Conference Outcomes of the FY 2021 National Defense Authorization Act

Note: The final bill, which Congress plans to vote on in the coming days, faces President Trump’s twin veto threats over renaming U.S. military bases that honor Confederate Generals and the failure to repeal social media legal protections. 

Topline Funding

Nuclear Weapons and Related Programs  

Columbia Class Strategic Submarine    

House: $4.33 billion, the requested amount
Senate: $4.51 billion, an increase of $175 million
Conference Outcome: $4.46 billion, an increase of $130 million  

B-21 Long-Range Strike Bomber 

House: $2.8 billion, the requested amount
Senate: $2.8 billion, the requested amount
Conference Outcome: $2.8 billion, the requested amount  

Ground Based Strategic Deterrent (GBSD) 

House: $1.52 billion, the requested amount
Senate: $1.52 billion, the requested amount
Conference Outcome: $1.51 billion, a decrease of $15 million  

Long Range Standoff Weapon (LRSO)  

House: $474.4 million, the requested amount
Senate: $474.4 million, the requested amount
Conference Outcome: $444.4 million, a decrease of $30 million  

Trident II Submarine-Launched Ballistic Missile 

House: $1.2 billion, the requested amount
Senate: $1.2 billion, the requested amount
Conference Outcome: $1.2 billion, the requested amount 

NNSA Nuclear Warhead Modernization 

Plutonium Pit Production 

House: $1,369,277,000 total  

• $836,599,000 Los Alamos Plutonium Modernization 

• $441,896,000 Savannah River Plutonium Modernization 
• $ 90,782,000 Enterprise Plutonium Support 

Senate: $1,369,277,000 total  

• $836,599,000 Los Alamos Plutonium Modernization 
• $441,896,000 Savannah River Plutonium Modernization 

• $ 90,782,000 Enterprise Plutonium Support 

Conference Outcome: $1,369,277,000 total 

• $836,599,000 Los Alamos Plutonium Modernization 
• $441,896,000 Savannah River Plutonium Modernization 
• $ 90,782,000 Enterprise Plutonium Support

Explosive Nuclear Testing 

House: Prohibits the use of funds for new explosive nuclear testing in FY21 (Section 3121)
Senate: Authorizes $10 million for preparations for resuming explosive nuclear testing (Section 3166)
Conference Outcome: Rejects both House and Senate provisions  

Modification of Minuteman III Launch Facilities 

House: Authorizes up the Air Force to plan and carry out military construction projects to support the fielding of the GBSD, provides for effective oversight of the projects, and requires a report on the synchronization of these plans (Section 2404)
Senate: Authorizes the Air Force to carry out military construction projects to convert Minuteman III launch facilities and launch centers to ground-based strategic deterrent configurations (Section 2802 and 7802)
Conference Outcome: Adopts House provision and notes the importance of managing the proposed transformation from Minuteman III to GBSD under existing military construction laws in order to maintain the right balance of flexibility and congressional oversight (Section 2881)  

Deployed Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles Levels 

House: No similar provision 
Senate: Bars reducing number of deployed ICBMs below 400 (Section 1654) 
Conference Outcome: Adopts Senate provision (Section 1635)      

Plutonium Pit Production Cost Estimate 

House: Requires the Secretary of Energy to conduct an independent cost estimate of the Savannah River Plutonium Processing Facility, along with a confidence level that the DOE can produce 80 plutonium pits per year (Section 3115)
Senate: Requires the Comptroller General to periodically review the NNSA’s plutonium modernization plans (report page 536)
Conference Outcome: Adopts House provision and adds the Los Alamos Plutonium Pit Production Project to the independent cost estimate (Section 3114)  

Low-Enriched Uranium 

House: Authorizes $20 million and requires a program to assess the viability of using low-enriched uranium (LEU) in naval nuclear propulsion reactors on aircraft carriers and submarines (Section 3116)
Senate: Bars research and development of an advanced naval nuclear fuel system based on low-enriched uranium until certain certifications (Section 3154)
Conference Outcome: Rejects both House and Senate language, but authorizes $20 million for research and development on LEU for Naval Pressurized Water Reactors 

