FOR IMMMEDIATE REELEASE Monday, Dec. 9, 2013 Contact: TTara Andringa (Levin), 202-228-3685 DDonelle Hardeer (Inhofe), 2002-224-4721 CHAAIRMAN AAND RANKIING MEMBBER OF SENNATE COMMMITTEE OON ARMEDD  SERVICES REACHH AGREEMMENT WITHH HOUSE CCOUNTERPPARTS REGGARDING TTHE  NATIONAAL DEFENSEE AUTHORRIZATION AACT FOR FIISCAL YEARR 2014    WASHINNGTON – SSen. Carl Levvin, D-Michh., and Sen. JJames M. Innhofe, R-Oklla., chairmann and ranking mmember of the Senate Armed Serrvices Commmittee, annoounced todayy that they have reached agreement wwith the Chhairman andd Ranking MMember of the House Armed Serrvices Committtee on the National Defeense Authoriization Act ffor Fiscal YYear 2014. Thhe bill authoorizes funding ffor the Depaartment of DDefense and the nationall security proograms of thhe Departmeent of Energy. “This is a bipartisan bill that meeets our obligations to our men and women in uuniform andd their families and includes important reforms andd authoritiess for the Deppartment off Defense,” LLevin said. “Thhe bill incluudes thirty-siix provisionns to strengtthen DOD’s response too the probleem of sexual asssault in our military. It iincludes a coompromise oon Guantanaamo, which eases the traansfer of GTMOO detainees overseas, whhile retaininng prohibitionns on transffeers to the Unnited States.. This bill woulld not have been possible without the partnerrship and haard work off Jim Inhofee, the Ranking Republican on our commmittee, and Buck McKeeon and Adaam Smith, thhe Chairmann and Ranking Member of the House AArmed Servicces Committtee.” “Our connstitutional rresponsibilityy in Congresss is to proviide for our nnation's defennse, and we must fulfill thiis duty by mmoving forwaard on the NNDAA this yeear,” said Innhofe. “This strong biparrtisan agreemennt contains mmany vital pprovisions thhat support tthe well-beinng and readdiness of ourr men and wommen in unifform and thheir familiees and strenngthens conngressional oversight of the DOD. TTime is runniing short annd I urge myy colleagues to move quuickly to passs this bill bbefore we adjouurn for the yeear.” Following is a summary of major provisions of the bill and a more detailed summary organized by subcommittee: MAJOR HIGHLIGHTS Note: This section describes major provisions contained in the agreement. Some items are repeated in the Detailed Description section following these major highlights. 1. Sustains the quality of life of the men and women of the all-volunteer force (active duty, National Guard, and Reserves) and their families, as well as Department of Defense civilian personnel, through fair pay, policies, and benefits, and addresses the needs of the wounded, ill, and injured service members and their families.  Authorizes FY 2014 active-duty end strengths for the Army of 520,000; the Navy, 323,600; the Marine Corps, 190,200; and the Air Force, 327,600.  Includes a robust package of 36 provisions to enhance sexual assault prevention and response, including the following: o Requires a Special Victims’ Counsel program in each service to provide legal counsel to victims of sexual assault. o Requires review by the service secretary of a convening authority’s decision not to prosecute certain charges of sexual offenses when the staff judge advocate recommends prosecution, and review by a superior general court-martial convening authority when the staff judge advocate recommends against prosecution. o Amends Article 32, Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ), to change Article 32 proceedings from an investigation to a preliminary hearing normally conducted by a judge advocate to determine whether there is probable cause to prosecute a case. o Amends Article 60, UCMJ, to limit the authority of court-martial convening authorities to modify the findings and sentence of courts-martial. o Limits jurisdiction over specified sex-related offenses to trial by general court- martial and requires a minimum sentence of Dishonorable Discharge or Dismissal for conviction of these offenses.  Requires the accommodation of individual expressions of religious and moral beliefs by service members unless such expressions of belief could have an adverse impact on military readiness, unit cohesion, and good order and discipline.  Requires a Comptroller General report on separation of service members due to unfitness for duty because of a mental condition not amounting to a disability since January 1, 2007.  Does not include DOD proposals to establish or increase TRICARE fees, deductibles, and copayments.  Authorizes $25.0 million in impact aid for assistance to local educational agencies impacted by the enrollment of dependent children of military members and DOD civilian employees.  Authorizes $5.0 million in impact aid for schools with large numbers of children of military members and DOD civilian employees with severe disabilities.  Authorizes $10.4 billion for military construction, housing programs, energy conservation, and base closure activities. 2. Reduces our Nation’s strategic risk by taking action aimed at restoring, as soon as possible, the readiness of the military services to conduct the full range of their assigned missions.  Adds $1.1 billion in Army reset funding to restore readiness.  Adds $959.8 million in Army operation and maintenance (O&M) to address readiness problems caused by sequestration.  Adds $497.4 million in Navy O&M to address readiness problems caused by sequestration.  Adds $477.1 million in Air Force O&M to address readiness problems caused by sequestration.  Adds $112.2 million in Army Reserve O&M to address readiness problems caused by sequestration.  Adds $100.0 million in Air Force overseas contingency operations (OCO) depot maintenance funding to restore readiness.  