[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 146 (Monday, September 11, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Page S5145]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

  SA 913. Mr. VAN HOLLEN (for himself and Mr. Paul) submitted an 
amendment intended to be proposed by him to the bill H.R. 2810, to 
authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2018 for military activities 
of the Department of Defense, for military construction, and for 
defense activities of the Department of Energy, to prescribe military 
personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for other purposes; which 
was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

       At the end of subtitle B of title XV, add the following:

     SEC. ___. REPORT ON BUDGET REQUESTS FOR FUNDING FOR THE 
                   DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE FOR OVERSEAS CONTINGENCY 
                   OPERATIONS.

       (a) Findings.--Congress makes the following findings:
       (1) In a January 18, 2017 report issued by the U.S. 
     Government Accountability Office (GAO) on the Department of 
     Defense's Overseas Contingency Operations, the GAO found that 
     the criteria developed in 2010 by the Office of Management 
     and Budget (OMB) in collaboration with the Department of 
     Defense (DoD) for determining whether items belonged in the 
     base budget or in OCO were outdated.
       (2) The GAO also found that these outdated criteria did not 
     address the full scope of activities included in DoD's fiscal 
     year 2017 OCO budget request.
       (3) According to the GAO, DoD officials agree that updated 
     guidance is needed, but noted that OMB deferred the decision 
     to update criteria until the new administration was in place 
     in 2017
       (4) The GAO also found that, without reevaluating and 
     revising the criteria, decision makers may be hindered in 
     their ability to set priorities and make funding trade-offs.
       (5) In response to these findings, the GAO recommends that 
     DOD, in collaboration with OMB, reevaluate and revise the 
     criteria for determining what can be included in DOD's OCO 
     budget requests; and that DOD develop a complete and reliable 
     estimate of enduring OCO costs to report in future budget 
     requests.
       (b) Report.--At the same time as the submittal to Congress 
     of the budget of the President for fiscal year 2019 pursuant 
     to section 1105 of title 31, United States Code, the 
     Secretary of Defense shall, with the concurrence of the 
     Director of the Office of Management and Budget, submit to 
     the congressional defense committees a report setting forth 
     the following:
       (1) The criteria used by the Department of Defense to 
     determine whether funds requested for the Department for a 
     fiscal year for purposes of the budget of the President for 
     the fiscal year (as so submitted) are to be requested as 
     funds for the Department for programs, activities, and 
     operations for the fiscal year for overseas contingency 
     operations.
       (2) A current estimate of the recurring annual costs of the 
     Department for programs, activities, and operations for 
     overseas contingency operations.
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