W93 Nuclear Warhead Acquisition Process 

House: Expresses the sense of Congress in support of the existing Stockpile Stewardship Program and maintaining the global moratorium on nuclear explosive testing; sets out detailed reporting, cost estimate, and certification requirements for the W93 warhead design and production process; and includes Phases 1-5 of the warhead lifecycle in required acquisition reports and independent cost estimates (Section 3111)
Senate: Includes Phases 1-5 of the warhead lifecycle in required acquisition reports and independent cost estimates (Section 3157)
Conference outcome: Adopts House provision but strikes the sense of Congress (Section 3111)  

Role of the Nuclear Weapons Council (NWC) in the NNSA Budget Process 

House: Requires the Secretary of Defense and Secretary of Energy to use appropriate interagency processes during the development of budget materials of the DOD and the NNSA, and to do so not later than the third quarter of the fiscal year preceding the budget request (Section 1641)
Senate: Provides the NWC the authority to review proposed capabilities and validate requirements for nuclear weapons programs (Section 1651); specifies NWC participation at each stage of the budget process (Section 1652); and requires the Secretary of Energy to submit a copy of the proposed NNSA budget to the NWC prior to submitting it to OMB, and if the NWC finds inadequacies with the budget, DOE is required to include the NWC’s written concerns in the NNSA budget request to OMB and Congress (Section 3111)
Conference Outcome: Adopts Senate provision (Section 1632), except for Senate Section 1652  

Role of Secretary of Defense and Secretary of Energy on Nuclear Weapons Council (NWC) 

House: Designates the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Energy as members and co-chairs of the NWC (Section 1644) 
Senate: No similar provision
Conference Outcome: Rejects House provision  

Nuclear Weapons Council Briefings 

House: Places automatic limitations on funds for the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment in the event that the NWC fails to provide on-time semiannual updates to Congress (Section 1645)
Senate: No similar provision
Conference Outcome: Adopts House provision, but restricts the funding limitation to FY 2021 only and the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Nuclear, Chemical, and Biological Defense Programs (Section 1631)  

Cooperative Threat Reduction Account 

House: $373.7 million, an increase of $135 million
Senate: $288.5 million, an increase of $50,000
Conference Outcome: $360 million, an increase of $122 million  

WMD Terrorism  

House: Strengthens cooperative threat reduction programs and efforts to prevent, detect, counter, and respond to threats of weapons of mass destruction terrorism through a statement of policy, two senses of Congress, and three required reports (Section 1299J)
Senate: No similar provision
Conference Outcome: Adopts House provision, but only retains requirements for one report and one briefing (instead of a report), striking the statement of policy, both senses of Congress, and one of the reports (1222I)  

Nonproliferation Safeguards 

House: Prevents funds from being spent on the production of a Nonproliferation Assessment Statement with a country that has not signed an Additional Protocol agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency (Section 1299H)
Senate: No similar provision
Conference Outcome: Rejects House provision  

Downwinders 

House: Expresses the sense of Congress that the United States should compensate and recognize all miners, workers, downwinders, and others suffering from the effects of uranium mining and nuclear testing (Section 3120) and amends the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA) to include additional communities impacted by uranium mining and nuclear testing (Section 3119)
Senate: No similar provision
Conference Outcome: Adopts the House provision on the sense of Congress with a modification to more specifically address the recognition and compensation of affected individuals beyond the expiration of RECA but rejects the House provision that amends RECA (Section 3147)  

Atomic Veterans Service Medal 

House: Requires the Secretary of Defense to establish an “Atomic Veterans Service Medal” to honor retired and former members of the Armed Forces who are radiation-exposed veterans (Section 581)
Senate: No similar provision
Conference Outcome: Requires the Secretary of Defense to submit a report containing the results of a study assessing the feasibility of establishing a service medal to award to radiation-exposed veterans no later than May 1, 2021 (Section 563)  

Open Skies Treaty 

House: Expresses the sense of Congress that the decision to withdraw from the Treaty on Open Skies did not comply the FY20 NDAA (Section 1237) and requires a report on the effects of a potential withdrawal of the United States from the Open Skies Treaty (Section 1234)
Senate: No similar provision
Conference Outcome: Adopts House provision with a slightly modified sense of Congress (Section 1232)  

