[House Report 115-69]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
Union Calendar No. 40
115th Congress, 1st Session - - - - - - - - - - - - House Report 115-69
AUTHORIZATION AND OVERSIGHT PLANS
FOR ALL
HOUSE COMMITTEES
__________
BY THE
COMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHT AND GOVERNMENT REFORM
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
(Required by House Rule X, Clause 2)
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
March 29, 2017--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the
State of the Union and ordered to be printed
COMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHT AND GOVERNMENT REFORM
JASON CHAFFETZ, Utah, Chairman
JOHN J. DUNCAN, Jr., Tennessee ELIJAH E. CUMMINGS, Maryland,
DARRELL E. ISSA, California Ranking Minority Member
JIM JORDAN, Ohio CAROLYN B. MALONEY, New York
MARK SANFORD, South Carolina ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON, District of
JUSTIN AMASH, Michigan Columbia
PAUL A. GOSAR, Arizona WM. LACY CLAY, Missouri
SCOTT DesJARLAIS, Tennessee STEPHEN F. LYNCH, Massachusetts
TREY GOWDY, South Carolina JIM COOPER, Tennessee
BLAKE FARENTHOLD, Texas GERALD E. CONNOLLY, Virginia
VIRGINIA FOXX, North Carolina ROBIN L. KELLY, Illinois
THOMAS MASSIE, Kentucky BRENDA L. LAWRENCE, Michigan
MARK MEADOWS, North Carolina BONNIE WATSON COLEMAN, New Jersey
RON DeSANTIS, Florida STACEY E. PLASKETT, Virgin Islands
DENNIS A. ROSS, Florida VAL BUTLER DEMINGS, Florida
MARK WALKER, North Carolina RAJA KRISHNAMOORTHI, Illinois
ROD BLUM, Iowa JAMIE RASKIN, Maryland
JODY B. HICE, Georgia PETER WELCH, Vermont
STEVE RUSSELL, Oklahoma MATT CARTWRIGHT, Pennsylvania
GLENN GROTHMAN, Wisconsin MARK DeSAULNIER, California
WILL HURD, Texas JOHN P. SARBANES, Maryland
GARY J. PALMER, Alabama
JAMES COMER, Kentucky
PAUL MITCHELL, Michigan
Jon Skladany, Staff Director
Rebecca Edgar, Deputy Staff Director
William McKenna, General Counsel
Laura Rush, Chief Clerk
David Rapallo, Minority Staff Director
C O N T E N T S
----------
Page
Agriculture...................................................... 3
Armed Services................................................... 15
Budget........................................................... 55
Education and the Workforce...................................... 61
Energy and Commerce.............................................. 67
Financial Services............................................... 81
Foreign Affairs.................................................. 91
Homeland Security................................................ 103
House Administration............................................. 117
Judiciary........................................................ 125
Natural Resources................................................ 145
Oversight and Government Reform.................................. 155
Science, Space, and Technology................................... 177
Small Business................................................... 191
Transportation and Infrastructure................................ 199
Veterans' Affairs................................................ 217
Ways and Means................................................... 231
LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL
----------
House of Representatives,
Washington, DC, March 29, 2017.
Hon. Paul D. Ryan,
Speaker of the House of Representatives,
Washington, DC.
Dear Mr. Speaker: In accordance with Rule X(2) of the Rules
of the House of Representatives, I respectfully submit the
authorization and oversight plans of each committee. Each of
these plans was adopted by the respective standing committees,
and it is recommended that the work outlined is pursued
accordingly.
Jason Chaffetz,
Chairman.
Union Calendar No. 40
115th Congress } { Report
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
1st Session } { 115-69
======================================================================
AUTHORIZATION AND OVERSIGHT PLANS FOR ALL HOUSE COMMITTEES
_______
March 29, 2017.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the
State of the Union and ordered to be printed
_______
Mr. Jason Chaffetz, from the Committee on Oversight and Government
Reform, submitted the following
R E P O R T
AUTHORIZATION AND OVERSIGHT PLANS FOR ALL HOUSE COMMITTEES IN THE 115TH
CONGRESS
[The authorization and oversight plans of all House committees follow:]
COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE
TO: The Honorable Jason Chaffetz, Chairman, House Committee on
Oversight and Government Reform and The Honorable Gregg Harper,
Chairman, Committee on House Administration
FROM: The Honorable K. Michael Conaway, Chairman, House Committee on
Agriculture
DATE:
SUBJECT: Oversight Plan for the House Committee on Agriculture for the
115th Congress
This oversight plan is filed pursuant to Rule X, clause
2(d)(1) of the Rules of the U.S. House of Representatives for
the 115th Congress. This plan was prepared in consultation with
the Ranking Member and was presented to the full Committee for
its consideration.
The Committee and its Subcommittees expect to exercise
appropriate oversight activity with regard to the issues listed
below. In general, the Committee intends to identify programs
that are inefficient, duplicative, outdated or more
appropriately administered by State or local governments for
possible cuts or elimination. In addition to the list below,
the Committee will conduct any other general oversight as
appropriate and necessary. The Committee will consult, as
appropriate, with other Committees of the House that may share
subject matter interest.
OVERSIGHT PLAN
The Committee expects to exercise appropriate oversight
activity with regard to the following issues:
2014 FARM BILL AND CURRENT AGRICULTURAL CONDITIONS
Review the current state of the U.S. farm economy;
Review the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA)
implementation of the Agricultural Act of 2014;
Review programs for waste, fraud, abuse and
mismanagement;
Review the state of credit conditions and
availability in rural America;
Review the effect of weather conditions on crop
production;
Review USDA's implementation of the U.S. Warehouse
Act;
Review of market situation, including effect of
crop reports and projections;
Review USDA's implementation of the U.S. Grain
Standards Act;
Review how Administrative Pay-Go is affecting
Department actions; and
Review discretionary actions by USDA that are not
directly authorized by legislation.
ENERGY
Assess energy programs authorized by the
Agricultural Act of 2014;
Review administration of the Biomass Crop
Assistance Program (BCAP);
Review activities funded by the Biomass Research
and Development Act (BRDA) and input from the external BRDA
Advisory Board;
Review availability of agriculture and forestry
feedstocks for renewable energy production;
Review current status of research on energy crops
and feedstocks;
Review the Rural Utility Service (RUS) electric
loan program;
Review electricity reliability in rural America;
Review current provisions in existing law that
support agriculture-based energy production and use;
Review USDA's use of Commodity Credit Corporation
funds for the Green Fleet Initiative;
Review implementation of the Renewable Fuels
Standard (RFS); and
Review renewable fuel programs and their effect on
agriculture.
CONSERVATION AND THE ENVIRONMENT
Review the effect of regulatory activities by the
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and its effect on
agriculture productivity;
Review EPA grant program activities that impact
agriculture;
Review the effect of regulatory activities carried
out pursuant to the Endangered Species Act (ESA), or any
proposed legislative changes to such Act, on agricultural
producers;
Review the effect of the Administration's
regulatory activity relative to methyl bromide and glyphosate
on production of agriculture in the U.S.;
Review budget and program activities of the
Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS);
Review implementation of all of USDA's
conservation programs;
Review USDA's implementation of the conservation
compliance provisions in the Agricultural Act of 2014;
Review EPA's jurisdiction under the Clean Water
Act (CWA) and its effect on U.S. agriculture;
Review of potential effects of EPA's Clean Air Act
(CAA) regulatory program on U.S. agriculture;
Review ongoing discussions and potential
consequences for American agriculture under the United Nations
Climate Change Conference;
Review EPA's implementation of the Food Quality
Protection Act (FQPA), Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and
Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) and Pesticide Registration Improvement
Renewal Act (PRIA III);
Review the effect of litigation and rulemaking
concerning FIFRA, ESA, CAA, CWA, the Comprehensive
Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA)
and the Emergency Planning and Community Right to Know Act
(EPCRA) to evaluate these statutes' effects on agricultural
operations;
Review the EPA's regulatory actions in regard to
pesticide evaluations;
Review EPA's regulation of Animal Feeding
Operations; and
Review Total Maximum Daily Load strategies and
effects on production agriculture.
FEDERAL CROP INSURANCE AND RISK MANAGEMENT
Review USDA's implementation of crop insurance
provisions of the Agricultural Act of 2014;
Review the role and effectiveness of Federal crop
insurance;
Review USDA's and the Risk Management Agency's
(RMA) administration and oversight of Federal crop insurance;
Review the availability of crop insurance as a
risk management tool;
Review the adequacy and availability of risk
management tools for the livestock and dairy industries;
Review USDA's activities established to identify
and reduce crop insurance waste, fraud, and abuse;
Review USDA's crop insurance rating methodology
and management of the Standard Reinsurance Agreement (SRA)
process;
Review RMA's yield and revenue protection crop
insurance products; and
Review RMA's progress in approving crop insurance
products for underserved commodities.
IMPLEMENTATION OF TITLE VII OF THE DODD-FRANK WALL STREET REFORM AND
CONSUMER PROTECTION ACT
In its review of rulemakings required by Title VII
of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection
Act (P.L. 111-203)(Dodd-Frank Act), the Committee will continue
to ensure:
(1) The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission
(CFTC) rulemaking processes are transparent and that
meaningful comments are accepted and appropriately
reviewed;
(2) An adequate cost-benefit analysis is performed by
the CFTC in accordance with the requirements set forth
in the Commodity Exchange Act for proposed or final
rules;
(3) The CFTC properly coordinates with both domestic
and international financial regulators;
(4) Past exemptive relief orders, also referred to as
``no action letters,'' issued by the CFTC provide the
proper relief for market participants; and
(5) Any final or proposed regulations will not harm
or adversely affect the U.S. economy or financial
markets, including the effect on jobs and
competitiveness;
Examine how Title VII rulemakings have affected
U.S. market structure;
Examine the developing effect of CFTC, SEC, and
Prudential Regulator regulations, such as the imposition of new
margin and capital requirements, and how they affect the
ability of many ``end-users'' to utilize swaps to hedge against
legitimate business risks;
Examine the level of coordination between U.S. and
international regulators for potential effects on U.S.
financial institutions compared to their foreign counterparts;
and
Examine the feasibility of timetables established
by the Dodd-Frank Act in building the data, technology and
connectivity necessary to meet regulatory objectives.
THE U.S. COMMODITY FUTURES TRADING COMMISSION AND THE DERIVATIVES
MARKETS
Review the operations of the Commodity Futures
Trading Commission (CFTC);
Review the growing consolidation and
internationalization of futures exchange trading;
Review market machinations for exchange traded
energy and agricultural futures products;
Review enforcement and oversight capabilities of
the CFTC both domestically and internationally;
Continue to examine how the CFTC and futures
industry as a whole has addressed the MF Global and PFGBest
bankruptcies from both an enforcement and regulatory reform
standpoint to ensure that proper remedial action is taken to
prevent future losses to segregated funds of customers;
Continue to examine all sectors of the U.S.
derivatives and futures markets, including, but not limited to:
exchange or swap execution facility trading; the roles of
dealers, inter-dealer brokers, data repositories, and
clearinghouses; trade and price reporting; and proposals aimed
at protecting the segregated funds of futures customers,
especially in light of the Commodity Exchange Act statutory
authorization of the CFTC which expired at the end of FY2013;
Continue to examine the ongoing investigation and
enforcement action by the CFTC and other federal regulators
with respect to the manipulation of international financial
benchmarks; and
Review all operations of the CFTC, including, but
not limited to: a continued examination of whether the cost-
benefit analysis required by section 15a of the CEA is adequate
with respect to proposed and finalized rules; the efficiency of
internal Commission actions; the Commission's use of its
independent leasing authority; stewardship of the Customer
Protection Fund.
AGRICULTURE TRADE AND INTERNATIONAL FOOD AID
Review tariff and non-tariff trade barriers--
including domestic subsidies--currently applied by agricultural
product producing countries around the world;
Review ongoing multilateral, regional, and
bilateral trade negotiations (including World Trade
Organization (WTO) accession agreements) to assess their
potential effect on U.S. agriculture;
Review implementation of existing trade agreements
and commitments as well as proposed trade agreements and
commitments to determine:
(1) whether they are consistent with current U.S.
law;
(2) whether they will promote economic development in
rural areas of the U.S.;
(3) their effect or potential effect on current
production of import sensitive agricultural
commodities, and on exports of U.S. agricultural
products;
(4) their effect or potential effect on the overall
competitiveness of the U.S. agricultural sector,
including the production, processing and distribution
of agricultural products; and
(5) whether the agreements provide adequate,
enforceable provisions to minimize non-tariff barriers
to U.S. exports;
Monitor existing trade agreements to ensure
trading partners are meeting obligations and enforcing trade
commitments;
Review agricultural export programs to determine
how well they are promoting the interests of U.S. agriculture
and examine proposals to improve, modify or expand such
programs;
Review U.S. food aid programs to determine their
effect or potential effect on the reduction of world hunger--
particularly the potential effect of trade negotiations on the
effectiveness of U.S. food aid programs;
Review USDA and USAID's implementation of the
Global Food Security Act (GFSA);
Review the market assessments USDA and USAID use
to evaluate the potential impact of U.S. food aid on recipient
countries;
Review USAID's increasing use of cash-based food
aid, including financial controls;
Review monitoring and evaluation activities
carried out by USDA and USAID; and
Review sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) barriers
and other technical barriers to U.S. agricultural exports and
examine efforts to eliminate such barriers.
AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH AND PROMOTION
Review implementation of biosecurity protocols at
USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS) laboratories;
Review USDA's implementation of research,
education and extension programs authorized in the Agricultural
Act of 2014;
Review the administration of the ARS research
stations and worksites;
Review USDA's continuing ability to conduct
foreign animal disease research, training and diagnostic
programs at the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility
following the transfer of the center to the Department of
Homeland Security;
Assess federal efforts to facilitate research and
development of aquacultural enterprises, specifically focusing
on the activities of the Joint Subcommittee on Aquaculture;
Review USDA's regulation of organic standards;
Review USDA's collection of organic production and
market data;
Review administration of the National Institute of
Food and Agriculture (NIFA);
Review the administration of the Agricultural Food
Research Initiative and other competitive research, extension
and education grants programs;
Review efforts to leverage Federal research
investment with state, local, and private sources of funding,
including a review of the Foundation for Food and Agricultural
Research (FFAR);
Review coordination between ARS, the Economic
Research Service (ERS), NIFA and action agencies in USDA--such
as NRCS and FSA--in order to prevent duplicative research;
Review operation of the National Agricultural
Research, Extension, Education, and Economics Advisory Board;
Review USDA's efforts to expand research and
development of pathogen reduction technologies;
Evaluate the current mix of research funding
mechanisms to ensure maximum benefits from these investments to
producers, processors and consumers;
Review administration of USDA's agricultural
marketing and promotion programs;
Review coordination between USDA and the
Department of Energy on energy research programs;
Review the sufficiency of research funding under
ARS, ERS, the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS)
and NIFA;
Review ARS, ERS, NASS and NIFA national program
priorities;
Conduct oversight of the research grant process,
generally, and more specifically to coordinate and prevent
overlapping research; and
Review the potential for research and technology
transfer to address the needs of both the biofuels and
livestock industries.
BIOTECHNOLOGY
Review current regulations and research regarding
animal and plant biotechnology;
Review FDA's regulatory activities regarding
genetically engineered animals;
Assess USDA's efforts to develop and promote
benefits of biotechnology for increasing agricultural
productivity and combating hunger globally;
Review USDA's management and controls over
biotechnology-derived material;
Review the effect of litigation on USDA's
timeliness in resolving petitions to deregulate products of
biotechnology;
Review effects of state, county, and municipal
regulation of biotechnology on the free-flow of agricultural
products in interstate commerce; and
Review USDA's implementation of biotech labeling
standard.
U.S. FOREST SERVICE ADMINISTRATION
Review the U.S. Forest Service's (USFS) strategy
for dealing with wildfire, including the effect of hazardous
fuels management, forest health efforts and fire preparedness;
Continue to monitor the effectiveness and
efficiency of the USFS fire management program;
Review the effect of fire expenses on other USFS
program delivery;
Assess the USFS strategy for timber harvesting on
federal lands;
Review effects of environmental regulations on
National Forest land management;
Review economic effects of National Forest land
management on rural communities;
Review USFS efforts to promote utilization of
National Forest timber for renewable energy purposes; and
Review USFS's management tools contained in the
Farm Bill.
DAIRY
Review USDA's implementation of the dairy risk
management provisions in the Agricultural Act of 2014;
Review options to improve the efficiency and
effectiveness of dairy programs; and
Review efficiency of federal milk marketing order
system.
OUTREACH AND CIVIL RIGHTS
Review the operations of the Office of Advocacy
and Outreach;
Monitor USDA's outreach efforts to beginning,
small, and minority farmers/ranchers;
Monitor USDA's outreach efforts to military
veterans interested in careers in agriculture;
Review of the operations of the office of the
Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights;
Review USDA's implementation of the receipt for
service provisions in the Agricultural Act of 2014;
Review USDA's process for settling discrimination
claims and evaluating individual claims submitted pursuant to
such settlements;
Review the delivery of USDA services and outreach
efforts on Indian reservations and tribal lands;
Review the current status of the Agricultural
Census and efforts to reach undercounted farmers and ranchers;
and
Review participation of minority farmers in FSA
County/Local Committees as well as outreach to increase
participation in County Committee elections.
USDA GENERAL ADMINISTRATION
Review confidentiality of information provided to
USDA by agricultural producers;
Review USDA's implementation of field office
consolidation for the purpose of effectively and efficiently
delivering commodity, conservation, energy and rural
development programs;
Review USDA's efforts to modernize its Information
Technology (IT) systems; and
Review the administrative structure of USDA for
effectiveness and efficiency.
FARM CREDIT, RURAL DEVELOPMENT, AND THE RURAL ECONOMY
Review the Farm Credit Administration's (FCA)
regulatory program and activities regarding the Farm Credit
System (FCS) to assure its safety and soundness;
Review the activities and programs of the Federal
Agricultural Mortgage Corporation (also referred to as Farmer
Mac);
Review FSA's direct and guaranteed loan programs
and graduation efforts;
Review the Rural Electrification Act (REA);
Review the farm economy and access to credit;
Review implementation of rural development
policies and authorities contained in the Agricultural Act of
2014 and the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act;
Conduct oversight of the USDA's Rural Broadband
Access Loan and Loan Guarantee Program;
Review USDA Rural Development's application
processes and internal controls related to the Farm Bill;
Review the administration of the Rural
Microentrepreneur Assistance Program;
Conduct oversight of the implementation of USDA's
telecommunications programs;
Review the status of the Rural Telephone Bank;
Assess the state of rural water systems and
effectiveness of federal funding to build and upgrade those
systems;
Assess the effectiveness of USDA programs targeted
toward rural infrastructure and business needs;
Review agricultural lending practices;
Review public-private partnerships in lending
through guaranteed loans;
Review the definition of ``rural'' under rural
development programs;
Review rural development loan programs and default
rates; and
Review the success of rural development programs
in persistent poverty areas.