Adds $88.1 million in U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) O&M to address readiness problems caused by sequestration.  Adds $74.2 million in Army National Guard O&M to address readiness problems caused by sequestration.  Adds $56.0 million in Marine Corps O&M to address readiness problems caused by sequestration.  Adds $28.2 million in Air National Guard O&M to address readiness problems caused by sequestration.  Adds $15.8 million in Navy Reserve O&M to address readiness problems caused by sequestration.  Adds $8.9 million in Air Force Reserve O&M to address readiness problems caused by sequestration.  Streamlines the Quarterly Readiness Report to Congress and requires DOD to report on the ability of the geographic and functional combatant commanders to successfully meet their respective contingency and operational plans and key mission essential tasks.  Directs DOD to establish a policy setting forth the programs and priorities for retrograde, reconstitution, and replacement of units and materiel used to support OCO.  Directs DOD to develop an overarching strategy and implementation plan for the Services’ prepositioned equipment program.  Updates the military departments’ strategic plans with performance measures to show clear linkages to DOD’s overarching goals and objectives as described in the Department’s strategic plan for corrosion control and prevention.  Directs DOD and the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to review arsenals owned by the United States in order to support critical manufacturing capabilities.  Modifies certain Presidential authorities to maintain and manage a National Defense Stockpile to allow the Defense Logistics Agency to more proactively engage in the market.  Provides authority to acquire certain additional strategic and critical materials for the National Defense Stockpile. 3. Provides our servicemen and women with the resources, training, technology, equipment, and authorities they will need to succeed in combat, counterinsurgency, and stability operations.  Authorizes nearly $1.0 billion for DOD counter improvised explosive device (IED) efforts to defeat the device, attack the network, and train the force.  Codifies the responsibility of the CJCS to reflect the current joint training, doctrine, education, and force development functions that are overseen by the CJCS.  Requires the Secretary of Defense to develop and implement a strategy for developing and sustaining appropriate military information operations capabilities for future contingencies.  Extends, for 2 additional years, the authority of DOD to establish, develop, and maintain non-conventional assisted recovery capabilities. 4. Enhances the capability of the U.S. armed forces to support the Afghanistan National Security Forces (ANSF) and Afghan Local Police as the lead responsibility for security throughout Afghanistan’s transition to the ANSF.  Authorizes $6.2 billion for the Afghanistan Security Forces Fund (ASFF), which is $1.5 billion less than the budget request, based on a reduction in funds requested by the Commander of U.S. and coalition forces in Afghanistan for the funding required to build the capacity of the Afghan security forces to take over security nationwide by December 2014.  Requires that $25.0 million of the amounts for the ASFF be available to be used for programs to support the recruitment, retention, integration, training, and treatment of women in the Afghan security forces, including increased hiring of female security personnel in connection with upcoming Afghan elections. 5. Enhances the capability of the U.S. armed forces and the security forces of allied and friendly nations to defeat al Qaeda, its affiliates, and other violent extremist organizations.  Directs the Secretary of Defense to develop a regional strategic framework for U.S. counterterrorism assistance and cooperation in North Africa.  Authorizes the general purpose forces of the U.S. Armed Forces to train with the military forces and other security forces of a friendly foreign country if the Secretary of Defense determines that it is in the national security interests of the United States to do so.  Requires a comprehensive strategy with respect to Somalia and a classified intelligence assessment on the threat posed by al Shabaab.  Extends the global train and equip (section “1206”) authority through 2017 to help build the capacity of foreign force partners to conduct counterterrorism and stability operations and allows such assistance to be provided to non-military national security forces that have a counterterrorism mission.  Adds $35.0 million in Marine Corps O&M funding for the Marine Corps Embassy Security Group.  Adds $40.0 million in Marine Corps O&M for Crisis Response Force.  Authorizes an increase of $25.0 million to help address technology gaps identified by USSOCOM on its fleet of MQ-9 Reaper Unmanned Aerial Vehicles. 6. Improves the ability of the armed forces to counter emerging and nontraditional threats, focusing on terrorism, cyber warfare, and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery (including ballistic missiles).  Requires the Missile Defense Agency to deploy an additional missile defense radar to protect the United States from long-range missile threats from North Korea, and authorizes $30.0 million for initial costs toward deployment.  Authorizes missile defense programs at $9.5 billion, an increase of $358.0 million above the budget request, including an increase of $80.0 million for correcting a problem that caused a missile defense flight test failure in July 2013, and $80 million for enhanced kill vehicle and discrimination capabilities.  