

  For this reason, when the committee received the four unfunded 
priority lists from the military service chiefs last month totaling 
$12.0 billion, I sent all four lists over to Secretary Cohen and 
General Shalikashvili and asked two questions.
  First, I asked which of the specific programs on the military 
services unfunded priority lists, if any, were programs for which funds 
are not included in the Defense Department's current Future Years 
Defense Program.
  Second, I asked for Secretary Cohen's and General Shalikashvili's 
views on the individual programs on the services' lists from a joint 
warfighting perspective, and whether there were any programs not 
included in these lists that in their view had a higher priority from 
the joint perspective.
  Mr. President, I recently received letters from both Secretary Cohen 
and General Shalikashvili in response to my letter. I ask unanimous 
consent that my letter and their responses be printed in the Record at 
the conclusion of my remarks.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. (See 
exhibit 1.)
  Mr. LEVIN. Secretary Cohen indicates in his letter that while the 
military services' unfunded priority lists ``provide useful ways that 
the Defense Department could apply additional funds, the President's 
budget already provided for the Department's essential priorities.'' 
With the exception of four specific items, Secretary Cohen also noted 
that the items on the services' lists are included in the fiscal year 
1998-fiscal year 2003 Future Years Defense Program.
  General Shalikashvili's response to my letter outlines his views on 
the most important programs on the services' lists from a joint 
warfighting perspective. General Shalikashvili's joint list totals 
about $4.0 billion, or about one-third of the total $12 billion on the 
four lists that the service chiefs submitted. His list includes three 
command, control, communications and intelligence programs that were 
not on the services' original list. Unfortunately, General 
Shalikashvili does not indicate relative priorities within the programs 
on his joint list, but I intend to pursue this question further.
  Mr. President, I think Secretary Cohen's and General Shalikashvili's 
personal involvement in this issue of unfunded priority lists 
represents an important step forward in what some people have called 
the wish list process in the last several years--a process that in my 
view had gotten a little out of hand. It is still too early to tell how 
relevant these various lists will be this year. The outcome of the 
budget discussions between Congress and the administration is unclear. 
I don't believe we should or need to increase the fiscal year 1998 
defense budget this year. If Congress does decide to make adjustments 
to the fiscal year 1998 budget, I think we are much better off with a 
$4.0 billion joint list than with four $3.0 billion lists that have not 
had the benefit of a joint review.
  I want to thank Secretary Cohen and General Shalikashvili for their 
cooperation in this effort.

                               Exhibit 1

                                                      U.S. Senate,


                                  Committee on Armed Services,

                                   Washington, DC, March 18, 1997.
     Hon. William S. Cohen,
     Secretary of Defense.

     Gen. John M. Shalikashvili,
     USA, Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff, Department of Defense, 
         Washington, DC.
       Dear Secretary Cohen and General Shalikashvili: At the 
     request of the Committee, each of the Chiefs of the military 
     services has provided the Committee with a list of their 
     program priorities in the event that Congress decides to 
     provide additional funding to the Defense Department for 
     fiscal year 1998 above the President's budget request. I have 
     enclosed a copy of each of these four lists.
       I would appreciate your response to two issues concerning 
     these lists which were raised during your testimony before 
     the Committee on February 12, 1997.
       First, please indicate which programs, if any, on these 
     lists are programs for which funds are not included in the 
     Department's current Future Years Defense Program.
       Second, during the Committee's February 12 hearing, you 
     requested that we look at the prioritization of these 
     programs within the joint context. Accordingly, please 
     indicate your views on the priority of the individual 
     programs on these lists from the joint warfighting 
     perspective. You should also indicate whether there are any 
     programs not included on these lists that have a higher 
     priority from the joint perspective.
       I would appreciate your response to these questions by 
     April 1, 1997. Thank you for your assistance in this 
     important matter.
           Sincerely,
                                                       Carl Levin,
     Ranking Minority Member.
                                                                    ____



                                     The Secretary of Defense,

                                   Washington, DC, April 10, 1997.
     Hon. Carl Levin,
     U.S. Senate,
     Washington, DC.
       Dear Carl: I welcomed your letter of March 18, 1997, to 
     General Shali and me because it gives me the opportunity to 
     provide my perspective on the Service unfunded priority 
     lists. While the lists provide useful