USDA FOOD AND NUTRITION PROGRAMS
Review food and nutrition programs including the
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), fruit and
vegetable initiatives, the Emergency Food Assistance Program
(TEFAP), the Food Distribution on Indian Reservations (FDPIR)
program and other commodity distribution programs;
Review participant eligibility criteria for SNAP;
Review the interaction between SNAP and other low-
income assistance programs such as the Temporary Assistance for
Needy Families (TANF) program, the Low-Income Home Energy
Assistance Program (LIHEAP), and provisions in the Affordable
Care Act;
Review SNAP work pilots and the efficiency and
accountability of the SNAP Employment & Training program;
Review educative initiatives such as SNAP-Ed and
the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP);
Review efforts by USDA and the states to combat
waste, fraud, and abuse within nutrition programs;
Review efforts by state SNAP administrators to
modernize and streamline their programs; and
Review the Community Food Project Program to
ensure cooperative grants are working.
SPECIALTY CROPS
Review implementation of the Specialty Crop
Competitiveness Act;
Review the Specialty Crop Block Grant program to
ensure that the grants awarded are enhancing the specialty crop
industry;
Review farmers market programs;
Review implementation and effectiveness of
cooperative plant health programs, including Plant Pest and
Disease Management and Disaster Prevention and the Clean Plant
Network; and
Review the Specialty Crop Research Initiative.
FOOD SAFETY
Review implementation of the FDA Food Safety
Modernization Act;
Review implementation of the FDA Egg Safety Rule;
Review USDA's administration of meat and poultry
inspection laws and the FDA's food inspection activities to
ensure the development of scientifically sound systems for food
safety assurance;
Review USDA's implementation of the catfish
inspection program;
Review USDA's efforts to educate consumers
regarding safe food handling practices and streamline the
assessment and approval of food safety technologies;
Review implementation of new protocols for meat,
poultry, eggs, or seafood safety inspection;
Review USDA's enforcement of the Humane Methods of
Slaughter Act and humane handling regulations; and
Review the mechanisms to establish scientifically
based international food safety standards.
PLANT AND ANIMAL HEALTH
Review enforcement of the Animal Welfare Act;
Assess federal efforts to reduce threats to human,
animal, and plant health due to predatory and invasive species;
Review efforts of the Animal and Plant Health
Inspection Service (APHIS) to manage wildlife conflicts in
order to protect public health and safety;
Assess USDA's Animal Disease Traceability Plan;
Review implementation of Sec. 10201 (of the 2008
farm bill) regarding plant pest and disease management and
disaster prevention;
Review USDA's regulation on horse protection; and
Review USDA's regulation on organic livestock and
poultry practices.
LIVESTOCK MARKETING
Assess the effectiveness of the Grain Inspection,
Packers and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA) in determining
market manipulation in the livestock industry;
Review structural changes in agribusiness and the
potential cost and benefits for agricultural producers; and
Review the USDA's mandatory livestock price
reporting system.
HOMELAND AND AGRICULTURAL SECURITY
Examine USDA's preparedness against terrorist
threats to production agriculture;
Review cooperative efforts between the Department
of Homeland Security and USDA to prevent against foreign animal
disease; and
Review agricultural inspection activities under
the Department of Homeland Security.
MISCELLANEOUS
Review the effects of sequestration on USDA
operations and programs; and
Review the effect of transportation infrastructure
issues on agriculture and forestry;
CONSULTATION WITH OTHER COMMITTEES TO REDUCE DUPLICATION
With Natural Resources on forestry issues, ESA
issues and other public land issues;
With Science on research;
With Ways and Means and Education and the
Workforce on nutrition programs;
With Ways and Means on tax and trade issues;
With Homeland Security on importation of animal
and plant material and on research related to agroterrorism;
With Armed Services on global food security;
With Judiciary on immigrant agricultural labor;
With Energy and Commerce on food safety and
biomass energy programs both existing and new;
With Transportation and Infrastructure on certain
CWA compliance issues and food aid delivery;
With Financial Services on Dodd-Frank Act issues;
With Foreign Affairs on food aid and trade issues;
With Small Business on addressing economic
opportunities for rural America; and
Any other committee as appropriate.
AUTHORIZATION OF PROGRAMS WITHIN THE JURISDICTION OF THE HOUSE
COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE
In the 115th Congress, the House Committee on Agriculture
intends to continue to reauthorize all expiring authorities
within its jurisdiction. In the 114th Congress, the Committee
passed legislation to reauthorize all of the expired or
expiring programs and authorities within its jurisdiction. At
the end of the last Congress, only the Commodity Futures
Trading Commission (CFTC) remained to be reauthorized. On May
29, 2015, the Committee passed H.R. 2289, the Commodity End-
User Relief Act, which would have reauthorized the CFTC. H.R.
2289 was subsequently passed by the House on June 9, 2015, but
the bill was not taken up by the full Senate.
On January 12, 2017, the House once again passed
legislation that reauthorizes the CFTC--H.R. 238, the Commodity
End-User Relief Act. H.R. 238 currently awaits action in the
Senate.
There are three items within the Committee's jurisdiction
that are set to expire in the 115th Congress--the programs
authorized by the Agricultural Act of 2014 (2014 Farm Bill),
the National Forest Foundation Act, and the Pesticide
Registration Improvement Act (PRIA).
The Committee plans to spend considerable time examining
the programs that were last authorized in the 2014 Farm Bill.
The current Farm Bill expires on September 30, 2018. Farm Bill
preparation will begin with hearings, both in Washington and in
the field, to hear from producers and USDA about how the
programs are working. Although dependent on timing in the
Senate, it is the Committee's goal to reauthorize the Farm Bill
before it expires.
The National Forest Foundation was a lapsed authorization
in the Committee's jurisdiction identified at the beginning of
the 114th Congress. While the program was successfully
reauthorized last Congress, its authority will again expire on
September 30, 2018, and will most likely be reauthorized during
the farm bill process.
In addition to reauthorizing farm bill programs, during the
first session of the 115th Congress, the Committee will
reauthorize PRIA before it expires on September 30, 2017. This
will be the fourth iteration of the pesticide registration
bill. The Committee anticipates a hearing and markup for
consideration of the bill. However, the Committee does not
expect the need for a conference with the Senate.
AUTHORIZATION OF PROGRAMS WITHIN THE JURISDICTION OF THE HOUSE
COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE 116TH CONGRESS
Going forward, the Committee intends to continue the effort
to avoid lapsed authorizations. Accordingly, the Committee has
identified two authorities set to expire in the 116th
Congress--Livestock Mandatory Price Reporting and the U.S.
Grain Standards Act. Both of these authorities were
reauthorized in the 114th Congress and the Committee plans to
reauthorize them during the course of the 116th Congress.
COMMITTEE ON ARMED SERVICES
OVERSIGHT PLAN
This oversight plan is filed pursuant to clause 2(d) of
rule X of the Rules of the House of Representatives that
requires that, not later than February 15 of the first session
of a Congress, each standing committee of the House shall adopt
its oversight plan for that Congress.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
INTRODUCTION..................................................... 16
OVERSIGHT AGENDA................................................. 17
POLICY ISSUES.................................................... 20
National Defense Strategy, National Military Strategy, and
Related Defense................................................ 20
Readiness and Posture of the Force............................... 21
Russian Federation............................................... 21
People's Republic of China....................................... 22
Democratic People's Republic of Korea............................ 23
Islamic Republic of Iran......................................... 23
Countering Terrorism, At Risk and Failing States, Countering
Violent Extremism and Illicit Trafficking...................... 24
Operation Freedom's Sentinel..................................... 25
Islamic Republic of Pakistan..................................... 25
Operation Inherent Resolve....................................... 26
Republic of Yemen................................................ 26
Africa........................................................... 27
Central and South America........................................ 28
Detainee Policy and Related Matters.............................. 28
Cyberwarfare..................................................... 28
Technology Erosion, Technological Superiority, and the Third
Offset Strategy................................................ 29
Addressing Emerging Threats...................................... 29
Intelligence..................................................... 30
Security Cooperation............................................. 30
AGILITY, EFFICIENCY, AND FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY................... 31
Overview......................................................... 31
Organization and Management of the Department of Defense......... 31
Acquisition and Regulatory Reform................................ 32
Financial Management............................................. 33
Civilian Personnel............................................... 33
READINESS........................................................ 33
Manpower Sufficient in Quantity and Quality to Meet Global
Commitments.................................................... 33
Force Readiness.................................................. 34
Maintenance and Training......................................... 34
Weapon Systems Life-Cycle Sustainment and Reset.................. 35
Depot, Shipyard, and Arsenal Capability.......................... 35
National Guard and Reserves...................................... 36
Energy and Environment........................................... 37
MILITARY CONSTRUCTION AND INFRASTRUCTURE......................... 37
Basing........................................................... 37
Military Construction Programming and Facilities Sustainment..... 37
Real Property Acquisition, Maintenance, and Disposal............. 38
MILITARY PERSONNEL AND HEALTH CARE ISSUES........................ 38
Military Manpower and Force Structure............................ 38
Medical Accession Standards...................................... 38
Gender Integration............................................... 38
Military Benefits and Compensation............................... 39
Military Health System........................................... 39
Mental Health Services for Members of the Armed Forces........... 39
Wounded Warrior Care............................................. 39
Military Personnel Policy........................................ 40
Uniform Code of Military Justice to Include Sexual Assault....... 40
Military Family Readiness........................................ 40
Morale, Welfare and Recreation Programs and Military Resale
Programs....................................................... 41
Prisoner of War and Missing in Action............................ 41
MODERNIZATION AND INVESTMENT ISSUES.............................. 41
Overview......................................................... 41
Army and Marine Corps Armored Vehicle Modernization.............. 42
Army and Marine Corps Tactical Wheeled Vehicles.................. 42
Army and Marine Corps Rotorcraft Programs........................ 43
Army Communications and Network Programs......................... 43
Organizational Clothing and Individual Equipment................. 44
Tactical Aircraft Force Structure................................ 44
F-35 Joint Strike Fighter........................................ 45
Bomber Force Structure........................................... 45
Aerial Refueling Aircraft........................................ 46
Intertheater and Intratheater Airlift............................ 46
Surface Warfare Programs......................................... 47
Undersea Warfare Programs........................................ 47
Military Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance Programs. 48
Emerging Advanced Weapons Capabilities........................... 48
Nuclear Deterrence............................................... 49
Missile Defense.................................................. 50
National Security Space.......................................... 51
EMERGING THREATS AND CAPABILITIES................................ 51
Investment in Future Capabilities Science and Technology......... 51
Cyber Operations Capabilities.................................... 52
Information Operations........................................... 52
Compromises of National Security Information and Insider Threats. 53
Use of Force in Counterterrorism Operations Outside the United
States and Areas of Active Hostilities......................... 53
Introduction
The oversight responsibilities of the Committee on Armed
Services are conducted throughout the calendar year. They are
instrumental in the committee's consideration of the annual
defense authorization bill, which covers the breadth of the
operations of the Department of Defense as well as the national
security functions of the Department of Energy and other
related areas. The annual national defense budget involves
millions of military and civilian personnel, thousands of
facilities, and hundreds of agencies, departments, and commands
located throughout the world. The complexity of the current
threat environment will continue to expand the range of topics
requiring committee oversight including strategic, operational,
and budgetary issues of great scope and complexity.
The committee has jurisdiction over laws, programs, and
agencies under permanent authority in numerous titles of the
United States Code, including title 10 (Armed Forces), title 32
(National Guard), title 37 (Pay and Allowances of the Uniformed
Services), title 41 (Public Contracts), title 42 (Atomic
Energy), title 46 (Shipping), and title 50 (War and National
Defense).
The jurisdiction of the committee, pursuant to clause 1(c)
of rule X of the Rules of the House of Representatives is as
follows:
1. Ammunition depots; forts; arsenals; Army, Navy, and
Air Force reservations and establishments.
2. Common defense generally.
3. Conservation, development, and use of naval petroleum
and oil shale reserves.
4. The Department of Defense generally, including the
Departments of the Army, Navy, and Air Force generally.
5. Interoceanic canals generally, including measures
relating to the maintenance, operation, and administration of
interoceanic canals.
6. Merchant Marine Academy, and State Merchant Marine
Academies.
7. Military applications of nuclear energy.
8. Tactical intelligence and intelligence-related
activities of the Department of Defense.
9. National security aspects of merchant marine,
including financial assistance for the construction and
operation of vessels, the maintenance of the U.S. shipbuilding
and ship repair industrial base, cabotage, cargo preference,
and merchant marine officers and seamen as these matters relate
to national security.
10. Pay, promotion, retirement, and other benefits and
privileges of members of the armed services.
11. Scientific research and development in support of the
armed services.
12. Selective service.
13. Size and composition of the Army, Navy, Marine Corps,
and Air Force.
14. Soldiers' and sailors' homes.
15. Strategic and critical materials necessary for the
common defense.
16. Cemeteries administered by the Department of Defense.
In addition to its legislative jurisdiction and general
oversight function, the committee has special oversight
functions with respect to international arms control and
disarmament and the education of military dependents in schools
pursuant to clause 3(b) of rule X of the Rules of the House of
Representatives.
Oversight Agenda
The committee will continue its oversight and assessment of
threats to U.S. national security as it considers the fiscal
year 2018 and fiscal year 2019 defense budget requests. This
effort will involve appropriate oversight hearings with the
Secretary of Defense; the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of
Staff; the individual service secretaries and chiefs of staff;
combatant commanders; other officials of the Department of
Defense and the military departments; officials from the
Intelligence Community; and the Secretary of Energy, the Under
Secretary for Nuclear Security, and other officials of the
Department of Energy. In addition, the committee will invite
the views and perspectives of outside experts in academia,
industry, associations and advocacy organizations, and those in
private life with expertise on these matters. Finally, the
committee will continue its aggressive outreach program to seek
the views and perspectives of service members and their
families to include Active Duty, National Guard, and Reserve
members across the United States and at deployed locations
overseas.
The committee carries out its oversight of the Department
of Defense and its subordinate departments and agencies as well
as portions of the Department of Energy through activities
involving the full committee and its standing subcommittees.
Each subcommittee with assigned topical or programmatic
responsibilities conducts oversight of the programs within its
jurisdiction as specified in the committee's rules. Certain
issues and activities requiring more extensive, lengthy, and
in-depth review are assigned to the Subcommittee on Oversight
and Investigations. This subcommittee works with the relevant
subcommittees (and/or full committee) in a coordinated manner
to undertake the necessary oversight.
The oversight agenda below, unless otherwise noted, is
designed to support the consideration by the committee and,
ultimately, the House of Representatives of the annual defense
authorization bill, as well as the committee's broader
oversight responsibilities. The issues identified are expected
to be ongoing areas of oversight activity throughout the 115th
Congress. In addition, the committee will continue to pay
particular attention to the mandates placed on executive
departments and agencies. In this context, pursuant to clause
2(d)(1) of rule X of the Rules of the House of Representatives,
the committee will continue to emphasize the examination of
relevant rules, regulations, statutes, and court decisions
affecting the Department of Defense and the Department of
Energy for their effects on efficiency and good management
practices.
Given the unique nature of national security issues and
related oversight of the Armed Forces, the committee believes
that a qualifier is once again necessary with regard to the
ability to plan comprehensively and predict all oversight
activities. Much of the committee's most demanding oversight
will be, by definition, event-driven and not subject to prior
planning. Such events significantly complicate the ability to
prescribe with great accuracy or specificity the committee's
entire oversight agenda. For instance, the oversight of defense
activities by the committee has historically involved in-depth
assessments of military operations and other major events that
are generally difficult to predict in advance, such as the
recent operations in the Republic of Iraq and the Syrian Arab
Republic to counter the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant,
the war in the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, and responses
to catastrophic events. These reviews can dominate committee
and staff resources, sometimes at the expense of other planned
activities. The committee fully expects that this type of
event-driven oversight will continue to be required.
The committee has a long tradition of translating oversight
activities into legislative action as reflected in past
comprehensive efforts such as: providing for concurrent receipt
of retirement and disability benefits for veterans with
qualifying combat-related disabilities; the Goldwater-Nichols
Department of Defense Reorganization Act of 1986 (Public Law
99-433); the Defense Acquisition Workforce Improvement Act of
1991 (Public Law 101-510); the Federal Acquisition Streamlining
Act of 1994 (Public Law 103-355); the establishment of the
National Nuclear Security Administration and related reform of
the management of the national security programs of the
Department of Energy; the Military Commissions Act of 2006
(Public Law 109-366); the Wounded Warrior Assistance Act of
2007 included in the National Defense Authorization Act for
Fiscal Year 2008 (Public Law 110-181); the Weapon System
Acquisition Reform Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-23); the
Implementing Management for Performance and Related Reforms to
Obtain Value in Every Acquisition Act of 2010 (IMPROVE
Acquisition Act of 2010), as included in the Ike Skelton
National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2011 (Public
Law 111-383); the Small Business Innovative Research and Small
Business Technology Transfer Reauthorization Act of 2011, as
included in the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal
Year 2012 (Public Law 112-81); and the application of
additional sanctions against the Government of the Islamic
Republic of Iran, as included in both the National Defense
Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012 and the National Defense
Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013 (Public Law 112-39). In
the 113th Congress, the committee's focused oversight of the
sensitive military operations of the Department of Defense led
to the introduction of the bipartisan bill H.R. 1904, the
Oversight of Sensitive Military Operations Act, in May 2013,
much of which was included in the National Defense
Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2014 (Public Law 113-76).
In the 114th Congress, the committee undertook a
significant defense reform effort aimed at improving agility
within the Department of Defense, increasing the quality of
care and support for service members, and getting more defense
for the dollar. Across both the National Defense Authorization
Act for Fiscal Year 2016 (Public Law 114-92) and the National
Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017 (Public Law 114-
328), six major defense reform packages were enacted into law:
compensation and benefits, military healthcare, commissaries,
Uniform Code of Military Justice, acquisition, and organization
and management of the Department. The committee will continue
to emphasize defense reform in the 115th Congress. In general,
the committee will continue to maintain a strong linkage
between formal oversight efforts and legislative initiatives.
As previously noted, the committee has dedicated
significant oversight to the examination of the implications of
the Budget Control Act (BCA) of 2011 (Public Law 112-25) for
national defense and defense sequestration. The committee will
continue to assess the effects of declining defense resources
and sequestration on the readiness of the force and the risk
associated with executing the national defense strategy. While
the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2013 (Public Law 113-67) and the
Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 (Public Law 114-74) provided some
relief to defense by increasing the BCA discretionary spending
caps for fiscal years 2014 through 2017, fiscal year 2018 will
see a return to the BCA caps and defense sequestration. The
committee shares the concern of the National Defense Panel that
the BCA, on top of previous cuts to defense dating back to
2009, will ``lead to a high risk force in the near future,''
have ``caused significant shortfalls in U.S. military readiness
and both present and future capabilities,'' and have prompted
allies and adversaries alike ``to question our commitment and
resolve.'' The committee continues to oppose the sequester of
national defense funding, and will continue to conduct
oversight in the 115th Congress to highlight the consequences
for the military, the defense industrial base, and national
security. While the committee will work to ensure that the
damage to U.S. national security is mitigated to the greatest
extent possible, it will also engage the Administration on
opportunities to revisit Public Law 112-25.
