Among the amendments cleared for action during House consideration the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for fiscal year 2014 is an amendment sponsored by Representative Chris Van Hollen (D–MD). It would reducing the funding level for overseas contingency operations (OCO), primarily for ongoing operations in Afghanistan, to the level in …
The House Armed Services Committee’s (HASC) National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) advances U.S. national interests when it comes to U.S. nuclear weapons. The bill prohibits elimination of the nuclear triad and limits availability of funds for further nuclear reductions. The President’s previous arms control treaty, the New Strategic Arms Reduction …
Yesterday, the House Armed Services Committee (HASC) passed the annual National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) to fund U.S. forces. The Heritage Foundation recently set 10 issues that can improve U.S. security and advance its alliance relationships. While the HASC hasn’t released its full report yet, here are some of the …
Transparency is not one of the Obama Administration’s greatest strengths. Walter Pincus of The Washington Post mistakes congressional efforts to better understand the Administration’s nuclear weapons plans for “congressional dysfunction.” Pincus is referring to chairman Mike D. Rogers’s (R–AL) efforts to block the Administration’s request to provide $75 million in …
The United States should leave the hollow force where it belongs—in the past. Defense budget cuts and inadequate strategy are damaging readiness. Heritage’s Baker Spring, along with Colonels Ruchard Dunn and Kerry Kachejian, opened “Protect America Month” at The Heritage Foundation last week, speaking about the potential for the U.S. …
A recent report illustrates how miles of red tape are hindering the nation’s ability to properly fund and equip the military. The Army Science Board’s report on the strategic direction of the U.S. Army’s science and technology (S&T) efforts warned that the Army’s 2012 S&T Master Plan “lacks an S&T …
After more than a decade of intensive ground combat in Iraq and Afghanistan, the U.S. military is facing a security environment very different from that which defined the first years of the 21st century. The threats facing the United States abroad are increasingly maritime in nature, whether it’s China’s aggressive …
Senator John McCain (R–AZ) bombarded top U.S. commander in Afghanistan General Joseph Dunford at a recent Senate Armed Services Committee hearing with tough questions when he refused to give a concrete recommendation on the post-2014 U.S. troop presence in Afghanistan: Don’t you understand, general, that…one of the reasons why we’re …
James Clapper, Director of National Intelligence, recently told the Senate Armed Services Committee, “In my almost fifty years in intelligence, I do not recall a period in which we confronted a more diverse array of threats, crises, and challenges around the world.” Clapper and Lieutenant General Michael Flynn, Director of …