Arms Control Reports 

House: Prohibits the obligation or expenditure of more than 25% of all funds authorized for the office of the Secretary of Defense in order to obtain reports on New START and the post-INF landscape which are past due (Section 1674)
Senate: No similar provision
Conference Outcome: Adopts House provision with a modification that would prohibit no more than 50% of all funds authorized for the office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy to be obligated or expended until the two reports are submitted (Section 1672)  

Presidential Participation in Nuclear Exercises 

House: Requires the President to participate in at least one large-scale nuclear command and control exercise within the first year of assuming office, per term (Section 1642)
Senate: No similar provision
Conference Outcome: Rejects House provision, but notes that the conferees believe that all Presidents should familiarize themselves with the nuclear command, control and communications systems and nuclear war plans, and should regularly review their nuclear command and control responsibilities as Commander in Chief  

Reports on Nuclear Weapons Programs of Certain Foreign States 

House: Requires a federally funded research and development center to produce an open-source analysis of Russian, Chinese, and North Korean nuclear programs (Section 1643)
Senate: Requires a report from the Director of National Intelligence on nuclear weapons research and development by Iran and efforts to deny international access to Iran’s nuclear facilities agreements (Section 9510)
Conference Outcome: Adopts House provision and adds Iran, to the extent applicable, to the report (Section 1634)  

Independent Study on the Effects of the Use of Nuclear Weapons 

House: Tasks the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine to conduct a study of the atmospheric effects of nuclear explosions (Section 3117)
Senate: No similar provision 
Conference Outcome: Adopts House provision with an amendment that would require the study to be conducted in consultation with the Secretary of Defense and the Director of National Intelligence (Section 3171) 

Missile Defense Programs

THAAD 

House: $601.4 million, an increase of $106 million
Senate: $601.8 million, an increase of $106.4 million
Conference Outcome: $601.8 million, an increase of $106.4 million  

Ground-Based Midcourse Defense System 

House: $919.3, a decrease of $85 million
Senate: $1.0 billion, the requested amount
Conference Outcome: $924.3 million, a decrease of $80 million  

Next Generation Interceptor 

House: $414.1 million, a decrease of $250 million
Senate: $354.1 million, a decrease of $310 million
Conference Outcome: $450.1 million, a decrease of $214 million  

Ground-Based Midcourse Defense Interim Capability 

House: No similar provision
Senate: Requires the DOD within 30 days to commence development and deployment of an interim ground-based interceptor capability to be fielded by no later than 2026 and specifies certain capabilities, waivers, and required budget justification materials for the system (Section 1667)
Conference Outcome: Adopts Senate provision, but makes development subject to appropriations and includes additional waivers to stop development (Section 1646)   

GMD Oversight 

House: Expresses the sense of Congress that the Secretary of Defense should ensure robust oversight of the Next Generation Interceptor program to avoid historical errors that could lead to its cancellation; requires a briefing from the Director of the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) on the program contract, a report on the Ground-Based Midcourse Defense System (GMD), and a CAPE assessment the program; and prohibits MDA from making an initial production decision for the program until two successful flight tests have been conducted (Section 1657 and 1658)
Senate: No similar provision
Conference outcome: Adopts the House provisions on the MDA briefing, CAPE assessment, and flight test requirements (Section 1647) but rejects the sense of Congress and the GMD report 

Select Conventional Programs

Joint Strike Fighter (F-35) 

House: 79 aircraft, the requested amount
Senate: 95 aircraft, an increase of 16 aircraft
Conference Outcome: 93 aircraft, an increase of 14 aircraft  

Virginia Class Submarine 

House: $6.8 billion, an increase of $2.6 billion (full funding for one additional submarine)
Senate: $4.6 billion, an increase of $397 million (partial advance procurement funds for one additional submarine)
Conference Outcome: $6.8 billion, an increase of $2.6 billion and one additional submarine  