Policy Issues
NATIONAL DEFENSE STRATEGY, NATIONAL MILITARY STRATEGY, AND RELATED
DEFENSE
In the 115th Congress, the committee plans to continue its
focus on the readiness, capability, and capacity of the U.S.
Armed Forces to defend national interests, on supporting the
authorities and resources necessary for ongoing military
operations, and on improving the agility and efficiency of the
Department of Defense. The committee will continue to fulfill
its constitutional responsibilities through a robust and
comprehensive oversight program and through the development and
passage of the annual defense authorization act.
The committee recognizes that the current threat
environment, as characterized by Dr. Henry Kissinger in January
2015, is ``more diverse and complex'' that at any point since
the end of the Second World War. Terrorism, including the
spread of violent extremism by the Islamic State of Iraq and
the Levant, instability in the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan,
regional aggression by the Russian Federation, destabilizing
actions by the People's Republic of China in the South and East
China Seas, developments in nuclear and missile capabilities by
the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and the Islamic
Republic of Iran, and the continued spread of lethal and
disruptive technologies, will continue to threaten U.S.
national security interests. These events and other security
developments across the globe also serve to highlight the
continued need for the U.S. military to be postured and ready
to defend national interests and address security challenges,
wherever and whenever they may arise.
The committee expects that the Administration will conduct
a series of national security and defense reviews to inform its
development of a new National Security Strategy and National
Defense Strategy, consistent with the requirements contained in
the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017
(Public Law 114-328). These new strategies may also lead to
changes in the National Military Strategy, which was last
updated by the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in 2016.
The committee will review these strategies; evaluate the
alignment of the strategies to the security environment;
examine the assumptions underpinning them, including the force
sizing construct; and assess the force posture, capabilities,
and resources necessary to execute the strategies. The
committee will also evaluate the risk associated with executing
the strategies at current resource levels, to specifically
include evaluating the impact that defense cuts and
sequestration may have on strategy execution.
The committee also plans to continue its oversight of:
ongoing military operations where U.S. forces are in harm's
way, including ongoing global counterterrorism operations;
strategic reassurance and deterrence activities in Europe and
the Indo-Asia-Pacific; and Department of Defense investments in
readiness, capabilities, and infrastructure to ensure the U.S.
Armed Forces remain capable of addressing current and emerging
conventional and unconventional challenges. The committee
intends to accomplish this oversight through the conduct of
hearings and briefings; engagements with defense leaders,
military commanders, diplomats, academics, and private sector
experts; and congressional delegation visits to military
installations and U.S. forces serving abroad.
READINESS AND POSTURE OF THE FORCE
The committee believes that, as a matter of principal, the
military should be fully ready, trained, and equipped for the
missions it is asked to do. These missions range from
conducting counterterrorism and low intensity operations across
the globe to possessing a credible conventional and nuclear
deterrent against near-peer challengers. Yet, as the committee
found through its oversight in the 114th Congress, full
spectrum military readiness has suffered because of a continued
high operational mission tempo and cuts in defense spending,
which have led to a force that is too small and is being asked
to do more with less.
In the 115th Congress, the committee will continue to
prioritize its oversight of the readiness and posture of the
U.S. Armed Forces. The committee expects the Department of
Defense, under the new Administration, to update the National
Defense Strategy and adjust resource levels and allocations to
fulfill the strategy. The committee will evaluate the strategy-
resource alignment, and assess whether the U.S. military is
sized, shaped, and postured to execute the strategy. Building
upon its oversight in the 114th Congress, the committee will
also seek to improve full spectrum readiness by focusing on
specific areas such as training, equipment maintenance and
modernization, end strength, and infrastructure.
The committee also recognizes that, over the past 15 years
of conducting counterterrorism operations, the U.S. military
has largely operated uncontested in the air, sea, space, and
cyberspace domains. However, the Russian Federation, the
People's Republic of China, the Islamic Republic of Iran, and
the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, all possess varying
degrees of anti-access and area denial capabilities in those
domains. Therefore, the committee's oversight will also include
examination of U.S. military power projection abilities,
operational concepts, joint training and exercises, and command
structures, necessary to deter conflict and compete with
potential adversaries that possess advanced military forces.
RUSSIAN FEDERATION
The committee recognizes the security challenges posed by
the Russian Federation in Europe, the Middle East, and across
the globe. Russia possesses sufficient military and nuclear
weapons capabilities to pose an existential threat to the
United States. It has undertaken cyber and other unconventional
actions against the United States and European nations. Under
President Vladimir Putin, Russia has violated long-standing
international rules and the preservation of territorial
integrity and sovereignty. Russia's continued aggression
towards Ukraine began in 2014 with the illegal annexation of
Crimea, and it has maintained ongoing support to separatists in
the Donbas region and shown a willingness and capability to
engage in unacknowledged hybrid warfare there and elsewhere in
Europe. In the greater Middle East, Russia has increased its
influence, intervening militarily in the civil war in the
Syrian Arab Republic to bolster the regime of President Bashar
Assad and to conduct missions against the Islamic State of Iraq
and the Levant located in Syria. Russia has also begun to
engage with the Taliban in the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan.
Collectively, these examples demonstrate the global influence
Russia seeks to wield and the threat it presents to North
Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) allies and other European
partners, and to the wider global community.
The committee will continue to examine Russia's global
influence campaign as well as its conventional, nuclear, and
unconventional military capabilities and capacities. In
particular, the committee will pay close attention to Russian
use of information operations, cyber attacks, propaganda, and
intimidation measures against the United States and its allies
and partners. The committee will continue to assess U.S.
defense policy and military investments in posture,
capabilities, and readiness to maintain a credible deterrent
against Russia and to reassure European allies and partners.
The committee will also examine NATO military capabilities, and
the contribution that NATO countries make, to deter and defend
against Russian aggression.
The committee also recognizes that Russia has failed to
comply with several arms control treaties important to European
stability and security. Since December 2007, Russia has ceased
implementing its obligations to the Treaty on Conventional
Forces in Europe, which included annual notifications and data
on military forces and basing. In 2014, the Administration
formally declared Russia in violation of the Intermediate-Range
Nuclear Forces Treaty. The committee will consider the
implications for U.S. defense policy, planning, and investments
resulting from this violation and from Russia's changes to its
military doctrine.
PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA
The People's Republic of China continues its unilateral
efforts to assert regional influence, particularly in the South
and East China Seas, while also continuing its military
modernization in areas such as anti-access and area denial
capabilities, power projection, nuclear forces, space, cyber,
and other advanced technology areas. The committee will
continue to oversee the Department of Defense's strategy, force
posture, capability needs, and readiness in the Indo-Asia-
Pacific region, to ensure that U.S. forces are properly
resourced and postured to protect U.S. national security
interests and are prepared to keep pace with advancing threats,
including China's military modernization effort.
As the stability and security of the Indo-Asia-Pacific
region remains a core U.S. national interest, the committee
will continue to oversee the Department of Defense's efforts to
implement a range of posture, force structure, and engagement
initiatives in the region, including naval, air, and land-based
assets; forward pre-positioning; infrastructure realignments;
and training and exercises. The United States has many allies
and partners in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region, and the committee
will continue to focus on strengthening important international
relationships and cooperative efforts in the region.
DEMOCRATIC PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF KOREA
The Democratic People's Republic of Korea remains a threat
to stability on the Korean peninsula and to the United States.
North Korea continues to advance its nuclear and ballistic
missile capabilities, to include firing a submarine-launched
ballistic missile and taking steps towards fielding its road-
mobile intercontinental ballistic missile that poses a direct
threat to the United States, and expanding its asymmetric
capabilities, as exemplified by its destructive cyber attack on
Sony Pictures. The committee will continue to monitor and
oversee the Department of Defense's strategy, force posture,
capability needs, and readiness in the Indo-Asia-Pacific
region, to ensure that U.S. forces are properly resourced and
postured to protect U.S. national security interests,
particularly against North Korea's increasing threat.
As the stability and security of the Indo-Asia-Pacific
region remains a core U.S. national interest, the committee
will continue to closely oversee the Department of Defense's
efforts to implement a range of posture, force structure, and
engagement initiatives in the region, including forward pre-
positioning; infrastructure realignments; and training and
exercises. Specific examples include: the realignment of U.S.
forces based in Japan; key operational control transition and
realignment initiatives between U.S. Forces Korea and the
Republic of Korea; the U.S. deployment of a Terminal High
Altitude Area Defense anti-ballistic missile system in South
Korea; and trilateral defense cooperation efforts between the
United States, South Korea, and Japan. The United States has
many allies and partners in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region, and
the committee will continue to focus on strengthening important
international relationships and cooperative efforts in the
region.
ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN
The committee will examine the military-related
capabilities, policies, and actions of the Islamic Republic of
Iran, including those of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps
and Iran's Quds Force. Particular focus will be given to any
Iranian military-related actions directed against the United
States and U.S. forces, as well as against its allies and
partners in the region. The committee will continue to examine
Iran's malign activities, including its support to terrorist
organizations, its use of proxies and Shia militant groups, and
its facilitation of lethal aid to these groups.
The committee will also continue to monitor Iran's nuclear
program. Such monitoring includes close oversight of Iran's
development of ballistic missiles, nuclear capabilities and any
such capabilities with applicability to a nuclear weapons
program, and any proliferation of missile and nuclear
technology. The committee intends to continue to monitor the
implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action
(JCPOA) between the P5+1 (the United States, the Russian
Federation, the People's Republic of China, the United Kingdom
of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the French Republic, and
the Federal Republic of Germany) and Iran, including Iran's
compliance with the commitments agreed to under the JCPOA.
The committee's continued assessment of Iran's military-
related capabilities, intent, and strategic orientation will
shape its oversight of U.S. defense policies, posture,
planning, and operations in the greater Middle East, and
support its investment decisions regarding the capabilities and
force structure necessary to support U.S. military requirements
in the greater Middle East.
COUNTERING TERRORISM, AT RISK AND FAILING STATES, COUNTERING VIOLENT
EXTREMISM AND ILLICIT TRAFFICKING
Since the September 11, 2001 attacks, countering terrorism
has been a central focus and mission of the Department of
Defense. At great sacrifice, U.S. Armed Forces have deployed to
the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, the Republic of Iraq, the
Syrian Arab Republic, the Republic of Yemen, the Horn of
Africa, and elsewhere around the globe to deal repeated and
significant blows to Al Qaeda, the Islamic State of Iraq and
the Levant (ISIL), and other terrorist groups. While these
terrorist groups have been degraded, they have not been
destroyed. They remain potent, ruthless, and continue to spread
a radical jihadist ideology that has inspired deadly attacks in
the United States and across Europe. The committee recognizes
that ISIL, Al Qaeda, and their affiliates and associates will
continue to pose a direct threat to American lives and American
interests, and that U.S. forces will be conducting
counterterrorism operations at varying levels of intensity, for
the foreseeable future.
The committee will conduct extensive oversight, often in
classified form, over terrorism issues. The committee will
continue to monitor terrorism threats and examine
counterterrorism policies, strategies, and operations,
including any changes made by the new Administration. It will
also pay particular attention to the military force posture;
special operations capabilities; intelligence, information
operations, and cyber capabilities; role of allies and
partners; and resources necessary to carry out an effective
counterterrorism strategy.
The committee also recognizes the need to counter the
violent extremist ideology spread by ISIL and other terrorist
groups, and that such a challenge requires an interagency and
international approach. The committee plans to examine the role
of the Department of Defense in addressing this challenge and
how the Department engages with other U.S. departments and
agencies and foreign partners.
The committee also recognizes that these terrorist groups
leverage at risk and failing states, particularly in the
greater Middle East and Africa, to expand their presence, to
conduct operational planning, and to serve as launch points for
attacks against the United States, its allies and partners, and
U.S. interests. The committee will therefore also continue to
focus on efforts to build partner nation counterterrorism and
conventional warfare capabilities to counter these threats at
the regional and local level. Improving security and stability
in volatile regions that cannot adequately govern themselves or
secure their own territory will remain a top priority for the
committee.
Lastly, the committee will continue to examine the legal
basis for the President's military actions against ISIL. To
date, President Obama has cited his Article II authority under
the U.S. Constitution as well as certain statuary authorities,
including the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force
(Public Law 107-40) and the Authorization for Use of Military
Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002 (Public Law 107-243). The
committee will examine those aspects of the AUMF relevant to
its jurisdiction to be well postured should the 115th Congress
consider any new authorization for the use of military force
against ISIL.
Operation Freedom's Sentinel
The committee will conduct robust oversight of the U.S.
military effort in the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, to
specifically include oversight of the three U.S. military
missions associated with Operation Freedom's Sentinel (OFS):
conducting counterterrorism operations against Al Qaeda and
other terrorist groups including the Islamic State of Iraq and
the Levant (ISIL); training, advising, and assisting the Afghan
National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF); and providing
force protection of U.S. personnel and facilities. The
committee will continue to assess the authorities, resources,
equipment, basing, and personnel to support the OFS missions
and policy objectives. Additionally, the committee will examine
the regional security environment, including efforts by the
Government of Afghanistan and the Government of the Islamic
Republic of Pakistan to deny safe havens to Al Qaeda, the
Haqqani Network, and other jihadist organizations. The
committee will also monitor other critical efforts in
Afghanistan, such as the effectiveness of the ANDSF, and its
ability to sustain operations and institutional requirements.
Finally, the committee recognizes that the Administration is
likely to review current U.S. policy on Afghanistan and the
committee will be prepared to assess any changes to Department
of Defense efforts that the Administration might make.
Islamic Republic of Pakistan
The committee will continue its oversight of the broad
range of security issues involving the Islamic Republic of
Pakistan, including review of the use of Coalition Support
Funds, which are provided to reimburse Pakistan for its support
to U.S. military operations in the Islamic Republic of
Afghanistan. The committee will monitor the security and
stability of Pakistan, including the security of Pakistan's
nuclear weapons, Pakistan's on-going and future nuclear weapon
projects, and its willingness and operational capacity to
combat key terrorist groups, such as Al Qaeda, the Afghan and
Pakistani Taliban, the Haqqani network, and other terrorist
organizations. Moreover, the committee will evaluate the
terrorist activity emanating from the border area between
Pakistan and Afghanistan, and will conduct oversight of the
Department of Defense's efforts to combat that threat.
Operation Inherent Resolve
The U.S. and coalition forces continue to conduct
operations against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant
(ISIL) as part of Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR). Presently,
U.S. and coalition operations include: an air campaign that is
focused against ISIL in the Republic of Iraq and the Syrian
Arab Republic; training, equipping, advising, and assisting
Iraqi Security Forces and, in a more limited role, partnered
forces on the ground in Syria; and force protection of U.S.
forces and facilities deployed in support of Operation Inherent
Resolve. The committee will continue to assess the sufficiency
of authorities, resources, equipment, basing, and personnel to
support the Operation Inherent Resolve missions and policy
objectives. The committee will maintain congressional oversight
of the Iraq Train and Equip and the Syria Train and Equip
programs, particularly given past concerns about their
effectiveness.
The committee recognizes that the security landscape in
Iraq and Syria has become more complex and that the
humanitarian crisis in those countries more dire. The committee
will examine the presence and influence exerted by other actors
in Syria, particularly the Russian Federation, the Islamic
Republic of Iran, and the Republic of Turkey, and the
implications for U.S. objectives regarding ISIL and regional
security and stability. Furthermore, the committee will
continue to examine the flow of foreign fighters to and from
the region, and the linkages between ISIL and actors who
conduct directed or inspired terrorist attacks in the U.S. and
elsewhere. Additionally, the committee will monitor the
political and sectarian dynamics in both Iraq and Syria, which
have, in part, fostered the context and political climate for
ISIL to expand and grow. It will also closely monitor the
stability of the countries in the region of Iraq and Syria and
any growth or expansion of ISIL in the region, and continue to
oversee the security assistance authorities and resources
provided through the annual defense authorization act to
address these challenges.
Finally, the committee recognizes that the Administration
is undertaking a review of the current U.S. policy on defeating
ISIL in Iraq and Syria, and the committee will be prepared to
assess any changes to Department of Defense efforts that the
Administration might make.
Republic of Yemen
The security situation in the Republic of Yemen will
continue to be a significant focus for the committee. The
committee will maintain its oversight of the U.S. military's
counterterrorism activities in Yemen and the status of
coalition efforts to counter Houthi rebels in Yemen, including
U.S. support to the coalition and compliance with the laws of
armed conflict and other related international norms.
Additionally, the committee will monitor any provocative
actions by the Houthis against U.S. naval vessels in the region
and oversee any required changes in U.S. military posture,
capabilities, and resources to address such threats. The
committee will also monitor the capability, capacity, and
strategy of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) to conduct
transnational terrorist attacks and oversee the associated U.S.
counterterrorism efforts against AQAP.
Africa
The committee will maintain its oversight of Department of
Defense activities in Africa. Additionally, the committee will
continue to examine the Department's coordination within the
interagency to ensure the range of the Department's activities
occurring in Africa contribute to U.S. national security
objectives. As the Department's efforts to train and equip
African partners to provide regional security continue, the
committee will increase its focus on the Department's execution
of the programs, the development of defense institutions in
African nations, and the ability of African partner nations to
absorb and sustain the assistance provided. The committee will
pay particular attention to the effect that security
cooperation reform measures adopted in the National Defense
Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017 (Public Law 114-328)
will have on the Department's programs and activities in
Africa. Further, the committee will continue to monitor the
Department's efforts, in coordination with other U.S.
Government agencies, to develop the security conditions
necessary to advance governance and stability on the continent.
In North Africa, the committee will continue to conduct
oversight of the evolving security situation caused primarily
by the tenuous political environment in the State of Libya and
the effect of Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, the Islamic
State, and other jihadist groups in this region. The committee
will pay particular attention to the relationship between the
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in Iraq and Syria and the
terrorist organization's presence in the region.
In East Africa, the committee will continue to provide
oversight of the Department's efforts to counter threats and to
prevent transnational attacks on the United States, its allies
and partners, or its interests. In particular, the committee
will remain focused on the security situation in Somalia, U.S.
support to African Union Mission in Somalia forces, and the
development of Somali forces to provide security. Moreover, the
committee will continue to monitor the ideological, strategic,
and operational coordination and conflict between Horn of
Africa groups, such as Al Shabaab, and other terrorist
organizations.
In West Africa, the committee will continue its oversight
of the Department's efforts to counter threats throughout the
region. In particular, the committee will focus on threats
emanating from the Republic of Mali and in the Lake Chad Basin
region. The committee will also pay attention to the continuing
ideological, strategic, and operational evolution of
organizations such as Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, Boko
Haram, and the Islamic State West Africa Province, and also
will explore the geographic overlap and operational interaction
with other terrorist groups on the continent.
In Central Africa, the committee will continue its
oversight of the Department of Defense's activities to
transition its support of the Uganda Peoples' Defense Force and
other national militaries to counter the Lord's Resistance Army
and apprehend or remove Joseph Kony.