Authorizes $528.0 million for the Cooperative Threat Reduction (CTR) program, the requested amount, but would transfer funds from the programs that will end in Russia ($75.0 million) to CTR nonproliferation efforts in the Middle East while giving a two year enhanced funding authority with rigorous oversight for the destruction of the Syrian chemical weapons stockpile.  Requires the President to provide a long-term strategy to the Congress for the CTR program in the Middle East and North Africa to stem the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.  Requires the President to establish an interagency process to develop policy to control the proliferation of cyber weapons through unilateral and cooperative law enforcement activities, financial means, and diplomatic engagement.  Requires the Secretary of Defense to develop a comprehensive strategy for integrating the reserve components into a total force solution to the manning requirements of Cyber Command to execute missions to protect the nation, support the combatant commands, and defend DOD networks.  Provides assistance to support the border security operations of the Jordanian Armed Forces to secure that country's border with Syria.  Renews three longstanding counter-narcotics train and equip programs.  Authorizes $7.69 billion for USSOCOM in base budget funding and $2.25 billion for OCO. 7. Addresses the threats from nuclear weapons and materials by strengthening nonproliferation programs, maintaining a credible nuclear deterrent, reducing the size of the nuclear weapons stockpile, and ensuring the safety, security, and reliability of the stockpile, the delivery systems, and the nuclear infrastructure.  Authorizes $543.0 million Mixed Oxide (MOX) Fuel Program, an increase of $40.0 million above the budget request. This would continue the program while allowing DOE/ National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) to perform a strategic analysis of the overall disposition effort, including the ways to lower cost and achieve efficiencies in the current program.  Includes a provision that creates a Nuclear Command, Control, and Communications Council in DOD to ensure that senior leadership communications systems are integrated and modernized.  Allows the Department in FY 2014 to begin planning and preparation for implementing the force structure to meet the New START Treaty limits required by February 2018, allows 50% of the funds to be released to prepare any required environmental assessment associated with such implementation with a submission of a force structure plan including options and a preferred option to release the additional funding for conducting the remainder of the environmental assessment. Also allows B-52H aircraft to be modified to a conventional role once the force structure plan is received. Includes a sense of Congress that the New START force structure should preserve the existing Minuteman III silos, at the date of enactment, at a minimum in a warm status, and that the distribution of such warm-status silos should not disproportionally affect any one operational Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) wing.  Requires a cost comparison for the interoperable warhead as well as the two strategic warheads it will replace to ensure the Congress understands the full cost (and risk) implications of the proposed program.  Expresses the sense of Congress on the importance of maintaining a modernized triad of delivery systems and weapons stockpile is consistent with the report required by Section 1043 of the FY 2012 NDAA as amended and that the President and Congress should work to ensure the programs are conducted as efficiently as possible.  Requires the Secretary of Energy to certify to Congress that DOE defense facilities containing special nuclear material at high security levels meets DOE standards for physical security.  Requires a plan to implement exascale computing as part of the stockpile stewardship mission. Exascale is 1000 times faster than today’s current high performance computers and will require a new generation of chip sets and computing algorithms. This provision will also advance the U.S. leadership role in high performance computing and modeling of our stockpile. 8. Terminates troubled or unnecessary programs and activities, identifies efficiencies, and reduces defense expenditures in light of the Nation’s budget deficit problems. Ensures the future capability, viability, and fiscal sustainability of the all-volunteer force.  Directs DOD to reduce the separate development and fielding of service-specific combat and camouflage utility uniforms and families of uniforms in order to adopt and field a common combat and camouflage utility uniform, or family of uniforms, for specific combat environments, to be used by all members of the armed forces.  Directs DOD to complete a comprehensive strategy and implementation plan for improving asset tracking and in-transit visibility across DOD.  Cuts $644.8 million from military construction, including $555.2 million in incrementally funded projects to improve efficiency and prevent waste through more efficient cash flow of large projects.  Cuts $58.1 million in procurement for the XM25, Counter Defilade Target Engagement (CDTE) for continued live-fire testing of system reliability and munitions performance.  Cuts $29.0 million in research and development for Long Endurance Multi-Intelligence Vehicle (LEMV) program termination.  Cuts $49.5 million in procurement for the individual carbine based upon the Army’s decision not to continue with the competitive evaluation program.  