Establishment of a Pacific Deterrence Initiative 

House: Authorizes $3.6 billion in FY21 for the Indo-Pacific Reassurance Initiative (Section 1241)
Senate: Authorizes $1.4 billion in FY21 and $5.5 billion for FY22 for the Pacific Deterrence Initiative (Section 1251)
Conference Outcome: Authorizes $2.2 billion in FY21 (Section 1251)  

Afghanistan Security Forces Fund 

House: $3.5 billion, a reduction of $500 million
Senate: $4.0 billion, the requested amount
Conference Outcome: $4.0 billion, the requested amount  

Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative 

House: $250 million (Section 1233)  
Senate: $250 million (Section 1233)
Conference Outcome: $250 million (Section 1235) 

Active Duty End-Strength

Other Programs and Reports of Interest

Pandemic Preparedness Fund 

House: Establishes and Authorizes $1 billion for a Pandemic Preparedness and Resilience National Security Fund
Senate: No similar provision
Conference Outcome: Rejects House provision  

Base Closures 

House:  No similar provision
Senate: Prohibits conducting another base realignment and closure (BRAC) round (Section 2702)
Conference Outcome: Adopts Senate provision (Section 2702)  

Confederate Symbols 

House: Requires within one year the removal of confederate names from military bases and installations (Section 2829) and prohibits the display of confederate flags at military installations (Section 1749)
Senate: Establishes a commission to rename or remove all names, symbols, displays, monuments, and paraphernalia that honor or commemorate the Confederate States of America from Department of Defense assets within three years (Section 377)
Conference Outcome: Adopts Senate provision (Section 370)  

First Amendment Rights 

House: No similar provision
Senate: Prohibit actions that infringe upon First Amendment rights of peaceable assembly (Section 1044)
Conference Outcome: Rejects Senate provision  

U.S. Troops in Germany 

House: Prohibits reductions in the level of U.S. troops in Germany and Europe until certain conditions are met (Section 1241)
Senate: No similar provision
Conference Outcome: Expresses the sense of Congress that reducing troop levels during a time of growing threats in Europe would constitute a grave strategic mistake and prohibits reductions in the level of U.S. troops in Germany below 34,500 until 120 days after certain conditions are met (Section 1245)  

U.S. Troops in South Korea 

House: Prohibits the reduction of U.S. troops in South Korea below 28,500 (Section 1252)
Senate: Prohibits the reduction of U.S. troops in South Korea below 28,500 (Section 1260)
Conference Outcome: Prohibits the reduction of U.S. troops in South Korea below 28,500 (Section 1258)  

U.S. Troops in Afghanistan 

House: Prohibits the reduction of U.S. troops in Afghanistan below troop levels of 8,000 and 4,000 without submission of a comprehensive report and certification or a waiver from the Secretary of Defense (Section 1213)
Senate: Expresses the sense of the Senate that any decision to withdraw U.S. Armed Forces from Afghanistan should be done in response to conditions on the ground and in coordination with Afghanistan and U.S. allies and partners rather than arbitrary timelines (Section 1215)
Conference Outcome: Prohibits the reduction of U.S. troops in Afghanistan below troop levels of 4,000 and 2,000 without submission of a comprehensive report or a waiver from the President (Section 1215)  

Yemen     

House: Bars logistical support for airstrikes by the Saudi-led coalition against the Houthis in Yemen (Section 1272)
Senate: No similar provision
Conference Outcome: Rejects House provision  

Russia 

House: Extends limitations on U.S.-Russian military cooperation (Section 1232) and bars recognizing Russian sovereignty over Crimea (Section 1231)
Senate: Extends limitations on U.S.-Russian military cooperation (Section 1231) and bars recognizing Russian sovereignty over Crimea (Section 1232), and expresses the sense of the Senate that long-term strategic competition with Russia is a top defense priority that requires sustained investment and enhanced deterrence due to the level of threat posed (Section 1238)
Conference Outcome: Adopts both the provisions on Crimea (Section 1233) and U.S.-Russian military cooperation limitations (Section 1231) but rejects the Senate provision on the long-term strategic competition with Russia 

Sources

Conference Report Text

Joint Explanatory Statement 

HASC Conference Report Summary

SASC Conference Report Summary