Central and South America
The committee will examine the issues affecting U.S.
security in Central and South America, including illicit
trafficking, transnational organized crime, political turmoil,
and instability that pose a potential threat to the U.S.
homeland. The committee is particularly concerned about
instability in Central America.
The committee will oversee the execution of Department of
Defense security assistance programs throughout the hemisphere,
specifically in the Republic of Colombia, as it continues to
improve its national security and begins implementation of the
peace accords signed in 2016. Additionally, the committee will
focus on the growing economies in the region, such as the
Federative Republic of Brazil, which is the region's largest
and fastest-growing economy, and will examine their influence
both in the Western Hemisphere and across the globe. The
committee will monitor any changes to U.S. policy regarding the
relationship between the U.S. and the Republic of Cuba, and any
potential impacts on Department of Defense policies and
operations. The committee will also continue to monitor
potential threats from global terrorist organizations, such as
Al Qaeda, Hezbollah, and the Iranian Revolutionary Guards
Corps, who have increasing influence in the region.
The committee recognizes the importance of the United
States' relationship with its Central and South American
neighbors and the ability of these partners to bring safety and
security to the hemisphere.
Detainee Policy and Related Matters
The Department of Defense continues to be the custodian of
law-of-war detainees held at the United States Naval Station,
Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The committee will continue to monitor
transfer and release policies and practices pertaining to those
detainees, as well as proceedings pursuant to the Military
Commissions Act (Public Law 109-366; Public Law 111-84), which
established the legal framework governing military tribunals to
try certain detainees for alleged war crimes. The committee
will also conduct oversight of detention policy for future
captures and related issues.
CYBERWARFARE
As cyberspace becomes increasingly important as a domain of
warfare, the Department of Defense will need to mature its
policies, doctrine, and capabilities to execute offensive
operations. The committee will continue to oversee the changing
policy and authority framework to ensure that cyberwarfare
capabilities can be executed as a standalone capability, or
fully integrated into an operational plan in concert with other
conventional capabilities. That will include ensuring that
there is a clear understanding of rules of engagement, as well
as how international legal frameworks, like the laws of war,
apply in these instances. In addition to developing proper
funding authorities that may be required for offensive
operations, the committee will also oversee interagency
coordination and deconflicting areas of overlap. The committee
will increase its oversight on evolving deterrence concepts and
the ways in which cyber may be changing the traditional
understanding of the escalation ladder. The committee will also
monitor the development of international norms of behavior and
international regulatory regimes.
TECHNOLOGY EROSION, TECHNOLOGICAL SUPERIORITY, AND THE THIRD OFFSET
STRATEGY
In the 115th Congress, the committee plans to continue its
examination of technology trends by nation-states and non-state
actors, and the diffusion of technology, to assess the impact
and risk to U.S. superiority in key warfare domains. The
committee recognizes that U.S. military technological
superiority is no longer assumed, and that investments in new
and advanced capabilities, development of new operating
concepts, and improvements in the agility and adaptability of
the Department of Defense, will be required to maintain this
superiority.
Through its oversight at the full committee level, and
within the Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Capabilities,
the committee will continue to evaluate the Department's
technology initiatives and investments, including those within
the Strategic Capabilities Office and the Defense Advanced
Research Projects Agency. The committee also intends to
continue monitoring the Department's Third Offset Strategy
development efforts, and sees it as a useful vehicle for
focusing the Department on how to deter and counter the Russian
Federation and the People's Republic of China. Additionally,
the committee will continue to make legislative improvements to
the defense acquisition process and to the organization of the
Department, as discussed elsewhere in this plan, to get new
capabilities deployed to the warfighter that better match the
speed of technological change.
The committee will also seek opportunities to participate
in wargames to understand the technological and operational
challenges facing the military, and is encouraged by the
Department's increased emphasis on wargaming and on strategic
initiatives to better understand Russian and Chinese military
thinking.
ADDRESSING EMERGING THREATS
Terrorism, unconventional warfare, insurgency, adversarial
use of technology, and weapons of mass destruction (WMD)
proliferation are some of the emerging threats that challenge
national security and global peace and stability. These threats
require the Department of Defense to work effectively and
efficiently with other Federal agencies and the governments of
other nations. The committee will conduct oversight of numerous
cross-cutting Department of Defense activities central to
addressing these emerging and unforeseen threats, including the
proliferation of nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons,
counterinsurgency, counterterrorism, security force assistance,
and building partnership capacity (BPC).
The committee will focus attention on how the Department of
Defense addresses these broad threats in its strategic planning
processes, how resources are arrayed to meet these threats, and
how existing authorities are consistent with operational
requirements. As discussed below, the National Defense
Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017 (Public Law 114-328)
contained comprehensive reform of security assistance and BPC
authorities; the committee, therefore, expects to closely
monitor and evaluate the implementation of these reforms to
ensure they are consistent with emerging threats and national
security objectives.
The committee will also focus attention on the Department
of Defense Cooperative Threat Reduction (CTR) program and the
National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) Defense Nuclear
Nonproliferation (DNN) activities. The CTR program has changed
since authorized in the Soviet Nuclear Threat Reduction Act of
1991 (Public Law 102-228; also known as the Nunn-Lugar Act).
Originally focused on securing and dismantling weapons of mass
destruction and their associated infrastructure in former
Soviet Union states, the CTR mission has expanded to a global
focus on protecting against WMD, including an increased
emphasis on chemical and biological weapons, and improving
detection capabilities.
The committee, as well as the Subcommittee on Emerging
Threats and Capabilities (given the key role special operations
forces play in this area), will continue its oversight of the
full range of emerging threats to national security and U.S.
military forces, the capabilities, and the authorities needed
to respond. Additionally, the Subcommittee on Strategic Forces
will continue to review and assess the effectiveness of NNSA
DNN's strategy and activities to counter the threat of the
global proliferation of nuclear weapons.
Intelligence
In the 115th Congress, the committee will examine the
organization, functions, operations, intelligence collection,
and analysis output of the defense intelligence community to
ensure the highest possible quality intelligence support to the
warfighter. The committee will consider the organization and
management of the elements of the Department of Defense that
are part of the intelligence community and their roles in the
defense and national intelligence enterprise. In the course of
examining defense intelligence plans, programs and policies,
the committee will balance current threats with the need to
rebuild intelligence capabilities to address potential threats,
reform the defense intelligence enterprise organization to
better meet current and future warfighter requirements, and
restore the decisive advantage defense intelligence provides to
commanders and the policy community.
The committee will continue to coordinate when appropriate
with the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence on
intelligence and counterintelligence matters of the Department
of Defense, and intelligence and counterintelligence activities
of the Department of Energy in the course of oversight of the
intelligence community and the authorization of appropriations
for intelligence activities shared by the two committees.
Security Cooperation
The committee will conduct thorough oversight of security
cooperation and building partner capacity (BPC) in the 115th
Congress. The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal
Year 2017 (Public Law 114-328) contained comprehensive reform
of the authorities, funding, programs, and oversight of
security cooperation. The committee will monitor and evaluate
the implementation of these security cooperation provisions,
including during the development of guidance through the
initial congressional notification process and while the
programs are in progress, to ensure that they are properly
executed and consistent with national security objectives.
Agility, Efficiency, and Fiscal Responsibility
OVERVIEW
In the 115th Congress, the committee will continue to place
a high priority on defense reform to create greater agility,
accountability, and responsiveness within the Department of
Defense, and to get more value for the tax payer dollar. The
committee will continue to take legislative action to improve
the defense acquisition system. It will also oversee the
implementation of the significant body of legislation contained
in both the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year
2016 (Public Law 114-92) and the National Defense Authorization
Act for Fiscal Year 2017 (Public Law 114-328) covering:
acquisition; compensation and benefits (including healthcare
and commissaries); the Uniform Code of Military Justice; and
personnel, organization and management.
Throughout the 115th Congress, the committee expects to
conduct numerous hearings and briefings; engage experts from
across defense, academia, and the private sector; travel to
military installations, industry facilities, and other relevant
sites; and conduct independent research and analysis to inform
additional legislative reforms.
ORGANIZATION AND MANAGEMENT OF THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
As part of the committee's emphasis on defense reform, it
undertook significant oversight and legislative action in the
114th Congress to improve the organization and management of
the Department of Defense in order to ensure that it is
properly postured to meet the complex and evolving security
threats of the 21st century and to maintain U.S. technological
superiority.
In the 115th Congress, the committee plans to continue its
oversight and legislative action in this area. A key priority
will be monitoring the implementation of legislation contained
in the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2016
(Public Law 114-92) requiring the Department to streamline its
management headquarters and reduce headquarters activities and
personnel, and in the National Defense Authorization Act for
Fiscal Year 2017 (Public Law 114-328) requiring a reduction in
military general and flag officers and in senior executive
service personnel. Additionally, the committee plans to oversee
the implementation of organizational changes to the Office of
the Secretary of Defense contained in Public Law 114-328 to
elevate research and engineering, better focus acquisition and
sustainment activities, and improve oversight and management of
the Department's ``fourth estate.'' This may include taking
further legislative action to clarify authorities,
organizational structure, and provide additional policy
guidance. The committee will also seek opportunities to build
upon the reforms to the Goldwater-Nichols Department of Defense
Reorganization Act of 1986 (Public Law 99-433) that it
undertook in the 114th Congress to provide further organization
and management agility and adaptability necessary to address
longer-term national security challenges.
ACQUISITION AND REGULATORY REFORM
The committee will continue its ongoing effort to improve
the agility of the Department of Defense acquisition system and
the environment (i.e., human resources, culture, statutes,
regulations, and processes) driving acquisition choices in the
Department, industry, and Congress. In undertaking this effort,
the committee solicited input from industry, academia, the
Department, and others during the 113th Congress, and continued
to engage these stakeholders during the 114th Congress. The
committee also continued with a series of hearings, briefings,
and roundtable discussions in the 114th Congress to receive
testimony from key acquisition leaders and experts. The
committee addressed many of the identified shortcomings in the
National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2016 (Public
Law 114-92) and the National Defense Authorization Act for
Fiscal Year 2017 (Public Law 114-328).
The committee remains concerned that the Department's
conventional acquisition system is not sufficiently agile to
support warfighter demands. On average, major defense
acquisition programs operate for 9 years before yielding new
capabilities. Requirements determination, budgeting, and
contracting can each take another 2 years or more before
programs begin. Meanwhile, technological change has been
rapidly generating new, and often unforeseeable, innovations.
Global threats are evolving even more quickly, with adversaries
leveraging new technologies to exploit gaps in our military
capabilities. The conventional acquisition system simply does
not enable capabilities to be delivered to warfighters fast
enough. The committee has concluded that the current
acquisition system costs too much, takes too long, and the
troops simply do not get enough out of it.
The committee notes that this persistent lack of agility
derives in part from the basic incentives embedded in the
requirements, acquisition, budget, and oversight processes.
Weapon system requirements must be set anticipating technology
that will be available after years of development, so
requirements are naturally optimistic. Optimism carries with it
substantial technical risk, which leads the acquisition system
to make short-term, cost-savings decisions that reduce
flexibility and increase long-term costs. Budget timelines and
oversight committees require the military services to provide
detailed budget justifications, even though such details then
limit the military services' ability to pursue new
technological innovations after funds are appropriated. Then in
response to acquisition shortcomings, both Congress and the
Department have imposed new layers of bureaucratic management
and special authorities to circumvent the conventional
acquisition process.
While the committee recognizes that there are no ``silver
bullet'' reform packages that can immediately fix the current
acquisition system in a holistic manner, the committee intends
to take the inputs it has received to facilitate its efforts in
this area in the 115th Congress. The committee recognizes this
effort will be an iterative process that will result in direct
oversight and will be embedded in the committee's regular work
throughout the 115th Congress.
FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT
The committee will continue to oversee military
effectiveness in this era of declining budgets. Funding levels
have been stagnant for national defense over the last 5 fiscal
years, and under the Budget Control Act of 2011 (Public Law
112-25), base funding for fiscal year 2018 will be $2.0 billion
lower than levels provided for in fiscal year 2017 in the
Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 (Public Law 114-74).
The Comptroller General of the United States has
consistently identified the Department of Defense's financial
management as a high-risk area since 1995. The Department's
inability to track and account for billions of dollars in
funding and tangible assets continues to undermine its
financial management systems. It also creates a lack of
transparency that significantly limits congressional oversight.
The Department's inability to produce auditable financial
statements undermines its efforts to reform defense acquisition
processes and to realize efficiencies. Without these objective
tools, neither the Department nor Congress can verify that
greater value is being created.
The committee will continue to review efforts to implement
the Financial Improvement and Audit Readiness (FIAR) plan as
the Department moves to accomplish auditable financial
statements by September 30, 2017, as mandated by the National
Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010 (Public Law 111-
84). The committee will monitor the interdependencies between
the FIAR plan and the funds being spent on business systems
modernization programs as the Department works to correct the
weaknesses in its financial statements.
CIVILIAN PERSONNEL
The committee will continue to oversee the development of
the Department of Defense's workforce strategy for its civilian
personnel and other initiatives aimed at ensuring that the
Department has the human capital required both now and in the
future to expertly, capably, and cost-effectively achieve its
national security missions. In particular, the committee will
monitor the impact of several new but temporary authorities in
the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017
(Public Law 114-328) designed to provide the Department with
increased agility and flexibility in hiring and managing its
workforce. Finally, the committee will focus extensive
oversight on workforce sourcing decisions, transparency, and
personnel system reform efforts.
Readiness
MANPOWER SUFFICIENT IN QUANTITY AND QUALITY TO MEET GLOBAL COMMITMENTS
During the 115th Congress, the committee will continue to
assess the basic question: What does the Nation need in terms
of the quantity of manpower and the quality of that manpower to
meet its current and future global military commitments,
without undue risk to the Nation? In this context, the fiscal
year 2017 budget request proposed to continue the reductions to
the end strengths of the Army, Air Force, Navy, and Marine
Corps. At the same time the committee is concerned that the
military services remain fully engaged in stability operations
in the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, advisory and training
missions in the Republic of Iraq, engaged with the Islamic
State of Iraq and the Levant and in numerous smaller
engagements throughout the world. Reflecting that concern, the
National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017 (Public
Law 114-328) stopped the personnel reductions and sets the
stage to reverse the trend. The committee will continue to
provide aggressive oversight of military manpower levels and
force structure to ensure they meet the National Military
Strategy. This oversight will seek to provide the Active,
Guard, and Reserve Forces sufficient manpower levels to sustain
varying scales of activation, while maintaining deployment
ratios at or above Department of Defense objectives. Within
this focus, the committee will examine trends in overall total
force structure requirements, end strength, recruiting,
retention, morale, benefits and compensation.
FORCE READINESS
The committee will hold force readiness as one of its
highest priorities and will continue its oversight in this
area, focusing not only on the readiness of deployed personnel
supporting ongoing operations worldwide, but also on the
ability of the military services to generate ready and trained
forces for unforeseen contingencies, including full-spectrum
combat missions, should the need arise. The continued drawdown
of force strength in all of the military services, the ongoing
conflict in the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, the rise of
the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, and regional
aggression by the Russian Federation and the People's Republic
of China exacerbated already acute readiness challenges. For
the military services, this meant continuous overseas
deployments and little opportunity to conduct deferred
maintenance on major end-items or undergo long-neglected
training for high-end threats. Therefore, the committee will
closely monitor the impact of end strength reductions on force
readiness as well as the progress the military services make in
training for full-spectrum operations. In particular, the
committee will monitor aircraft accidents and availability, as
emerging issues in this category of equipment could be the
first indicators of a larger readiness crisis. This oversight
will include identified shortages in critical specialties such
as pilots, aircraft maintainers, and Explosive Ordnance
Disposal personnel, among others. Further, the committee will
continue its oversight of the Department of Defense's efforts
to restore readiness in key combat support areas such as
logistics, prepositioned stocks, and contracted service
support.
Maintenance and Training
The committee notes that continuous high operational tempo
for current operations, as well as a lack of stable and
adequate funding resulting from the Budget Control Act (Public
Law 112-25), leave insufficient time and resources to
adequately repair and refit ships, aircraft, and combat
vehicles. The shift in training from primarily
counterinsurgency missions to full-spectrum combat operations
adds more requirements to already stressed units. Therefore,
the committee will closely monitor the military services'
training and maintenance recovery plans to ensure that they are
realistic, adequately manned and resourced, and improve the
Department of Defense's ability to achieve its mission
requirements. In particular, the committee will oversee the
readiness of just-deployed and next-to-deploy units, whose
readiness was often sacrificed in order for deploying units to
be properly manned, equipped, and trained. Finally, the
committee will closely watch the recovery of the military
services' aircraft maintenance and training plans.
WEAPON SYSTEMS LIFE-CYCLE SUSTAINMENT AND RESET
The committee will focus on reducing the total-ownership
costs of weapons systems and equipment by ensuring the
Department of Defense is developing, procuring, and modernizing
weapons systems and equipment with consideration of life-cycle
support and sustainment requirements and cost. The committee
will also hold the Department accountable for improving its
estimations of total weapon system life-cycle costs to better
inform sustainment strategies, such as the cost effectiveness
of acquiring technical data from original equipment
manufacturers to allow future changes in sustainment path.
Furthermore, the committee will continue its oversight of the
Department's corrosion control efforts and will monitor
resourcing of corrosion prediction and prevention efforts with
a focus on increasing the service life of weapons systems while
reducing long-term sustainment costs. Finally, the committee
will continue to monitor the military services' reset
strategies to repair, recapitalize, and replace equipment used
in ongoing operations, and will also monitor progress toward
complete reconstitution of prepositioned stocks.
DEPOT, SHIPYARD, AND ARSENAL CAPABILITY
A vital component to maintaining warfighting readiness
across multiple domains is our Nation's organic industrial
base. The arsenals, depots, air logistics complexes, and
shipyards provide long-term sustainment through programmed
maintenance as well as the critical capability to conduct
repair and modernization upgrades as necessary. These
facilities and associated skilled workforce provide a national-
level insurance policy against the unknown strategic operating
environment. The committee is concerned about the future health
of the organic industrial base during a period of fiscal
uncertainty and increasing maintenance and sustainment
requirements. After 15 years of sustained combat operations and
subsequent equipment reset that resulted in peak workload
years, the organic industrial base is beginning to see trends
of increasing workload following steady declines since 2010. As
the organic industrial base works to achieve workload
stability, the committee will provide oversight into their
process improvement initiatives to ensure ships, aircraft, and
ground equipment return to the warfighter on-schedule. The
committee is concerned that the Department of Defense lacks a
comprehensive and integrated strategy to ensure U.S. military
depots and arsenals are viably positioned for long-term
sustainability and have the workforce, equipment, and
facilities for efficient operations to meet the Nation's
current requirements, as well as those through the next set of
challenges. This includes, but is not limited to, oversight of
how the workforce is matching capabilities and skills to
emerging requirements as well as how they are recruiting,
training, and preparing to retain the future workforce. The
committee will conduct oversight into the use of new
technologies such as additive manufacturing, robotics, and
artificial intelligence as pathways to improve management of
spares inventory and supply chain operations. The committee
will continue oversight of depot, arsenal, and shipyard
operations and management, the use of performance-based
logistics, the role of public-private partnerships, and the
military services' logistics enterprise resource planning
systems. Inconsistent and unpredictable funding associated with
the industrial base and their readiness efforts only exacerbate
workload challenges and reduce workforce performance. The
committee will continue its work to oversee carryover
management at the depots and arsenals, to include the review of
what levels should be acceptable for sufficient continuation of
operations on an annual basis. The committee will continue
working to ensure capital investment continues at the depots,
arsenals, and shipyards in order to maintain a level of modern
capability sufficient to meet the needs of the warfighter.
