It may be a hot campaign topic, but Laura Rozen reports that when asked by CBS’s News Election and Survey Unit, “Which would cause you to support a U.S. war with Iran?” just two in ten Americans would go to war if Iran either tested a nuclear weapon or…
$624 million increase for NNSA weapons activities included in CR
As Laicie noted yesterday, with the end of FY 2010 set for 12:00 AM on Oct. 1, the last major piece of legislation lawmakers need to wrap up before heading out for the elections is a Continuing Resolution (CR) to ensure that the federal government keeps operating.
While the CR will fund most programs at FY 2010 spending levels through December 3, the Senate version of the bill contains some exceptions for funding above FY 2010 levels.
One of those exceptions is the Obama administration’s budget request for a $624 million increase for weapons activities at NNSA. The CR apparently specifically links the exception to the New START treaty. Word from the Hill as late as this afternoon was that this funding, which has already been approved by the Senate Appropriations Committee and the House Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee, would not be included in the CR.
Stay tuned for more developments, particularly whether the House signs on to the addition.
UPDATE 9/30 9:30 AM: Yesterday evening the Senate passed the CR by a vote of 69-30. Later in the evening the House passed the bill, which also included the $624 million exception for NNSA, 228-194. The text of the bill can be found here. According to House Appropriations Committee summary of the CR, the funding “anomaly” for NNSA is “in support of the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START).” Its no secret that the Obama administration wanted this money added on to the bill, but amidst all the shrieking for a “clean CR” it wasn’t clear until the last minute whether the money would make it.
President Obama will sign the CR sometime today.
CLARIFICATION 9/30 (1:45 PM): Since the CR only runs until December 3, technically the bill does not contain a $624 million increase above FY2010, but rather 2 months of funding in line with the FY2011 request. If during the lame duck the Energy and Water appropriations bill is conferenced and passed, rolled into an omnibus appropriations bill, or if it is the subject of another CR after December 3, the status of the remainder of the FY2011 request could change. Regardless, the decision to fund NNSA weapons activities at FY2011 levels in the CR is yet further evidence of the administration’s commitment to maintain the stockpile and modernize the infrastructure.
Game Time for New START
By Alex Rothman Published in The Asheville Citizen-Times on September 26, 2010. Despite the near-unanimous support for the treaty by prominent experts, most Republicans have yet to take a position on the arms control pact. After 20 hearings and more than four months of debate, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee is gearing up to vote […]
Budget? What Budget?
The end of the fiscal year is nigh, and guess what? The Senate hasn’t passed a single appropriations bill for fiscal year 2011, which begins October 1. In fact, neither the House nor the Senate even passed a formal budget resolution this year.
To date, the House has passed two of the 12 appropriations bills for 2011. The remaining 10 have yet to be reported out of committee. And while the Senate has not passed a single spending bill, they have reported 11 of the 12 out of committee.
So, something has to be done. Enter the all-too-common stopgap spending bill, or continuing resolution (CR).
The Senate Voted 83-15 today to move forward on a CR, which will maintain funding levels at the current fiscal 2010 levels until Congress can move forward with the appropriations process.
Republicans and Democrats alike seem set to expedite the measure with few additions. You know how the kids start to get antsy right before recess. Debate will continue tomorrow, we’ll let you know how things turn out.
Details of the bill, released later today by Appropriations Chairman Daniel Inouye, are after the jump…
Summary of Continuing Resolution
WASHINGTON, DC – Below are highlights of the continuing resolution (CR) to allow continued government operations through December 3, 2010:
Ongoing programs: Under the CR, funding will continue at FY 2010 enacted levels for most programs. In total, the CR will provide funding at a rate $9 billion below the FY 2010 level.
Extended Authorizations and Other Actions: The CR extends authorizations or allows for continuous normal operations through December 3, 2010 for certain programs that would otherwise expire or be severely disrupted, including:
• Allows the Federal Air Marshals to maintain the existing FY 2010 4th quarter coverage level for international and domestic flights.
• Allows the Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection to maintain the level of Customs and Border Protection personnel in place in the final quarter of FY 2010.
• Extends the authority for the Department of Defense to execute the Commanders Emergency Response Program which is an essential tool for military commanders in Iraq and Afghanistan.
• Extends the application period for retroactive stop loss benefits throughout the duration of the continuing resolution.
• Extends for one year the existing authority for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to retain its authority to regulate chemical facilities that present high levels of risk.
• Extends for one year existing Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) authority to provide technical and financial assistance to States and localities for pre-disaster hazard mitigation activities.
• Provides for the continuation of a program included under the Child Nutrition Act which will allow for school feeding activities where year round activities occur.
• Provides an additional $25 million to the Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (formerly the Minerals Management Service) for increased oil rig inspections in the Gulf of Mexico. The increase in funding is fully offset with a $25 million rescission of unobligated balances.
• Allows the National Cord Blood Inventory contracts to continue at their current level through the duration of the CR.
• Extends the TANF block grant and Child Care Entitlement to States program at their current level through the duration of the CR.
• Reduces the amount available for BRAC 2005 from over $7 billion in FY 2010 to a rate equal to $2.35 billion, the FY 2011 request.
• Adjusts the current rate for operations for the Foreign Military Financing (FMF) program in order to include in the rate for operations the $965 million that was advanced for Israel, Egypt and Jordan in the FY 2009 Supplemental.