[[Page S3267]]

     ways the Department could apply additional funds, the 
     President's budget already provided for the Department's 
     essential priorities. Moreover, the vast majority of the 
     items on the lists of unfunded Service priorities are 
     included in the FY 1998-FY 2003 Future Years Defense Program 
     (FYDP). I believe that it is hard to call something a 
     priority if it does not appear in the Department's budget 
     plans anywhere in the next 5 years. Therefore, the Services 
     used inclusion in the FYDP as a key selection criterion in 
     building the lists of unfunded FY 1998 priorities. This also 
     allows the Department to reduce future expenditures to the 
     extent budgeted program completions are accelerated by 
     additions to the FY 1998 budget.
       There has been instances where changes after preparation of 
     the FYDP justify including a few items on the unfunded 
     priorities lists that are not in the FYDP. The enclosed table 
     identifies those items and provides a brief explanation of 
     why the items are included in the lists even though they are 
     not in the FYDP.
       I believe the enclosed table responds to your first 
     question. Your second question asked for our views on the 
     priority of the individual programs on the lists from a joint 
     warfighting perspective. I believe that General Shali is best 
     suited to answer your second question, and he will respond 
     separately.
       Thank you again for the opportunity to confirm that the 
     vast majority of the items on the Service unfunded priorities 
     lists are in the FYDP.
           Sincerely,
                                                       Bill Cohen.
       Enclosure.

                                       PRIORITY LIST ITEMS NOT IN THE FYDP                                      
                                              [Dollars in millions]                                             
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
       Service                          Item                           Amount                 Explanation       
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Army................  None....................................  N/A                   N/A                       
Navy................  None....................................  N/A                   N/A                       
Marine Corps........  VH-3/VH-60 simulators...................  $10.0                 Responds to a recent      
                                                                                       finding of the DoD       
                                                                                       Executive Air Fleet      
                                                                                       Review that simulator    
                                                                                       training of VIP aircraft 
                                                                                       pilots needed            
                                                                                       improvement.             
Marine Corps........  2 F/A-18D aircraft......................  $93.8                 Attrition replacement     
                                                                                       aircraft that should be  
                                                                                       procured before the F/A- 
                                                                                       18C/D goes out of        
                                                                                       production.              
Air Force...........  Global Air Traffic Management (GATM)....  $67.7                 Required to initiate a    
                                                                                       program to comply with   
                                                                                       new Federal Aviation     
                                                                                       Administration and       
                                                                                       International Civil      
                                                                                       Aviation Organization    
                                                                                       standards that require   
                                                                                       all aircraft to be GATM  
                                                                                       capable.                 
Air Force...........  Navigation Safety--Phase II.............  $126.3                Provides for the second   
                                                                                       phase of modifications to
                                                                                       DoD passenger carrying   
                                                                                       aircraft designed to     
                                                                                       minimize the chance of   
                                                                                       accidents like the T-43  
                                                                                       crash in Bosnia. Phase II
                                                                                       program was not well     
                                                                                       defined when the FYDP was
                                                                                       developed.               
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

                                                                                       
                                                                    ____
                                                   Chairman of the


                                        Joint Chiefs of Staff,

                                    Washington, DC, April 6, 1997.
     Hon. Carl Levin,
     Committee on Armed Services,
     U.S. Senate, Washington, DC.
       Dear Senator Levin: Thank you for the letter requesting a 
     review of unfunded FY 1998 priorities from a joint 
     perspective. I appreciate the opportunity to comment on the 
     Service lists and to provide views with respect to the joint 
     warfighter. Enclosed are items that best support the 
     combatant commanders and are in line with my priorities.
       The list also includes three C41 programs that, although 
     not on the Service lists, are joint priorities. The programs, 
     which are in the current FYDP, are Global Broadcast System 
     Theater Injection Points, Global Broadcast System Fiber 
     Connectivity, and Global Command and Control System Data Base 
     Servers.
       Please let me know if any further information is desired.
           Sincerely,
                                            John M. Shalikashvili,
                                  Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff.
       Enclosure.

                              Procurement


                                  army

     Kiowa Warrior Safety Mods
     Night Vision HUD
     Patriot Mods Increment 1
     Avenger Mods
     MLRS 2X9
     Stinger Blk 1 Upgrade
     Carrier Mods
     FIST Vehicle Mod
     BFV Survivability Enhancements
     Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles (FMTV)
     HETS Increment 1
     PLS Trucks
     GCCS Data Base Servers
     SINCGARS Test Sets
     Airborne SINCGARS SIP
     WIN Terrestrial Transport
     TRRIP
     C2 Protection
     ASAS Remote Workstations
     SENTINEL
     NV PVS-7D
     Thermal Weapon Sight
     Infrared Aiming Lights
     Firefinder Radar
     Logistics Automation
     Fwd Entry Device
     STAMIS Platform
     SIDPERS-3
     Contact Test Set
     Base Shop Test Facility
     Fire Trucks
     Engr Spt Equip <$2M
     War Reserve Mod