Furthermore, the committee will examine how previous efficiency
initiatives and workforce optimization continue to impact
depot, shipyard, and arsenal capability, how more recent steps
to increase arsenal and depot visibility among program managers
and program offices are working, and how well programs and
plans designed to assure the availability of critical organic
manufacturing capabilities are being executed.
NATIONAL GUARD AND RESERVES
The debate about the force structure mix of Active and
Reserve Components, the proper roles and missions of the
Reserve Components, be they an operational or strategic
reserve, and the affordability of the required force to meet
national security requirements, will continue again in the
115th Congress. Competition among the Active and Reserve
Components for resources will serve as a catalyst for that
debate.
During the 115th Congress, the committee will continue to
review the various recommendations and proposals regarding the
National Guard and Reserves and monitor proposed changes to
ensure the recommendations will meet the National Military
Strategy requirements, as well as homeland security and
disaster requirements. The committee is especially interested
in the Department of Defense's plan to reform the Reserve
Component duty statuses and will scrutinize this plan. In
addition, the oversight of military technicians will continue.
Given the uncertainty of the current and projected fiscal
environment, the availability of equipment needed to sustain
and modernize the National Guard and Reserve Components as an
operational reserve and for their domestic support missions, to
include legacy aircraft as part of the Aerospace Control Alert
mission, remains a concern. The committee will also focus
oversight efforts on current equipment investment strategies
for the National Guard and Reserve Components with particular
emphasis on affordability and modernization of critical dual-
use equipment platforms that are essential to the National
Guard's Title 32 mission and defense support to civil
authorities. Furthermore, the committee will continue to
monitor and evaluate the obligation and execution rates of
funds provided as part of a separate procurement account,
entitled the ``National Guard and Reserve Equipment Account,''
that would be used to address equipment shortfalls for the
National Guard and Reserve Components.
ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT
The committee will review the energy strategies promulgated
by the Department of Defense and will monitor the Department's
energy use on military installations. While reduction of energy
demand through cost-effective investments remains a priority,
the committee will review proposed investments that may
demonstrate a simple return on investment but fail to
materially enhance mission assurance, readiness, or combat
capability.
The committee will also continue its oversight of the
Department of Defense and military services' environmental
programs and will monitor Department of Defense funding and
adherence to Federal, state, and local requirements for
cleanup, compliance, and pollution prevention. Specifically,
the committee will continue oversight to protect Department of
Defense training, testing, and operations from encroachment,
support outreach with respect to emergent issues such as the
drinking water quality, and review progress of hazard
remediation and mitigation across the Department in mission
areas such as indoor firing ranges as well as maintenance and
depot facilities.
Military Construction and Infrastructure
BASING
The Department of Defense is undergoing a significant
change in force structure both in the United States and
overseas. The committee will continue to review all significant
domestic and overseas basing and stationing proposals to ensure
that these proposals include adequate construction funding and
long-term sustainment resources.
The committee will continue discussions with the Department
of Defense and military departments on excess infrastructure
capacity associated with military installations, but will
expect proposed courses of action for consolidation to be
justified and informed by the force structure required to
fulfill the national military strategy versus current or legacy
unit sizes, locations, and configurations.
MILITARY CONSTRUCTION PROGRAMMING AND FACILITIES SUSTAINMENT
The committee will review the Department of Defense's
military construction program to manage the overall capacity of
the Department's infrastructure and to ensure prudent long-term
military construction investments are provided. The committee
will also oversee the Department's investments in facility
sustainment, restoration, and modernization, as well as the
Department's utilization of new authorities recently provided
by Congress related to the conversion of existing facilities
and investments in infrastructure supporting research,
development, test, and evaluation activities. Finally,
recognizing the rapid change in weapon systems and missions in
comparison to the timeline to plan, program, and execute new
military construction, the committee will engage with the
Department to seek more opportunities to construct flexible
facilities rather than traditional purpose-built (i.e., single
mission) facilities when practical and cost-effective.
REAL PROPERTY ACQUISITION, MAINTENANCE, AND DISPOSAL
The real property management process requires extensive
oversight to maintain almost $879.0 billion in infrastructure
at an annual cost of nearly $37.0 billion. The committee is
concerned that inadequate asset visibility, poor requirements
development, and project planning inefficiencies result in
poorly coordinated investment decisions and sub-optimal
facility construction. The committee will seek to apply best
practices across the Department of Defense in order to
efficiently develop and maintain the military services' ranges,
facilities, and infrastructure.
Military Personnel and Health Care Issues
MILITARY MANPOWER AND FORCE STRUCTURE
Medical Accession Standards
The committee will provide robust oversight of military
medical and behavioral health accession standards, an issue
which directly impacts the readiness of the force. The
Department of Defense is currently conducting an extensive
review and re-drafting of the medical and behavioral health
accession standards. These standards apply to all individuals
applying for military service, and address a broad range of
medical and mental health conditions that disqualify
individuals from serving. The Department conducts this periodic
review to ensure the latest medical research, analysis and
treatments are used to inform any changes to qualifying and
disqualifying conditions. This particular review also coincided
with the Secretary of Defense's decision that, by July 2017,
the military services must have policies in place to allow
transgender individuals to enter the military. The committee
will oversee any potential changes to the medical and
behavioral health accession standards to ensure they are rooted
in sound medical analysis and that the changes do not
compromise force readiness.
Gender Integration
The Department of Defense and the military services have
recently opened all military occupations to women. The
committee will continue to provide close oversight as the
military services implement new gender neutral occupational
standards and begin to populate previously closed military
occupations with women. The committee will also focus on the
policies implemented to ensure proper support, training,
assignment, and career advancement for women entering these
career fields.
MILITARY BENEFITS AND COMPENSATION
During the 115th Congress, the committee will give close
scrutiny to any proposals from the Department of Defense or
other organizations, both governmental and private sector,
calling for any funding reductions or changes to military
compensation and other benefit programs in order to ensure any
proposed changes assess the impact to the All-Volunteer Force.
To that end, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal
Year 2016 (Public Law 114-92) authorized a major change to a
service member's retirement compensation. The new Blended
Retirement System takes effect in January 2018, and the
committee's oversight in this area will concentrate on the
proper implementation of the new plan.
MILITARY HEALTH SYSTEM
The committee is committed to maintaining a robust Military
Health System whose primary responsibility is readiness of the
force. To that end, the National Defense Authorization Act for
Fiscal Year 2017 (Public Law 114-328) included comprehensive
reform of the Military Health System to ensure the availability
of trained and ready health care providers to support the
readiness of the force and provide a sustainable, quality
health care benefit that is valued by its beneficiaries. The
reform is focused in three areas: medical readiness, the
Military Health System structure, and the TRICARE benefit.
During the 115th Congress, the committee will oversee the
Department of Defense's progress towards implementing the
elements of the health care reform beginning January 1, 2018.
Mental Health Services for Members of the Armed Forces
A continued principal focus of the committee during the
115th Congress will be to assess the adequacy and effectiveness
of mental health services provided to members of the Armed
Forces and their families. These efforts will include a review
of the research related to mental health conditions undertaken
or funded by the Department of Defense that have resulted in
improved clinical interventions and outcomes. Particular
attention will be given, but not limited to, the suicide
prevention efforts undertaken by each military service and the
consistency and comprehensiveness of the Department of Defense
policy on prevention of suicide among members of the Armed
Forces and their families, including methods of collecting and
assessing suicide data. An additional focus will be the
adequacy of suicide prevention programs for members of the
special operational forces and their families.
Wounded Warrior Care
The committee will continue its efforts to assess the
adequacy of the Department of Defense policies and programs for
wounded and disabled service members and their families. In
this regard, the committee will continue to evaluate the
Department of Defense's ability to integrate and coordinate the
multitude of services and resources available to assist the
wounded and disabled, not only from other Federal agencies, but
also from the private sector. The committee will continue to
monitor the military services' selection process for
identifying individuals to work within wounded warrior programs
and the quality of the services provided by such programs.
Additionally, the committee will continue to monitor
translational research and treatment advances in traumatic
brain injury. Particular attention will be focused on the
Integrated Disability Evaluation System with a view to ensuring
the fairness, effectiveness, timeliness, and efficiency of the
program and to simplify the process for service members.
MILITARY PERSONNEL POLICY
During the 115th Congress, the personnel policies of the
Department of Defense will remain under considerable scrutiny
as the Department competes to recruit and retain the best and
brightest men and women. The committee will give close
examination to proposals from the Department of Defense and
other organizations calling for any major changes to personnel
policies including recruiting, promotions, career paths or
changes to military retention and other policy programs in
order to assess the impact of any proposed changes on the
viability of the All-Volunteer Force.
UNIFORM CODE OF MILITARY JUSTICE TO INCLUDE SEXUAL ASSAULT
The committee will continue to provide oversight of
military justice, with a particular emphasis on sexual assault.
The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017
(Public Law 114-328) contained the most comprehensive overhaul
of the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) in over 30
years. The committee will provide substantial oversight as the
Department of Defense drafts the implementing rules for these
changes. The committee will also continue its robust oversight
of the Department of Defense's sexual assault prevention and
response programs. Specifically, the committee will focus on
the Department's recent improvements to the policy addressing
retaliation, and the implementation of the recent National
Defense Authorization Act provision that establishes
retaliation as a specific UCMJ violation.
MILITARY FAMILY READINESS
During the 115th Congress, the committee will continue to
focus on the support provided to families of the members of the
Armed Forces, particularly during deployments. In this regard,
the committee will assess the methods utilized by the military
services to identify the needs of military families and to
identify the programs and policies that can be implemented or
modified to improve their lives. As end strengths of the Armed
Forces once again increase, after years of decline, the
committee will closely examine the Department of Defense and
military service family support programs to ensure the programs
are adequately resourced to support an increase in family
members. In addition, the committee will continue close
oversight on the quality and availability of services at
Department of Defense child development centers.
MORALE, WELFARE AND RECREATION PROGRAMS AND MILITARY RESALE PROGRAMS
The committee believes the cost efficient sustainment of
Morale, Welfare, and Recreation (MWR) and military resale
programs (commissaries and exchanges) is required to protect
quality of life in military communities and maintain the combat
readiness of the force. The committee will provide oversight
efforts directed toward that end in conjunction with major
reforms, begun in the 114th Congress, to maintain the viability
of these programs.
Additionally, the committee believes that MWR and military
resale programs must remain competitive with private sector
entities to ensure that service members and their families
benefit fully from these programs. The committee must monitor
current practices and policies to ensure that MWR and military
resale programs are employing the full range of strategies
available to private sector competitors to inform authorized
patrons about the benefits associated with these programs and
attract them to participate. This is especially true for
commissaries that are restricted from using pricing, product,
and advertising strategies that are common in the private
sector because of legislative and policy barriers. These
barriers will be addressed during the 115th Congress. The
National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017 (Public
Law 114-328) requires the Department of Defense to reform
management, food and pricing options for the Defense Commissary
System to assist in maintaining a competitive and effective
commissary system in the future that requires less appropriated
funding. During the 115th Congress, the committee will monitor
and oversee the changes required by the commissary reform plan
with a focus on the beneficiaries of the system maintaining
their benefit uninterrupted.
PRISONER OF WAR AND MISSING IN ACTION
During the 115th Congress, the committee will continue
oversight of the Department of Defense's Prisoner of War/
Missing in Action activities, as the committee of jurisdiction.
Specifically, the committee will focus on the operations of the
Defense Personnel Accounting Agency, established by the Carl
Levin and Howard P. ``Buck'' McKeon National Defense
Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2015 (Public Law 113-291). In
addition, the committee will continue to assess the progress
towards meeting the requirement that the accounting effort
achieve at least 200 identifications annually.
Modernization and Investment Issues
OVERVIEW
During the 115th Congress, the committee will devote
particular attention to the examination of military equipment
modernization strategies and their ability to mitigate threats
from near-peer and peer competitors, and retain technology
superiority and overmatch, both in the near-term and long-term.
The committee's efforts will continue to focus on ``restoring
readiness''' through near-term incremental modernization
efforts that utilize acquisition reform initiatives to better
streamline the development and fielding of solutions to the
warfighter in a timely manner. The committee will continue to
consider ways to accelerate modernization efforts for the
military services and encourage increased investment for
modernization programs. The committee, through rigorous
oversight and legislative action, will develop strategies to
help mitigate cost growth and schedule delays among all
categories of modernization programs. The committee will also
assess the need for legislative action by examining causes of
these problems, including: late determination of requirements,
requirements growth, and failure to properly control
requirements changes; inadequate analyses of alternatives;
concurrency in test and evaluation; military services
proceeding prematurely with development of immature technology;
poor cost estimating; inadequate funding profiles; over-
estimation of potential production rates; and program
instability. In particular, the committee will also seek to
ensure the military services have the appropriate authorities,
capabilities, force structure, and modernization strategies in
place to defeat any potential challenges posed by advanced
anti-access capabilities from near-peer or peer adversaries.
ARMY AND MARINE CORPS ARMORED VEHICLE MODERNIZATION
The committee will focus on oversight of the Army and
Marine Corps' evolving plans to recapitalize, improve, and
modernize their existing fleets of heavy and medium-weight
armored combat vehicles over the next two decades, as well as
focus on force structure requirements for Armor Brigade Combat
Teams and Marine Infantry Battalions. As part of this oversight
effort, the committee will focus particular attention on Army
and Marine Corps efforts to continue to field combat vehicles
that stay ahead of the evolving anti-vehicle threat posed by
improvised explosive devices, advances in anti-tank guided
missiles, and rocket propelled grenades. With respect to combat
vehicle modernization programs, the committee will continue to
focus efforts on, but not be limited to, the acceleration of
engineering change proposals for the M1 Abrams tank and M2
Bradley Fighting Vehicles, improving the survivability and
lethality of the family of Stryker Combat Vehicles, the
development and procurement of the family of Amphibious Combat
Vehicles, specifically the Amphibious Combat Vehicle Increment
1.1 and Increment 1.2 programs, continued survivability and
performance upgrades for Light Armored Vehicles, the Paladin
Integrated Management program's transition to full rate
production, the Armored Multipurpose Vehicle (AMPV) program's
transition from research and development to procurement, and
the Army's mobile protected firepower program. During the 115th
Congress, the committee will also continue to assess the
viability and fragility of the armored combat vehicle
industrial base, to include assessing critical sub-tier
supplier base for items such as transmissions and forward
looking infrared radars.
ARMY AND MARINE CORPS TACTICAL WHEELED VEHICLES
The committee will focus oversight efforts on the Army and
Marine Corps' tactical wheeled vehicle (TWV) modernization
strategies for their families of light, medium, and heavy TWVs,
the family of mine resistant ambush protected vehicles, line
haul tractor trailers, and construction equipment. The
committee will monitor TWV fleet size and composition, and
focus on developing acquisition strategies to help maintain
competition, capacity, and capability in the TWV industrial
base given significant decreases in overall requirements, as
well as focus on the importance of continuing to modernize the
current TWV fleet given the growing complex security
environment.
Of particular interest to the committee will be the Joint
Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) program. The committee will
monitor the JLTV budget, cost, schedule, and performance as the
program transitions from development into production.
Additionally, the committee will conduct oversight on the
Army's efforts to improve the lethality of the JLTV. The
committee will also monitor the Army's acquisition strategies
in the development and procurement of the Ground Mobility
Vehicle and Light Reconnaissance Vehicle programs that would
``enhance the tactical mobility and lethality of Infantry
Brigade Combat Teams.'' Finally, the committee will continue to
coordinate with the Government Accountability Office regarding
the Department of Defense's efforts in the long-term management
and sustainment of the TWV fleet and its associated industrial
base.
ARMY AND MARINE CORPS ROTORCRAFT PROGRAMS
During the 115th Congress, the committee will continue to
focus oversight efforts on Army and Marine Corps rotorcraft
modernization programs, force structure, and rotorcraft
readiness challenges. Program areas of interest for the
committee will focus on, but not be limited to, the following
rotorcraft acquisition programs: UH-60 Black Hawk utility
rotorcraft, AH-64 Apache Attack rotorcraft, CH-47 Chinook heavy
lift rotorcraft, V-22 tiltrotor platforms, UH-1 Huey utility
helicopters, AH-1 attack rotorcraft, the CH-53K heavy lift
rotorcraft program, and the future vertical lift development
program. Legacy rotorcraft platforms will likely continue to be
operated at high operational tempos in very challenging
environments. These high operational tempos will require
continued upgrade and reset efforts to ensure these platforms
have the necessary performance capability required to perform
their missions. The committee will provide oversight on the
requirements to upgrade and reset these critical equipment
platforms for both the Active and Reserve Components through
formal activities and legislative action, and continue
oversight on the need to grow additional combat aviation
brigades in the Army. In addition to its oversight of
rotorcraft requirements for, and performance in, combat
operations, the committee will conduct oversight of the
critical need for advanced aircraft survivability equipment
upgrades to provide warning and protection against evolving
surface-to-air missile threats, as well as look for ways to
accelerate the fielding of degraded visual environment
technology on legacy platforms.
ARMY COMMUNICATIONS AND NETWORK PROGRAMS
Given the growing importance of tactical battlefield
communications networks in global combat operations, the
committee will continue to conduct oversight of the Army's
plans for its future battlefield network and the supporting
research and development programs now in place, to include
oversight of the Army's Tactical Network Modernization roadmap.
In particular, the committee will focus oversight efforts on
the incremental development and fielding of the Warfighter
Information Network-Tactical and other tactical radio programs.
The committee will continue to engage with the Army to ensure
that future tactical battlefield network capabilities result in
a network-enabled, rather than a network-dependent Army. The
committee, in coordination with the Department of Defense, aims
to empower soldiers to accomplish their missions, rather than
create an Army that is dependent on its communications network,
so much so that it is not able to function without it. As such,
the committee will also help direct the Army's limited
modernization resources to investments that will have the
greatest short-, mid-, and long-term impact for the end user.
ORGANIZATIONAL CLOTHING AND INDIVIDUAL EQUIPMENT
The committee will continue to devote substantial attention
to the oversight of the research, development, and procurement
of organizational clothing and individual equipment, as well as
other complementary personal protective equipment (PPE)
programs. Consistent with previous committee oversight
activity, the committee will continue to focus on the
importance of modernizing PPE, and encourage the military
services to manage PPE acquisition as a weapon system, rather
than a commodity. Focus areas will continue to include, but are
not limited to: advances in weight reduction (``lightening the
load'') in clothing and individual equipment; continued
investment in advances of next generation material development,
and development and procurement of specific PPE systems
designed for military servicewomen; small arms and small
caliber ammunition modernization with particular emphasis on
the Army's modular handgun program, and procurement and
fielding of enhanced performance small caliber rounds; improved
combat helmets to help mitigate traumatic brain injury;
improved combat uniforms; and the overall management of these
associated niche, but highly critical industrial bases.