Cuts $10.6 million in research and development for Landmine Warfare and Barrier advanced development for program deferral to FY 2019.  Cuts $37.0 million in research and development for the Warfighter Information Network- Tactical (WIN-T) demonstration and evaluation for excess program growth.  Cuts $17.1 million in research and development for General Fund Enterprise Business System for excess to requirements.  Cuts $20.9 million in research and development for Marine Corps Ground Combat/Supporting Arms Systems for deferral of the marine personnel carrier program. 9. Emphasizes the reduction of dependency on fossil fuels and seeks greater energy security and independence, pursues technological advances in traditional and alternative energy storage, power systems, operational energy tactical advantages, renewable energy production, and more energy efficient ground, air, and naval systems.  Revises the deadline for submission of reports on proposed budgets for activities relating to operational energy strategy.  Does not include a provision of the House-passed bill that would have exempted DOD from section 526 of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007.  Does not include a provision of the House-passed bill that would have required DOD to obtain a congressional authorization before entering into a contract for the planning, design, refurbishing, or construction of a biofuels refinery.  Prohibits DOD’s FY 2014 funding to be used for bulk purchases of drop-in fuel for operational purposes during FY 2014, unless the cost of that drop-in fuel is cost competitive with traditional fuel, subject to a national security waiver.  Cuts $644.8 million from military construction, including $555.2 million in incrementally funded projects to improve efficiency and prevent waste through more efficient cash flow of large projects.  Authorizes $150.0 million for the Energy Conservation Investment Program. 10. Promotes aggressive and thorough oversight of DOD’s programs and activities to ensure proper stewardship of taxpayer’s dollars and compliance with relevant laws and regulations.  Requires the Secretary of the Army to provide a report on Stryker combat vehicle spare parts inventories.  Requires the Secretary of the Army to provide a report on the Ground Combat Vehicle (GCV) program that includes an independent assessment of the business case to proceed with engineering and manufacturing development and a certification by the Secretary that the program has stable, achievable, and affordable requirements and sufficient funding planned in the future-years defense plan.  Amends cost cap legislation for the CVN-78 program to: o increase the cost cap $12.9 billion as requested; o exclude from the cost cap potential unforeseen cost increases in the shipboard testing program, subject to certain conditions; o require quarterly reports on the program manager’s estimate for the CVN-79; and o directs the Secretary of the Navy to ensure that contracts for CVN-79 include provisions that would freeze payments of fees for a prime contractor if the program manager’s estimate of total program costs for that contractor exceeds that contractor’s portion of the CVN-79 cost cap.  Requires GAO to review the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) program to assess: o Sea frame production and testing, including:  sea frame developmental test activities;  weight management for both variants of the sea frame;  Navy plans for verifying survivability; and  any plans for achieving greater commonality between the variants, and progress made in executing such plans; o mission module development and testing; o lessons the Navy may be learning from the deployment of LCS-1 to Singapore; o Navy studies on LCS requirements and technical capabilities, and any recommendations for changes from those studies; o the role of the LCS Council in overseeing LCS acquisition and fleet introduction.  Prohibits funding for LCS-25 and LCS-26 until: (1) the Navy provides certain reports about the LCS program; and (2) the Joint Requirements Oversight Council makes certain certifications about the LCS program.  Requires an annual GAO review of the VXX presidential helicopter program until the program begins full rate production.  Adds $34.8 million for the DOD Inspector General (IG) to enable continued growth designed to provide more effective oversight and help identify waste, fraud, and abuse in DOD programs, especially in the area of procurement. DOD IG reviews resulted in savings of $3.6 billion in FY 2012 – a return on investment of $10.81 for every dollar appropriated.  Requires that all future military construction projects funded using in-kind payments from partner nations under an international agreement be submitted for congressional authorization in the Military Construction Authorization Act.  Cuts $273.3 million from the Office of Economic Adjustment for projects ahead of need.  Cuts $74.5 million from Army ammunition procurement for excess amounts.  Cuts $12.0 million from Defense Security Cooperation Agency O&M for regional centers for security centers.  Cuts $10.3 million from Army ammunition procurement accounts for ahead of need.  Cuts $8.0 million from defense-wide O&M for a 2015 Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC).  Cuts $7.8 million from Defense Security Cooperation Agency O&M for the combating terrorism fellowship program.  Cuts $7.0 million from the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy for unjustified growth.  Cuts $5.1 million from Air Force O&M for an unjustified increase for public-private competitions.  Cuts $5.0 million from the Army for unjustified growth in U.S. European Command (EUCOM).