[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)
____________________