TACTICAL AIRCRAFT FORCE STRUCTURE
The committee will continue to focus its oversight efforts
on the size, composition, and capability of the Department of
Defense's tactical aircraft force structure. The committee will
continue efforts from the 114th Congress regarding aviation
readiness challenges, and work with the Department to develop
ways to accelerate procurement of 5th generation tactical
aircraft to improve overall capability and capacity of Air
Force and Navy tactical aircraft. The committee will continue
to explore ways to improve capabilities of the legacy fleet,
and continue to monitor the Navy's plans for mitigating certain
physiological episodes being experienced by pilots operating
certain tactical aircraft.
With an operational requirement of 1,056 strike fighters,
the Department of the Navy projects it can manage a strike
fighter shortfall of 35 aircraft in 2023. The committee will
focus on inventory objectives of F/A-18E/F and EA-18G
procurement, and if necessary work to support additional
funding for the procurement of F/A-18E/F aircraft across the
Future Years Defense Program to help mitigate potential
inventory shortfalls, the effect of delays in the procurement
of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, F/A-18 A through D service
life limits, and mission capability rates of the AV-8B
aircraft.
The Air Force has stated a strike fighter operational
requirement of 1,900 aircraft, and, under current procurement
and retirement plans, the Air Force projects its inventory to
fall below that requirement as older aircraft are retired. In
the 115th Congress, the committee will continue its oversight
of: aircraft retirement plans; the F-22 and F-35 aircraft
programs; and life extension and modernization programs for the
F-15, F-16, and A-10 aircraft. The committee will engage with
the Air Force and develop strategies to mitigate any potential
tactical aircraft inventory shortfall that would impact the
Department's ability to meet the objectives of the National
Military Strategy. In addition to the above, the committee will
have a particular interest in acquisition strategies for
future, next generation strike fighter development.
F-35 JOINT STRIKE FIGHTER
During the 115th Congress, the committee will continue
oversight of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) Program,
particularly with regard to issues related to program cost,
schedule, and performance. The committee will also focus
efforts on the F-35 follow-on modernization program. With the
JSF approximately 90 percent through a 16-year development
process, the committee's primary focus areas will include but
not be limited to software development and testing, addressing
F135 engine problems, the autonomic logistics information
system development and integration, and accelerating the ramp-
up in production planned for 2018 and beyond. In the 115th
Congress, the committee will continue to receive JSF annual
reports and receive testimony and briefings from both the
Department of Defense and an independent review from the
Government Accountability Office.
BOMBER FORCE STRUCTURE
During the 115th Congress, the committee anticipates that
the Air Force will continue investments of significant fiscal
resources for engineering, manufacturing, and development of
the B-21A Raider long-range strike bomber aircraft. While many
details regarding the specific requirements and capabilities of
the new bomber remain classified, the committee will maintain
oversight of the new bomber acquisition program to ensure that
the Air Force develops an affordable aircraft to timely meet
future requirements and recapitalize the long-range strike
bomber fleet.
During the engineering, manufacturing, and development
phase of the new bomber aircraft, it will be imperative that
the Air Force continues to maintain, modernize, and upgrade the
existing fleet of bomber aircraft in order to preserve
effective capabilities needed to meet current and future threat
target sets. Furthermore, the committee will assess impacts
associated with the bomber fleet's inability to comply with the
Federal Aviation Administration's January 1, 2020, Next
Generation Air Space Control mandate.
The committee will continue to maintain oversight of
current bomber aircraft inventory requirements and
modernization efforts to ensure that the Air Force maintains a
sufficient, credible, and lethal fixed-wing aircraft with
conventional and strategic weapons delivery capability to
support all aspects of the National Military Strategy.
AERIAL REFUELING AIRCRAFT
During the 115th Congress, the committee will review the
Air Force aerial refueling aircraft modernization and
recapitalization programs, and the Navy's nascent refueling
capability associated with the MQ-25 program. The committee
notes that the Nation's ability to meet its air-refueling
requirements must not be placed at increased risk while the
Department of Defense executes its strategic aerial refueling
recapitalization strategy.
Currently, the Air Force requires 479 air refueling tankers
to meet the National Military Strategy but only possesses 395
KC-135 and 59 KC-10 tankers for a total of 454 tankers. KC-46A
deliveries will grow the tanker force to 479 aircraft in fiscal
year 2018. Subsequently, the Air Force plans to replace its
older tankers one-for-one with 179 KC-46A aircraft. The
remaining 300 KC-135 aircraft from the Eisenhower era will need
to be modernized until such time they can be replaced.
Therefore, timely and efficient recapitalization of the Air
Force's KC-135 tanker fleet with new KC-46A aerial refueling
aircraft is critical.
The committee will also review the MQ-25 program as the
Navy seeks to develop an unmanned aerial vehicle that provides
air-refueling and intelligence, surveillance, and
reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities. The committee is concerned
about limiting the scope of the MQ-25 to relieve the tanking
burden borne by the F-18 fleet and to provide a modest level of
additional ISR capability. The committee will assess options
for the Department of the Navy's ability to ensure that
precision strike is also a requirement of any follow-on
platform to increase the Navy's strike capability. The
committee will ensure that the Navy has completed a robust
requirement process that ensures the fleet receives the
necessary capabilities from this new platform.
INTERTHEATER AND INTRATHEATER AIRLIFT
The committee will continue to assess the risk in the Air
Force's current plan to reduce the intertheater airlift
aircraft inventory to 300 total aircraft. As such, the
committee will assess the force structure results of the
Mobility Capability Requirements Study--Next by the end of
2017. While pleased with Air Force efforts to modernize Air
National Guard and Reserve C-130H aircraft with Avionics
Modernization Program increment 1 and increment 2 and engine
upgrades, the committee will continue to review the C-130H
modernization program to ensure it is capable of meeting inter-
theater airlift requirements.
Regarding intratheater airlift aircraft capabilities, the
committee will continue to provide oversight of the C-5 and C-
17 modernization programs. With regard to the C-5, the
committee is pleased with the progress of the Reliability
Enhancement and Re-engine Program, but remains concerned that
the Air Force may not meet the Federal Aviation
Administration's January 1, 2020, Next Generation Air Space
Control mandate.
The committee will continue oversight of Air Force
intertheater and intratheater airlift aircraft inventories and
capabilities during the 115th Congress to ensure that a robust
and effective fleet of airlift aircraft is maintained to meet
mobility airlift requirements of the Department of Defense.
Finally, the committee will maintain vigilant oversight
associated with all intertheater- and intratheater-airlift-
assets, to meet the Federal Aviation Administration's mandate.
SURFACE WARFARE PROGRAMS
The Department of the Navy must rapidly expand the core
capabilities of U.S. seapower to achieve a blend of peacetime
engagement and major combat operations capabilities as part of
the Navy's 355-ship requirement. In pursuing this goal, the
committee will provide oversight of the composition, capacity,
and capabilities of the surface fleet. Specifically, the
committee will assess the President's budget request to ensure
compliance with the aircraft carrier force structure
requirements associated with section 5062 of title 10, United
States Code. The committee will also assess the large and small
surface combatant requirements to ensure oversight of the force
structure and the associated weapons and sensors employed on
the surface force with a specific emphasis on Frigate
capabilities. As part of the weapons and sensors oversight, the
committee will review the requirements associated with the
Littoral Combat Ship mission modules and the anti-ship missile
capabilities. Further oversight of the amphibious forces will
also be pursued to include amphibious assault in a contested
environment, integration of advanced data capabilities and the
amphibious assault connectors. The committee will continue its
oversight of the DDG-51 Arleigh Burke class Destroyer program
and will closely follow the transition to the Flight III
variant that will incorporate the new Air and Missile Defense
Radar. Finally, the committee will review the combat logistics
forces and the Maritime Security Program to ensure sufficient
capacity is available to support national security objectives.
As part of this oversight, the committee will continue to
place a significant emphasis on improving affordability in
shipbuilding programs through: ensuring stable requirements;
the use of acquisition best practices; stability within the
overall program; increased reliance on common systems and open
architecture; and industrial base capacity, process, and
facility improvements at the shipyards.
UNDERSEA WARFARE PROGRAMS
The ability to operate freely at sea is one of the most
important enablers of joint and interagency operations, and sea
control requires capabilities in all aspects of the maritime
domain. There are many challenges to our ability to exercise
sea control, perhaps none as significant as the growing number
of nations operating submarines, both advanced diesel-electric
and nuclear propelled. Exercising sea control in the undersea
domain is essential to maintaining the freedom of navigation in
support of U.S. maritime interests. The committee will continue
to review the undersea domain to ensure warfare dominance.
Specifically, the committee will review short- and long-term
options to reverse the decline in the attack submarine force
structure. The committee will also assess whether sufficient
resources and technological maturity are available for the
recapitalization of the ballistic missile submarine forces.
Finally, the committee will assess the weapons and sensors
employed in the undersea domain to retain maritime dominance,
to include the capacity and capabilities of unmanned undersea
vehicles.
As part of this oversight, the committee will place
specific emphasis on the efficacy of multi-year procurements,
rigorous assessment of requirements, and management of an
expanding undersea industrial base capacity.
MILITARY INTELLIGENCE, SURVEILLANCE, AND RECONNAISSANCE PROGRAMS
Manned and unmanned intelligence, surveillance, and
reconnaissance (ISR) system programs have come to constitute a
significant component of the overall Department of Defense
force structure. The capability provided by these assets is
critical to sustaining deterrence and warfighting capability of
U.S. forces.
The committee will focus on the budget, cost, schedule, and
performance outcomes of major ISR manned and unmanned aerial
systems (UAS) programs, and examine the entire ISR enterprise
for balance in inventory, collection, and analysis
capabilities. Also, close examination of the Office of the
Secretary of Defense ISR policy formulation and oversight has
been, and will continue to be, of interest to the committee.
Long-standing concerns of the committee remain: lack of an
adequate long-term ISR architecture and acquisition strategy;
lack of supporting analysis for programmatic decisions; and the
failure to balance collection programs data output with
adequate resources to process, exploit, and disseminate data
and analysis. The committee expects the Joint Staff and Joint
Requirements Oversight Council to take a more active role in
coordinating ISR system acquisition and coordinating employment
with the combatant commanders.
In particular, the committee will place emphasis on, but
not be limited to, the cost, schedule, performance, and
procurement objectives of the following ISR programs: RQ-4
Global Hawk UAS Block 30 and Block 40, MQ-9 Reaper UAS, MQ-1C
Gray Eagle UAS, MQ-4C Triton UAS, MQ-8 Fire Scout, MQ-25
Stingray, Marine Air Ground Task Force UAS Expeditionary, and
sustainment of U-2 aircraft.
EMERGING ADVANCED WEAPONS CAPABILITIES
Department of Defense investment in science and technology
often leads to the development of new advanced weapons
capabilities or weapons concepts that contribute to the
technological superiority of U.S. military forces. Maintaining
technological overmatch of current and potential adversaries is
a significant part of the qualitative advantage of U.S. forces,
but is increasingly difficult in an environment of globalized
technologies and asymmetric combinations of high-tech and low-
tech capabilities. The committee will continue to monitor
technological developments, from both Government funded labs,
as well as commercially developed sources, and support
transition of the most promising technological systems or
concepts.
In the 115th Congress, the committee will continue to
examine doctrine, concepts of employment, and other organizing
concepts being pursued by the military services and the Office
of Secretary of Defense, and when matured, develop acquisition
plans in support of fielding new advanced capabilities, such as
directed energy capabilities, hypersonics, and autonomous
systems. Not only will the committee oversee the development,
but it will be equally important to monitor policies or trends
impeding or supporting the development of new, innovative
capabilities, as well as monitoring scientific developments
internationally to better understand how state-of-the-art
advancements can contribute to foreign military developments.
Advancements in areas like directed energy, hypersonics,
autonomy, and synthetic biology may prove to be double-edged
swords, benefiting U.S. national security, but also exploiting
U.S. security weaknesses when adopted by potential future
adversaries. Additionally, the committee has expanded its focus
to take a similar look at other emerging advanced weapons
capabilities, such as hypersonics and autonomy, to see how they
can contribute to new security strategies, and to ensure that
they are supported by rigorous technical analysis and relevant
concepts of employment.
NUCLEAR DETERRENCE
The committee oversees the atomic energy defense activities
of the Department of Energy and nuclear policies and programs
of the Department of Defense to ensure the safety, security,
reliability, and credibility of the U.S. nuclear deterrent. The
committee will place particular emphasis on oversight of the
Department of Energy and the Department of Defense's nuclear
modernization plans, including but not limited to
infrastructure investments, warhead life extension programs,
stockpile stewardship programs, stockpile management programs,
stockpile responsiveness programs, delivery system
modernization, nuclear command and control, cost savings and
efficiency initiatives, and security.
The committee will oversee funding levels for the nuclear
deterrence mission and nuclear enterprise to ensure sufficient
resources are provided and allocated effectively and
efficiently across Department of Energy and Department of
Defense requirements. The committee will emphasize oversight of
major acquisition programs that will recapitalize the U.S.
nuclear deterrent for decades into the future, including the
Ohio-class replacement submarine, the Ground-based Strategic
Deterrent system, the B-21 Raider bomber, the Long-range
Standoff cruise missile, and their associated nuclear warheads.
Alongside overseeing and authorizing U.S. nuclear deterrence
programs, the committee will also monitor foreign nuclear
weapon development and modernization programs as well as arms
control commitments around the world. The committee will ensure
U.S. nuclear deterrence programs are postured, planned, and
funded to address pertinent current and future threats. The
committee will also continue oversight of implementation of
corrective actions resulting from the Department of Defense's
Nuclear Enterprise Review to ensure such actions result in
meaningful and long-lasting change.
In addition to programs, the committee will also provide
oversight of the United States' nuclear policy and posture,
extended deterrence policy, arms control activities, nuclear
nonproliferation activities, and nuclear force structure
requirements. Particular emphasis will be placed on oversight
of nuclear weapon employment and declaratory policies, force
structure, arms control agreements, and modernization plans.
The committee will also review the effectiveness of the
Department of Energy and the Department of Defense's
organization and management of the nuclear enterprise,
including coordination of plans and policies through the joint
Nuclear Weapons Council and alignment of the Naval Reactors
program with Department of Defense requirements. Finally, the
committee will conduct oversight of, and seek continuous
improvement in, performance, efficiency, governance, and
management of the Department of Energy's National Nuclear
Security Administration, laboratory and production site
management and operations, workforce sustainment efforts, and
defense nuclear cleanup activities.
MISSILE DEFENSE
The committee oversees the Department of Defense's efforts
to develop, test, and field layered missile defense
capabilities to protect the United States, its deployed forces,
and its friends and allies against ballistic and cruise missile
threats.
The committee will continue to place a particular emphasis
on U.S. homeland missile defense capabilities (including the
Missile Defense Agency's proposal and strategy for acquiring a
Redesigned Kill Vehicle and the statutory deadline to develop
and flight test the Multi-Object Kill Vehicle). The committee
will also continue to oversee the European Phased Adaptive
Approach implementation, developmental and operational testing,
force structure and inventory requirements, continued
development of so-called ``left-of-launch'' capabilities and
exercises, and science and technology investments in areas such
as directed energy.
The committee will also monitor the development and
subsequent execution and implementation by the Department of
Defense of a missile defeat posture review as directed in the
National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017 (Public
Law 114-328).
The committee will continue to monitor foreign ballistic
missile threats and identify opportunities to strengthen
international missile defense cooperation with allies and
partners such as the State of Israel, Japan, the Commonwealth
of Australia, the Republic of Korea, and the North Atlantic
Treaty Organization and its member states.
Department of Defense oversight and management of missile
defense activities, including the roles, responsibilities, and
acquisition policies and procedures of the Missile Defense
Agency and military services will also be reviewed.
The committee also intends to continue to oversee the
Army's Lower Tier Air and Missile Defense System modernization
efforts. The Army's plans call for significant investment over
a long-term and the committee will ensure these plans are cost-
effective, based on proven technology, support continued
Foreign Military Sales, and provide maximum deployable
capability to combatant commanders and the warfighter.
Additionally, the committee will ensure interoperability of
Army and Ballistic Missile Defense System capabilities.
Additionally, the committee will oversee the effort to
develop and deploy a cruise missile defense capability to
protect the National Capital Region and other high-value
potential targets.
NATIONAL SECURITY SPACE
The committee oversees the national security space programs
of the Department of Defense, including combat support agencies
and elements of the Department of Defense that are also part of
the intelligence community. The committee will place particular
attention on current and projected foreign space threats and
will carefully assess the Department's space security and
defense program to include space situational awareness, space
protection, space control, and operationally responsive space
activities. The committee will also focus on improving the
organization and management of the Department's space program
to posture the military to maintain our space advantage.
The committee will continue oversight of national security
space activities in support of warfighter operations and plans;
space acquisition strategies that provide necessary warfighter
capability, while reducing cost and technical risk and
supporting the industrial base; maintaining assured access to
space; efforts to address gaps in space capabilities for key
warfighter needs; investments in science and technology to
improve the capabilities of space systems; efforts to
appropriately leverage commercial satellite services;
exploitation of space sensor data to maximize effectiveness and
efficiency; improvements of the synchronization between
satellite, ground, and terminal acquisition programs; and
efforts that develop and sustain an expert space workforce.
Emerging Threats and Capabilities
INVESTMENT IN FUTURE CAPABILITIES SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
The Department of Defense continues to face difficult
choices as it balances the competing needs of capabilities for
current operations and those projected for future conflicts. In
order to address the latter, investments need to be made in the
Department's Science and Technology (S&T) programs, and aligned
appropriately with continued development and procurement
programs to position the Department to meet future challenges.
S&T investments should also be leveraged to support broader
acquisition improvements or defense industrial base sustainment
activities by creatively utilizing competitive or operational
prototyping, technical transition or integration, or
requirements maturation.
The committee will continue to oversee the Department's S&T
activities to ensure the planning and execution of a balanced
S&T program that reflects the national security priorities of
the military, as expressed in strategy documents and
congressional guidance. The committee will also continue to
examine how S&T investments are integrated into strategic and
operational plans to ensure that the investments being made,
including in people and infrastructure, are properly aligned.
The committee will focus on better understanding how S&T
programs integrate intelligence analyses into the S&T planning
cycle, as well as better cognizance of global developments and
industry-based independent research and development.
CYBER OPERATIONS CAPABILITIES
Cyber operations have taken on an increasingly important
role in military operations, as well as overall in national
security. Including both offensive and defensive operations,
they offer new means for exercising military power, as well as
new vulnerabilities to critical information systems and data.
Recent reporting on Russian cyber intrusions to influence U.S.
domestic politics illustrate the former, while the breach of
data within the Office of Personnel Management that resulted in
the loss of millions of records from military and civilian
personnel and their families is an example of the latter.