                                  don

     F/A-18 E/F (2 aircraft)
     E-2C (1 aircraft)
     Tomahawk Remanufacture
     JSOW Restore to DAB Level
     Navy Area TBMD--Accelerate 15 Block-IV Missiles
     Ammunition (5.56mm, 5.56mm Linked, 40mm, Demo Charge)
     SEAWOLF Propulsor
     CEC--Restore Full-Fielding Plan
     Acoustic Rapid COTS Insertion
     Info Technology 21
     HDR and Mini-DAMA
     Light Armored Vehicle R&M (LAV RAM)
     Javelin Medium Anti-Tank Weapon
     Base Telecommunications Infrastructure
     Improved Direct Air Support Center (IDASC)
     Light Tactical Vehicle Replacement (LVTR)
     ISO Truck Beds
     Chem/Bio Incident Response Force (CBIRF) Equipment
     Combat Rubber Reconnaissance Craft (CRRC)
     Combat Vehicle Appended Trainer (CVAT)


                                  usaf

     F-15 E Attrition Reserve
     Sensor to Shooter
     Bomber Modernization
     F-15 C/D PW220E Engine Upgrade
     Global Air Traffic Management (GATM)
     Navigation Safety Phase II
     AWACS Extend Sentry
     HH-60G FLIR
     C130J Support Equipment
     F-16 Support Equipment
     Precision Guided Munitions
     Precision Guided Munitions (Missiles)
     Sensor to Shooter
     Nuclear C2
     Force Protection
     Information Protection
     Range Standardization and Automation
     Theater Deploy Communication
     Spacetrack
     Night Vision Goggles
     Mission Operations Vehicles (Ground)


                                  sof

     Patrol Costal (PC-14)
     Counter Proliferation of WMD (Classified Programs)

                       Operations and Maintenance


                                  army

     RC School & Training
     Force XXI Architecture
     Instit Tng Pilot Mod Tng
     Maintaining ES/Recruiting
     OCE
     JTAGS
     Logistics Automation
     C2 Protect
     OSACOM AGR
     RC OPTEMPO


                                  don

     Aviation Depot Maintenance--Reduce Airframe & Engine Backlog
     Reduce Ship Depot Maint Backlog
     Recruiting--Advertising (USN)
     Tuition Assistance & Program for Afloat Education (PACE)
     Real Property Maintenance (USN)
     Initial Equipment Issue (USMC Active)
     Personnel Support Equipment (USMC Active)
     Chem/Bio Incident Response Force (CBIRF) Training & Support
     Recruiting--Advertising (USMC)
     Initial Equipment Issue (USMC Reserve)
     Theater Deploy Communications
     AWACS Extend Sentry


                                  usaf

     GCCS
     Force Protection
     KC-135 Depot Programmed Equipment Maintenance (DPEM)
     Recruiting--Advertising
     Information Protection


                                  sof

     Counter Proliferation of WMD (Classified Programs)
     Counter Proliferation--Deep Underground Storage (Classified 
         Pro)
     SAAM Readiness Support (Classified Program)
     C2/Information Warfare Readiness Support (Classified 
         Programs)
     OPTEMPO Sustainment

                                 RDT&E


                                  army

     National Automotive Tech
     Force XXI Land Warrier
     TI C2 Protect
     Joint Precision Strike Demo
     JSSAP
     LOS
     Vaccines-Adv Dev
     Acrft Avionics
     Comanche
     GBCS Tng Dev
     M1 Breacher Prototype
     Test Program Sets
     CCTT
     Force XXI Architecture
     Vaccines-Med Bio Def
     FAAD GBS

[[Page S3268]]

     AEROSTAT
     Adv FA Tac Data Sys
     Bradley--BFIST
     Improved Cargo Helicopter (ICH)
     Force XXI Battle Command
     WIN ISYSCON Segment 1
     JCPMS
     JTAGS
     AGCCS


                                  don

     Extended Range Guided Munitions (ERGM)
     AV-8 B Safety, Reliability, and Operational Enhancements


                                  usaf

     Cockpit Life Support System Improvement
     GBS Theater Injection Points
     GBS Fiber Connectivity
     Precision Guided Munitions
     Sensor to Shooter
     Aging Aircraft
     Engine Contractor Interim Performance (CIP)
     Precision Guided Munitions
     Sensor to Shooter
     AWACS Extend Sentry
     Nuclear C2
     GCCS
     GPS Systems
     Range Standardization and Automation
     Spacetrack


                                  sof

     AC-130 Lethality Enhancements RDT&E

                                 MILCON


                                  army

     Arrival/Departure Airfield Control Group (DACG)

                          ____________________