• Continues the rate of operations for the Pakistan Counterinsurgency Capability Fund (PCCF) at $700 million. This section also continues the terms and conditions included in the FY 2009 and FY 2010 Supplementals.
• Reduces the amount available for Census programs from over $7 billion in FY 2010 to a rate equal to $964 million annually, the same as the amount recommended for FY 2011.
• Permits the District of Columbia to spend funds under its local budget beginning on and after the October 1, 2010 start of fiscal year.
• Allows the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness, which is responsible for coordinating the federal policy relating to homelessness, to continue operating.
• Extends the current HECM loan limits for high cost areas through FY 2011.
• Extends the current FHA loan limits for high cost areas through FY 2011.
• Extends the current GSE loan limits for high cost areas through FY 2011.
• Provides $193,400 for the survivors of Robert C. Byrd, the late Senator from West Virginia.
43 National Security Leaders: Senate Must Approve New START ASAP
The Consensus for American Security – a bipartisan group of senior former military and national security leaders who support the New START treaty and other common sense measures to reduce the threat of nuclear terrorism and proliferation – today sent a letter to Majority Leader Harry Reid and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell urging the Senate to approve the treaty before the end of the year.
The full text of the letter and the names of the 43 signatories (which includes the Center’s very own Lt. Gen. Robert Gard (USA, ret.)) are pasted below.
Dear Senator Reid and Senator McConnell:
As retired military officers and national security experts who have spent our careers dedicated to protecting the security of the United States, we respectfully request you commit to a full Senate vote on ratification of the New START Treaty before the end of this year.
Building on the vision of previous presidents from both parties, New START allows us to invest in the nuclear security priorities necessary to confront the threats of today and tomorrow. The treaty offers a streamlined and modern verification system that demands quicker and more transparent inspections and information exchanges, bringing new weight to “trust but verify.” With New START in force, America will be safer.
Currently, we have no verification regime to account for Russia’s strategic nuclear weapons. Two hundred and ninety seven (297) days have elapsed since American teams have been allowed to inspect Russian nuclear forces, and we are concerned that further inaction will bring unacceptable lapses in U.S. intelligence about Russia’s strategic arsenal. Without New START, we believe that the United States is less secure.
As part of the vast consensus of national security professionals who have endorsed New START, we respectfully call on the Senate to ratify the New START Treaty in 2010.
Sincerely,
The Consensus for American Security
Brigadier General John Adams (U.S. Army)
Madeline Albright, former Secretary of State
Dr. Graham Allison, former Special Advisor to the Secretary of Defense,
Mary Catherine Andrews, former Special Assistant to the President
Scott Bates, former Senior Policy Advisor to the U.S. House Homeland Security Committee,
Samuel Berger, former National Security Advisor,
Dr. Coit Blacker, former Special Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs,
Dr. Barry Blechman, former Director of the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency,
Mark Brzezinski, former Director for Russian/Eurasian affairs at the National Security Council,
Ambassador Richard Burt, U.S. Chief Negotiator in the Strategic Arms Reduction Talks
Lieutenant General John G. Castellaw (U.S. Marine Corps, Ret.)
Brigadier General Stephen A. Cheney (U.S. Marine Corps, Ret)
Joe Cirincione
Nelson Cunningham, former Special Advisor to the President for Western Hemisphere Affairs,
Dr. Sidney Drell, former Deputy Director of the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory,
Major General Paul Eaton (U.S. Army, Ret.)
Lieutenant General Robert Gard Jr. (U.S. Army, Ret.)
Dr. David Gormley
Vice Admiral Lee Gunn (U.S. Navy, Ret.)
Chuck Hagel, former Senator (R-NE)
Dr. Morton Halperin, former Special Assistant to the President
Major General Marcelite Harris (U.S. Air Force, Ret.)
Gary Hart, former Senator (D-CO)
Lieutenant General Arlen “Dirk” Jameson (U.S. Air Force, Ret.)
Brigadier General John H. Johns, PhD (U.S. Army)
Dr. David Kay, former IAEA/UNSCOM Chief Nuclear Weapons Inspector
Lieutenant General Donald Kerrick (U.S. Army, Ret.)
Dr. Geoffrey Kemp, former Special Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs,
Colonel Richard L. Klass (U.S. Air Force, Ret.)
Dr. Lawrence Korb, former Assistant Secretary of Defense,
Rear Admiral Rosanne M. LeVitre (U.S. Navy, Ret.)
General Merrill “Tony” McPeak (U.S. Air Force, Ret.)
Dr. Janne E. Nolan, Director of Nuclear Security for the American Security Project
Admiral William Owens (U.S. Navy, Ret.), former Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff,
Lieutenant General Norman Seip (U.S. Air Force, Ret.)
Lieutenant General Harry E. Soyster (U.S. Army, Ret.)
Ambassador Steven Pifer, former Senior Director for Russia, Ukraine and Eurasia of the NSC
George P. Schultz, former Secretary of State
Ambassador Wendy R. Sherman, former Assistant Secretary of State for Legislative Affairs,
Ambassador Nancy Soderberg, former Deputy Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs,
Strobe Talbott, former Deputy Secretary of State,
Lieutenant General James M. Thompson (U.S. Army, Ret.)
Major General Jasper Welch (U.S. Air Force, Ret.)