The committee will continue to closely scrutinize the
Department of Defense's cyber operations, organization,
manning, and funding to ensure that the military has the
freedom of maneuver to conduct the range of missions in the
Nation's defense, and when called upon, to support other
interagency and international partners. The maturation of the
U.S. Cyber Command as a full unified command, as well as the
achievement of full operational capability for the cyber
mission teams, including their readiness and participation in
ongoing operations, will be a primary point of focus for the
committee's oversight.
An important oversight role for Congress regarding the
conduct of cyber operations has been to ensure that the proper
legal and policy frameworks are in place and followed. The
committee has also continued to scrutinize military cyber
operations to ensure that they are properly integrated into the
combatant commander's operational plans, include appropriate
rules of engagement, and ensure that adequate capabilities
exist or are in development to employ these cyberspace
operational tools with rigor and discretion to support a full
range of options for the Nation's decision makers. As the
policy framework and mission forces mature, the committee will
also need to focus oversight on the development of training,
exercises, doctrine, tactics, and procedures for operating in
the cyber domain, as well as workforce development and
retention for civilian and military personnel. Additionally,
the committee will continue to oversee the implementation and
utilization of the limited acquisition authority granted in the
National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2016 (Public
Law 114-92).
In the course of monitoring the cybersecurity posture of
the military, the committee will need to continue its oversight
of the security of the global supply chain system, including
its ability to monitor, regulate, and manage risk as a result
of the effects of globalization on the assured integrity of
microelectronics and software.
INFORMATION OPERATIONS
Being able to operate effectively in the information
environment, especially one saturated by official news
channels, informal social media feeds, and other internet-
fueled sources, has demonstrated to be a challenge for the U.S.
Government. Recent examples have been especially poignant in
illustrating that engagement with foreign audiences, and
nuanced understanding of the information environment, will
increasingly be pivotal in navigating the 21st century security
environment. Whether one is trying to influence nation-state
actors or potential allies, counter violent extremist groups,
or identify and counter efforts at deception or misinformation,
strategic communication and information operations are key
elements to success on the battlefield of the future.
From an oversight perspective, this will require the
committee to continue to scrutinize the programs, authorities,
funding, and training for traditional military information
support operations, as well as ensuring such capabilities are
integrated into contingency planning and theater security
cooperation plans. Additionally, emerging technologies like
social media and big data analytics are forcing the Department
of Defense to be more agile and adaptable in how it uses
emerging technology, including flexible and agile policies for
their employment, and concept exploration and development to
determine new ways of operationalizing information influence.
The committee will also monitor how developments in the defense
space can be adapted and synchronized with broader interagency
and international activities in order to exert influence from
tactical effect to strategic effect.
COMPROMISES OF NATIONAL SECURITY INFORMATION AND INSIDER THREATS
In the 115th Congress, the committee will continue to
monitor the Department's efforts to identify and mitigate the
threats to military programs, plans, operations, and personnel
stemming from the compromise of a large amount of classified
information through unauthorized disclosures. The committee
will monitor efforts to mitigate future compromises by
overseeing the implementation of insider threat programs and
other security clearance reform efforts within the executive
branch, and the Department of Defense's compliance with the
requirements of the Carl Levin and Howard P. ``Buck'' McKeon
National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2015 (Public
Law 113-291) regarding the Department's security practices,
audit capabilities, and information-sharing policies.
USE OF FORCE IN COUNTERTERRORISM OPERATIONS OUTSIDE THE UNITED STATES
AND AREAS OF ACTIVE HOSTILITIES
The committee will continue to conduct extensive oversight,
often in classified form, over the use of force in
counterterrorism operations outside of the United States and
areas of active hostilities. While the use of force in this
area will be overseen in all aspects, the committee will pay
particular attention to special operations and activities and
the interagency coordination that occurs with the U.S.
intelligence community. In conducting this oversight, the
committee will also review and consider presidential policy
guidance documents and similar executive branch directives, and
ensure that counterterrorism operations conducted outside of
the United States and areas of active hostilities are in line
with broader national security objectives, strategies, and
resources. Finally, the committee will continue to coordinate
with the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence on
intelligence matters of the Department of Defense in the course
of its annual oversight of the intelligence community and the
authorization of appropriations for intelligence activities
shared by the two committees.
COMMITTEE ON THE BUDGET
OVERSIGHT PLAN
Resolved: That the Committee on the Budget, pursuant to
clause 2(d) of House Rule X, adopts as the Oversight Plan of
the Committee on the Budget for the 115th Congress the
following:
COMMITTEE JURISDICTION AND OVERSIGHT
Clause 2(d) of Rule X of the Rules of the House requires
each Committee to adopt and submit to the Committees on
Oversight and Government Reform, House Administration, and
Appropriations an oversight plan by February 15 of the first
session of each Congress. The Budget Committee's oversight
responsibilities include both the breadth of the Federal budget
and its legislative jurisdiction.
Under clause 1(d)(1) of House Rule X, the primary
responsibility of the Budget Committee is to develop a
concurrent resolution on the budget for a fiscal year. This
concurrent resolution sets spending and revenue levels in
aggregate, across 21 budget functions, and provides allocations
of spending levels for each Committee of Congress.
Although the subject matter of the budget is inherently
broad, in addition to oversight of the budget and the economy,
the Committee's formal oversight responsibility includes laws
governing the budget process and the agencies responsible for
administering elements of those laws. Under clauses 1(d)(1)-(3)
of House Rule X, the major laws falling within its oversight
include the Budget and Accounting Act of 1921, the
Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974, the
Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985, the
Budget Enforcement Act of 1990, the Unfunded Mandates Reform
Act of 1995, the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010, the
Budget Control Act of 2011, and the Bipartisan Budget Act of
2013. The two agencies with primary responsibility for
administering elements of these laws, and hence which fall
under the Committee's jurisdiction, are the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB) and the Congressional Budget Office
(CBO).
In addition to these general oversight responsibilities,
the Budget Committee has the special oversight responsibility
under clause 3(c) of House Rule X to study the effect of budget
outlays of existing and proposed legislation and to regularly
report the results of such studies to the House.
OVERSIGHT PLAN FOR THE 115TH CONGRESS
Budget Priorities
In the process of developing the annual concurrent budget
resolution, the Committee will hold hearings and receive
testimony from Members of Congress, Cabinet-level and other
Federal officials, State and local officials, and expert
witnesses to review the budget and economic outlook, the
President's budget submissions and other budget proposals.
The Committee will review and pursue budget process reform
legislation and will continue its budget process reform
initiative from the 114th Congress, which culminated in the
release of the Committee's Discussion Draft on the ``Proposed
Rewrite of the Congressional Budget Process.'' In continuing
its efforts to restructure the congressional budget process,
the Committee will focus on six main areas through hearings and
legislation: enhancing constitutional authority, strengthening
budget enforcement, reversing the bias toward higher spending,
controlling automatic spending, increasing transparency, and
ensuring fiscal sustainability.
The Committee will assess the performance of Federal
agencies in both administration and service delivery by
reviewing performance data in the President's budget
submissions and the relevant reports and audits of the
Government Accountability Office and the Offices of the
Inspectors General.
The Committee will study the budgetary effects of existing
law and proposed legislation, as well as government regulation
on government spending, and explore ways of reducing waste,
fraud, and abuse in government agencies.
The Committee will draw on the authorizing Committees'
Views and Estimates on the President's Budget, which are
submitted to it pursuant to section 301(d) of the Congressional
Budget Act of 1974, to coordinate its oversight activities with
other Committees.
The Committee will continue to review the budgetary
treatment of assistance to, and ongoing operations of, the
Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) and the
Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac).
Budget Enforcement
The Committee will provide ongoing oversight of OMB's
implementation of budget submission, control, execution, and
enforcement procedures under the Budget and Accounting Act of
1921, the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, the Budget
Enforcement Act of 1990, the Balanced Budget and Emergency
Deficit Control Act of 1985, the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of
2010, the Budget Control Act of 2011, the Bipartisan Budget Act
of 2013, the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 and other applicable
laws.
The Committee will assess the extent to which both the
President's budget submissions and the budget resolutions for
fiscal years 2017, 2018, and 2019 comply with applicable budget
laws. The Committee will also work to ensure compliance of the
budget-related provisions of H. Res. 5.\1\
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\1\H. Res. 5 (115th Congress) extended and revised the Rules of the
House for the One Hundred Fifteenth Congress. Section 3 (Separate
Orders) of H. Res. 5 also set forth additional budgetary controls.
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As part of these responsibilities, the Chair may provide
authoritative guidance concerning the impact of a legislative
proposition on the levels of new budget authority, outlays,
direct spending, new entitlement authority and revenues.\2\
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\2\This authority may be found in clause 4 of rule XXIX of the
Rules of the House.
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The Committee will enforce spending limitations and improve
accountability under the Cut-Go Rule, prohibiting consideration
of a bill, joint resolution, amendment or conference report if
the provisions of such measure have the net effect of
increasing direct spending outlays.\3\
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\3\Cutgo may be found in clause 10 of rule XXI of the Rules of the
House.
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In addition, the Committee will monitor reclassifications
of budget accounts, reestimates of the subsidies of credit
programs, consistency in cost estimates for direct spending and
tax bills, compliance with the Balanced Budget and Emergency
Deficit Control Act of 1985 and other relevant laws, in the
development of budget projections, and changes in spend-out
rates for discretionary programs, and implementation of
performance plans.
The Committee will work with the Appropriations Committee
and the authorizing Committees to ensure that spending and tax
legislation do not breach the levels provided for in the budget
resolution, as required under sections 302(f) and 311(a) of the
Congressional Budget Act of 1974 or violate the budget
provisions of the Rules of the House.
Direct Spending and Tax Expenditures
The Committee will request and evaluate continuing studies
of tax expenditures and direct spending by the Federal
Government, and whether they are the most appropriate and
efficient means to achieve specified public policy goals.
Economic Policy
The Committee will study how economic policies affect the
Federal budget. The Committee will also study monetary policy
and its effects on the Federal budget. The Committee plans to
take testimony from the Chairman of the Federal Reserve, Janet
L. Yellen, to review economic conditions, fiscal conditions,
and monetary policy.
Exercise of Article I Authority
The Committee, in keeping with its duties and powers under
Article I of the Constitution of the United States, will also
exercise authority over the executive branch of the Federal
Government. During the transition of any new Administration,
Agency accountability is an important component of
congressional oversight; the Committee will maintain these
oversight responsibilities irrespective of election results and
governing party.
Oversight of the Congressional Budget Office
CBO was created under the Congressional Budget Act of 1974
in order to provide Congress with economic and budgetary
analysis and cost estimates for proposed legislation. CBO has
not been reauthorized since the enactment of the Congressional
Budget Act of 1974. It operates under a permanent indefinite
authorization. In keeping with House rules and protocols, the
Committee will consider reauthorizing CBO at a fixed amount for
a limited period of time. The Committee also plans to exercise
its oversight responsibility over CBO through hearings and
other activities.
OVERSIGHT SCHEDULE
The following are the Committee's initial plans for
hearings and other oversight activities.
First Session (2017)
Winter 2017--Hearing on the Failures of Obamacare: Harmful
Effects and Broken Promises.
Winter 2017--Hearing on CBO's Economic and Budget Outlook:
Director of CBO.
Winter 2017--Hearing on the President's Fiscal Year 2018
Budget: Director of OMB.
Winter 2017--Hearing on the President's Fiscal Year 2018
Budget: Treasury Secretary.
Winter 2017--Hearing on the President's Fiscal Year 2018
Budget: Members of Congress.
Winter 2017--Possible additional hearings on the President's
budget and the budget outlook.
Winter 2017--Receive Views and Estimates from other Committees
to coordinate development of the annual concurrent budget
resolution.
Winter 2017--Possible hearing on Federal entitlement spending
and the long-term budget outlook.
Winter-Spring--2017 Possible field hearings.
Spring 2017--Hearing on the economy: Chairman of the Federal
Reserve Board.
Summer 2017--Hearing on the long-term budget outlook. Possible
additional hearings to review federal spending, taxes,
deficits, debt, the federal budget process and budget process
reform, and the economy.
Second Session (2018)
Winter 2018--Hearing on CBO's Economic and Budget Outlook:
Director of CBO.
Winter 2018--Hearing on the President's Fiscal Year 2019
Budget: Director of OMB.
Winter 2018--Hearing on the economy.
Winter 2018--Hearing on the President's Fiscal Year 2019
Budget: Treasury Secretary.
Winter 2018--Hearing on the President's Fiscal Year 2019
Budget: Members of Congress.
Winter 2018--Receive Views and Estimates from other Committees
to coordinate in developing the annual concurrent budget
resolution.
Summer 2018--Hearing on the long-term budget outlook.
Possible additional hearings may include reviewing federal
spending, taxes, deficits, debt, and the economy.
The Committee will also conduct research, examine programs,
and prepare analyses of fiscal and economic issues with an
emphasis on providing for a more effective and accountable
Federal government.
COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION AND THE WORKFORCE
OVERSIGHT AND INVESTIGATION PLAN
1. Adoption of an Oversight Plan
Each standing committee of the U.S. House of
Representatives is required to formally adopt an oversight plan
at the beginning of each Congress. Specifically, clause 2(d)(1)
of Rule X of the Rules of the House of Representatives states
in part:
Not later than February 15 of the first session of a
Congress, each standing committee shall, in a meeting
that is open to the public and with a quorum present,
adopt its oversight plan for that Congress. Such plan
shall be submitted simultaneously to the Committee on
Oversight and Government Reform and to the Committee on
House Administration.
2. Jurisdiction of the Committee on Education and the Workforce
Rule X of the Rules of the House of Representatives vests
in the Committee on Education and the Workforce (Committee)
jurisdiction over issues dealing with students, education,
workers, and workplace policy. Specifically, clause 1(e) of
Rule X vests the Committee with jurisdiction over the following
subject-matter:
(1) Child labor;
(2) Gallaudet University and Howard University and
Hospital;
(3) Convict labor and the entry of goods made by
convicts into interstate commerce;
(4) Food programs for children in schools;
(5) Labor standards and statistics;
(6) Education or labor generally;
(7) Mediation and arbitration of labor disputes;
(8) Regulation or prevention of importation of foreign
laborers under contract;
(9) Workers' compensation;
(10) Vocational rehabilitation;
(11) Wages and hours of labor;
(12) Welfare of miners; and
(13) Work incentive programs.
3. General Oversight Responsibilities
Clause 2 of Rule X of the Rules of the House of
Representatives provides in part:
(a) The various standing committees shall have general
oversight responsibilities as provided in paragraph (b) in
order to assist the House in--
(1) its analysis, appraisal, and evaluation of--
(A) the application, administration,
execution, and effectiveness of Federal laws;
and
(B) conditions and circumstances that may
indicate the necessity or desirability of
enacting new or additional legislation; and
(2) its formulation, consideration, and enactment of
changes in Federal laws, and of such additional
legislation as may be necessary or appropriate.
(b)(1) In order to determine whether laws and programs
addressing subjects within the jurisdiction of a committee are
being implemented and carried out in accordance with the intent
of Congress and whether they should be continued, curtailed, or
eliminated, each standing committee (other than the Committee
on Appropriations) shall review and study on a continuing
basis--
(A) the application, administration,
execution, and effectiveness of laws and
programs addressing subjects within its
jurisdiction;
(B) the organization and operation of Federal
agencies and entities having responsibilities
for the administration and execution of laws
and programs addressing subjects within its
jurisdiction;
(C) any conditions or circumstances that may
indicate the necessity or desirability of
enacting new or additional legislation
addressing subjects within its jurisdiction
(whether or not a bill or resolution has been
introduced with respect thereto); and
(D) future research and forecasting on
subjects within its jurisdiction.
Clause 2 of Rule XI of the Rules of the House of
Representatives provides:
(n)(1) Each standing committee, or a subcommittee thereof,
shall hold at least one hearing during each 120-day period
following the establishment of the committee on the topic of
waste, fraud, abuse, or mismanagement in Government programs
which that committee may authorize.
(2) A hearing described in subparagraph (1) shall
include a focus on the most egregious instances of
waste, fraud, abuse, or mismanagement as documented by
any report the committee has received from a Federal
Office of the Inspector General or the Comptroller
General of the United States.
(o) Each committee, or a subcommittee thereof, shall hold
at least one hearing in any session in which the committee has
received disclaimers of agency financial statements from
auditors of any Federal agency that the committee may authorize
to hear testimony on such disclaimers from representatives of
any such agency.
(p) Each standing committee, or a subcommittee thereof,
shall hold at least one hearing on issues raised by reports
issued by the Comptroller General of the United States
indicating that Federal programs or operations that the
committee may authorize are at high risk for waste, fraud, and
mismanagement, known as the ``high-risk list'' or the ``high-
risk series.''
4. Exercise of Oversight Responsibilities
The American people deserve an open, accountable government
that works efficiently and effectively. Congress must use its
constitutional authority to ensure our laws are properly
enforced, taxpayer money is spent wisely and not wastefully,
and government policy does not harm the American people.
Congressional oversight of federal programs and activities
is a critical part of this authority. Oversight is a
constitutional prerogative, an important responsibility of the
Congress, a core objective of the Committee. Accordingly, the
Committee will thoroughly oversee and investigate the various
agencies, departments, and programs within its jurisdiction. In
so doing, the Committee will actively consult with House
committees that have concurrent or related jurisdiction. In its
oversight proceedings, the Committee will make full use of
hearings in Washington, D.C., and of regional field hearings to
ensure all relevant voices are heard and made part of the
official record. Among other investigative techniques, the
Committee will visit relevant sites, correspond with affected
parties, and review audits and investigations by the
Congressional Research Service, the Government Accountability
Office, the U.S. Attorney General, and the Offices of the
Inspectors General of the U.S. departments of Labor, Education,
and Health and Human Services, among others.
The Committee will continue to demand and lead aggressive
oversight in its areas of jurisdiction. Under the Rules of the
House of Representatives, the Committee has jurisdiction over
programs and statutes administered and enforced by the U.S.
departments of Education, Labor, Health and Human Services,
Agriculture, Justice, and various independent agencies. The
Committee will continue to ensure these programs and statutes
are administered consistent with the appropriate federal role
and operated in an effective and efficient manner, as well as
follow congressional intent in their scope, activities, and
operations.
The Committee has identified several particular areas for
oversight and investigation in the 115th Congress. These areas
are discussed below:
Every Student Succeeds Act. In 2015, Congress
passed and the President signed a bipartisan, bicameral
bill to replace No Child Left Behind with commonsense
reforms to allow states and communities the flexibility
needed to provide all students an excellent education.
Unfortunately, the Obama administration has frequently
ignored both the letter and intent of the Every Student
Succeeds Act in its efforts to implement this
bipartisan law. The Committee will work with the Trump
administration to ensure the law is properly
implemented, including following the significant
changes made to the Preschool Development Grants.
Student Loans. The U.S. Department of
Education manages $1.3 trillion in outstanding federal
student loans and disburses billions in grants and
work-study funds each year. The Committee will continue
to monitor the costs and performance of these programs.
Higher Education Regulations. Institutions of
higher education are subject to myriad federal
regulations and reporting requirements that are often
burdensome and costly. The regulatory burden has only
worsened with rules that interfere with academic
freedom, infringe on the authorities of the states,
limit student choice, and unfairly target particular
sectors of higher education. The Committee will
continue its oversight of regulatory policies and
challenge those that enlarge the federal footprint in
higher education.
Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act. In
2014, Congress passed and the President signed a
bipartisan, bicameral bill to fix the nation's broken
workforce development system. The Workforce Innovation
and Opportunity Act helps workers attain skills for
21st century jobs, provides greater accountability to
taxpayers, and helps put Americans back to work. The
Committee will work with the new administration to
ensure the law is properly implemented.
Affordable Care Act. As Congress repeals and
replaces the Affordable Care Act, the Committee will
continue oversight of the previous administration's
implementation of the law. In particular, the Committee
will focus on how the law and the previous
administration's regulations and sub-regulatory
guidance harmed employers' ability to provide quality,
affordable health care to employees, including
educators and school-staff.
Employer and Employee Protections. The
Committee will conduct oversight and investigations, as
appropriate, to ensure employee and employer rights
under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) are
protected and applied consistently and without bias.
The Committee will work to ensure the National Labor
Relations Board properly fulfills its responsibilities,
giving particular scrutiny to the Board's changes to
union election rules and unit determinations, decisions
affecting joint-employer standards, and questions
regarding whether graduate students are employees under
the NLRA.
Retirement Security. The retirement system
works best when workers have access to voluntary,
robust, portable, and secure savings options. The
Committee will monitor the U.S. Department of Labor's
activities to ensure regulations and sub-regulatory
guidance benefit the long-term retirement security of
working families and do not restrict access to
affordable retirement advice.
Multiemployer Pension Reform Act of 2014. The
Multiemployer Pension Reform Act of 2014 (MPRA) helped
improve the financial outlook of the Pension Benefit
Guaranty Corporation (PBGC), but more work needs to be
done. The Committee will continue to monitor the
implementation of MPRA and the activities of the PBGC
to develop needed reforms that will both protect
taxpayers and workers while encouraging employer
participation.
Regulatory Process. An open and transparent
process for revising and implementing regulations
benefits employers and workers alike. The Committee
will work to ensure that stakeholders have sufficient
time to review and provide public comment on regulatory
actions within its jurisdiction.
Labor Laws. Various federal labor laws were
enacted during the past century for a very different
workforce than the one that exists today. The Committee
will continue to examine how these laws affect economic
growth and job creation, paying particular attention to
their impact on the rapidly-emerging ``sharing''
economy.
Government Spending. The Committee will
closely monitor all agencies under its jurisdiction to
determine whether the expenditure of taxpayers' money
is leading to high-quality outcomes for students and
workers.
Union Transparency. Workers who have chosen
to be represented by unions want to be sure their dues
are being properly managed. The Committee will examine
the efficacy of current reporting requirements, and
work to ensure that employees have access to
information that clearly shows how their dues are being
spent.
Executive Action. The Obama administration
took a number of executive actions that encroach on the
constitutional authority of Congress to write the law.
The Committee will continue to monitor and analyze
those actions and work with the current administration
to reign in those efforts and check executive
authority.
Along with the oversight objectives already outlined, the
Committee will examine the programs within its jurisdiction
whose authorizations have expired or will soon expire. Based
upon the results of that oversight, the Committee will
determine the appropriate next steps.
The following laws include programs within the jurisdiction
of the Committee that currently receive funding despite having
authorizations that are expired:
America Creating Opportunities to
Meaningfully Promote Excellence in Technology,
Education, and Science Act;
Assistive Technology Act of 1998;
Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Technical
Education Act of 1998;
Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act;
Child Nutrition Act of 1966;
Community Services Block Grant Act;
Developmental Disabilities Assistance and
Bill of Rights Act of 2000;
Domestic Volunteer Service Act of 1973;
Educational Technical Assistance Act of 2002;
Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002;
Food and Nutrition Act of 2008;
Head Start Act;
Higher Education Act of 1965;
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act;
Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention
Act of 1974;
Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Act of
1981;
Morris K. Udall Scholarship and Excellence in
National Environmental and Native American Public
Policy Act;
Museum and Library Services Act;
National and Community Service Act of 1990;
National Assessment of Educational Progress
Authorization Act;
National Environmental Education Act;
National Foundation for the Arts and
Humanities Act of 1965;
Native American Programs Act of 1974;
Public Health Service Act;
Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act;
Runaway and Homeless Youth Act;
Second Chance Act of 2007; and
Special Olympics Sport and Empowerment Act of
2004.
The following laws include programs within the jurisdiction
of the Committee that receive funding but have authorizations
that will expire in the 115th Congress:
Congressional Award Act;
Missing Children's Assistance Act; and
Victims of Child Abuse Act of 1990.
The following laws include programs within the jurisdiction
of the Committee that currently receive funding but have
authorizations that will expire in the 116th Congress:
Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of
1990;
Elementary and Secondary Education Act of
1965;
Older Americans Act of 1965;
Violence Against Women Act of 1994; and
Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act.
COMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND COMMERCE
AUTHORIZATION AND OVERSIGHT PLAN
(Adopted January 25, 2017)
During the 115th Congress, the Committee on Energy and
Commerce will hold hearings and conduct rigorous oversight over
matters within its jurisdiction. The Committee will conduct
thorough oversight, reach conclusions based on an objective
review of the facts, and treat witnesses fairly. The Committee
will request information in a responsible manner that is
calculated to be helpful to the Committee in its oversight
responsibilities. The Committee's oversight functions will
focus on: (1) Cutting government spending through the
elimination of waste, fraud, and abuse and (2) ensuring laws
are adequate to protect the public interest or are being
implemented in a manner that protects the public interest,
without stifling economic growth. The Committee will use the
information it collects through its oversight to inform the
reauthorization of certain lapsed programs within its
jurisdiction.
HEALTH AND HEALTHCARE ISSUES
Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act
To aid in legislative efforts to replace the Patient
Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), the Committee will
continue to examine issues related to the Department of Health
and Human Services (HHS) implementation of PPACA, Public Law
111-148, and the related Health Care and Education
Reconciliation Act of 2010, Public Law 111-152. It is critical
that the Committee understand decisions made in drafting and
implementing PPACA so that it can replace PPACA with better
solutions focused on helping consumers. The Committee will
examine the continuing impact of PPACA and its implementing
regulations on the economy, consumers, and the health care
industry. The Committee will also examine the status and future
of employer-sponsored health care plans as well as the effects
of PPACA's enactment on the States. The Committee will continue
to monitor the law's effects on individuals as well as the
regulations and requirements imposed on small and large
businesses.
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
The Committee will review the management, operations, and
activity of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
(CMS) and the programs it administers. The Committee will
examine and review Medicare and Medicaid management and
activity as it relates to ongoing Committee efforts to prevent
bias, waste, fraud, and abuse in Federal health care programs.
The Committee will investigate the process by which CMS
implements statutory formulas to set prices for Medicare
payment, as well as the effectiveness of those formulas. The
Committee will investigate the processes by which CMS prevents
bias, waste, fraud, and abuse in the award of government
contracts.
Food and Drug Administration and Drug Safety
The Committee will review whether the Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) is ensuring that regulated drugs and
medical devices are safe, effective, and available to American
patients in an expeditious fashion. The Committee will also
explore the interplay between these policies and drug and
medical device innovation, both in the United States and
abroad. Further, the Committee will examine FDA's enforcement
of current drug safety laws and the issues involved in
protecting the nation's supply chains against economically
motivated and other forms of adulteration, including those
posed by illegal drug supply chains and economically-motivated
adulteration. The Committee will examine whether FDA's
reorganization efforts are improving the effectiveness of
product reviews, or worsening delays and inefficiency in
decision-making. The Committee will review FDA's efforts to
improve and modernize import-safety screening, and the
management of its foreign inspection program.
Public Health and Pandemic Preparedness
The Committee will examine the roles of various Federal
agencies involved in insuring and protecting the public health,
including the implementation and management of these programs.
In particular, the Committee will review Federal efforts on the
opioid epidemic, pandemic preparedness, including influenza
preparedness, the United States' response to the spread of the
Zika virus, and other emerging infectious disease threats from
abroad. The Committee will continue to evaluate the Federal
response to the opioid epidemic, the Zika virus, and other
public health emergencies to better understand the operation
and efficacy of key public health programs and to address
broader concerns about national all-hazards preparedness and
response capacity. Further, the Committee will monitor related
spending to ensure the appropriate and efficient use of Federal
tax dollars.
21st Century Cures and Mental Health Reforms
In the 115th Congress, the Committee will examine
implementation of the 21st Century Cures Act, landmark
legislation that will expedite the discovery, development, and
delivery of new treatments and cures. The legislation also
included meaningful mental health reforms. The Committee will
ensure that HHS and its component agencies, including FDA and
the National Institutes of Health, and other relevant agencies
implement the legislation in a manner that will quickly deliver
the benefits provided by the law. The Committee will conduct
oversight of the implementation of and work done by the newly-
created Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance
Use, an office which will be responsible for HHS mental health
programs and policies. The Committee will also examine
regulations drafted to implement the 21st Century Cures Act to
ensure they comport with the intent of Congress, and will
monitor funding provided by the legislation to ensure that it
is appropriately spent.
ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT ISSUES
National Energy Policy
During the 115th Congress, the Committee will examine
issues relating to national energy policy, including U.S.
policies that relate to the exploration, production,
distribution, and consumption of electricity, oil and natural
gas, coal, hydroelectric power, nuclear power, and renewable
energy. The Committee will examine the impact of government
policies and programs on the efficient exploration, production,
storage, supply, marketing, pricing, and regulation of domestic
energy resources, including issues relating to the nation's
energy infrastructure. The Committee will continue to examine
safety and security issues relating to energy exploration,
production, and distribution.
Electricity System and Electric Utility Markets
During the 115th Congress, the Committee will undertake a
comprehensive review of the nation's electricity system. This
effort will include a review of the federal electricity
policies of the Department of Energy (DOE) and the Federal
Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to ensure that those
policies promote competitive wholesale power markets,
transmission, generation infrastructure upgrades, and
compliance with relevant statutes. It will also examine the
activities of the DOE and FERC relating to electric industry
restructuring, protection of consumers, and the development of
efficient and vigorous wholesale markets for electricity. It
will also continue to examine the activities of the DOE and
FERC with respect to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
regulations affecting the electricity sector, including
regulatory requirements that may impact consumer prices and
reliability of the electricity grid.
Energy Efficiency
The Committee will continue to assess federal programs
setting energy efficiency standards for motor vehicles, crafted
by EPA and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
(NHTSA), and home appliances, crafted by DOE, to ensure that
the programs are implemented in a manner that maximizes the
benefit to consumers. In the case of motor vehicle standards,
the Committee will also assess the merit of having two federal
agencies operating parallel efficiency programs. The Committee
will continue to promote energy efficiency initiatives in order
to create jobs, save businesses and consumers money, and
improve our nation's energy security. This may include federal
programs setting energy efficiency standards for motor vehicles
and appliances, to ensure that the programs are implemented in
a manner that rewards innovation, ensures benefits for
consumers and businesses, enhances U.S. energy security, and
protects the environment.
Management of the Department of Energy and Its National Laboratories
The Committee will continue to oversee the governance,
management, and operations issues at DOE, including oversight,
management, and operations of the National Nuclear Security
Administration (NNSA) and the national laboratories. The
Committee's oversight work will include review of the
implementation of security and safety reforms at NNSA and DOE
facilities, ongoing safety and security matters, and the Office
of Environmental Management's cleanup program. This work will
also include the Committee's special oversight functions over
programs and activities relating to nonmilitary energy research
and development.
The Committee will also continue to examine the findings
and the recommendations made by the final report of the
Congressional Advisory Panel on the Governance of the National
Nuclear Security Enterprise as established by Section 3166 of
the FY 2013 NDAA.
Yucca Mountain
The Committee will continue to examine the actions of DOE
and the NRC in connection with obligations of these agencies
under the Nuclear Waste Policy Act, including licensing
activities for the Yucca Mountain repository.
DOE Energy Grant and Loan Programs
The Committee will continue to review management and
implementation of clean energy and advanced technology grant
and loan programs authorized under the Energy Policy Act of
2005 and other statutes; the development of new technologies,
products, and businesses including clean energy, advanced coal,
nuclear, and other technologies; and the impact of DOE grant,
cost-sharing, and loan spending on the domestic supply,
manufacture and commercial deployment of clean and advanced
energy products and other technologies.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission
The Committee will continue to review the activities of the
Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). The Committee will examine
NRC's budget requests and conduct oversight of the manner in
which the Commission discharges its various responsibilities,
including licensing activity, the safety and security of
nuclear power facilities and nuclear materials licensees, and
the Commission's regulatory actions.
Clean Air Act
The Committee will continue to review significant
rulemakings under the Clean Air Act and the potential economic
and job impacts of those rulemakings on the energy,
manufacturing, industrial, and construction industries, and
other critical sectors of the U.S. economy, as well as any
public health and environmental benefits of the regulations.
The Committee's review will include oversight of the EPA's
decisions, strategies, and actions to meet Clean Air Act
standards, and the current role of cost, employment and
feasibility considerations in Clean Air Act rulemakings. The
Committee will also continue to review EPA's implementation of
the Renewable Fuel Standard.
Climate Change
The Committee will continue to monitor international
negotiations on efforts to control greenhouse gas emissions in
connection with concerns about global climate change. In
addition, the Committee will examine the EPA's efforts to
regulate domestic greenhouse gas emissions under the Clean Air
Act based on its endangerment findings. The Committee will
consider whether such agreements and regulatory efforts are
scientifically well grounded. The Committee will also review
the activities undertaken in this area by DOE, HHS, and other
agencies within the Committee's jurisdiction, including efforts
to prepare for and respond to weather events and natural
disasters in the future.
EPA Management and Operations
The Committee will conduct general oversight of the EPA,
including review of the agency's funding decisions, resource
allocation, grants, research activities, enforcement actions,
relations with State and local governments, public
transparency, and respect for economic, procedural, public
health, and environmental standards in regulatory actions. In
addition, the Committee will review the government's activities
in hydraulic fracturing research and regulation.
Assessment and Management of Chemical Substances
The Committee will monitor EPA implementation of reforms
made to title I of the Toxic Substances Control Act. These
efforts will include program management and the use of chemical
risk analysis in environmental assessment programs. The
Committee will also review deadline management and consistency
of implementation, ensure that confidential business
information is protected from unwarranted disclosure, and make
certain that EPA provides the appropriate consideration of
risks and their trade-offs during the evaluation and regulatory
process.
Drinking Water Infrastructure and Regulation
The Committee will conduct oversight of the operation of
the Drinking Water State Revolving Loan Fund program authorized
under section 1452 of the Safe Drinking Water Act. Included
will be an examination of State funding uses, efficiencies that
could be realized in managing this funding that maximize its
effectiveness, and the use of this funding for leveraging other
investments. In addition, the Committee will conduct oversight
of EPA regulatory actions under section 1412 of the Safe
Drinking Water Act and the protocol it uses to issue health
advisories under the same section of law.
Solid and Hazardous Waste Management
The Committee will review EPA implementation of various
regulatory programs established under the most recent
administration, including regulations regarding the definition
of solid waste and coal ash.
CERCLA (Superfund) and Brownfields
The Committee will monitor EPA implementation of the
Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation & Liability
Act (CERCLA). These efforts will include an examination of
State cleanup programs and a comprehensive analysis regarding
whether cleanup under State programs would result in greater
efficiency in the process. The Committee will also conduct
oversight of EPA regulatory actions under CERCLA, in particular
the current rule making for financial assurance under CERCLA
section 108(b). The Committee will also examine the EPA
brownfields program, including statutory implementation, the
challenges of program operation, and whether changes to the
program would result in more effective and efficient cleanup
and redevelopment of abandoned and blighted properties.
COMMUNICATIONS AND TECHNOLOGY ISSUES
A Modern Communications Framework for the Innovation Age
The Committee will continue to exercise its jurisdiction
over wired and wireless communications to ensure our nation's
policies governing voice, video, audio, and data services are
promoting investment, innovation, and job creation. The
country's current regulatory regime takes a siloed approach in
which different technological platforms--such as wireline,
wireless, broadcast, cable, and satellite--are regulated
differently based on regulations that may be decades old. As we
move deeper into the Internet era, however, providers are
increasingly using these platforms to offer the same or similar
services. The Committee will examine whether these regulations
should be updated to better meet the communications needs of
the country and to ensure its citizens enjoy cutting edge
services and the economic benefits they bring.
Federal Communications Commission
During the 115th Congress, the Committee will conduct
oversight of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC),
including the efforts to reverse the reclassification of
Broadband Internet Access Service as a telecommunications
service subject to Title II of the Communications Act of 1934
and efforts to bring transparency and accountability to the
Commission's processes. The Committee will also continue to
conduct oversight of the FCC's decisions and their impact on
innovation and the U.S. economy. Among other things, the
Committee will evaluate the impact generally of FCC actions on
voice, video, audio, and data services, and on public safety.
The Committee will pay particular attention to whether the FCC
conducts cost-benefit and market analyses before imposing
regulations.
Spectrum Management
The Committee will conduct oversight of the Federal
Communications Commission's and the National Telecommunications
and Information Administration's (NTIA) management and
allocation of the nation's spectrum for commercial and
government use. Spectrum is increasingly being used to provide
voice, video, audio, and data services to consumers and to
serve the needs of our nation's government agencies. The
Committee will evaluate spectrum-management policies to ensure
efficient use of the public airwaves for innovative
communications services. The Committee will also examine
whether plans for allocating spectrum maximizes broadband
deployment and encourages investment. The Committee will pay
particular attention to FCC and NTIA implementation of the
Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012 and the
Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015, which included provisions
intended to make more spectrum available for mobile broadband
services, as well as raise billions in spectrum auction
proceeds.
Availability of Broadband
The Committee will investigate whether regulatory policies
are helping or hindering broadband deployment. In particular,
the Committee will examine the need for reforms to State and
Federal permitting processes to speed the deployment of fiber
optic systems and 5G wireless services. Additionally, the
Committee will conduct oversight of funding mechanisms for
broadband deployment and adoption, including the $9 billion per
year Universal Service Fund. Specifically, the Committee will
examine what procedures are in place to control waste, fraud,
and abuse, whether the funds are appropriately targeted, and
the impact of the funding on jobs and the economy.
Internet
The Committee will exercise its jurisdiction over wired and
wireless communications to ensure continued growth and
investment in the Internet. In particular, the Committee will
monitor efforts to employ the multi-stakeholder model of
Internet governance--in which governmental and non-governmental
entities develop best practices for the management of Internet
networks and content. The Committee will also monitor
international efforts to replace multi-stakeholder governance
with domestic regulation and international multilateral
institutions.
Public Safety Communications
The Committee will examine whether the communications needs
of first responders are being met. The Committee will examine
the progress being made to ensure that first responders have
interoperable communications capabilities with local, State,
and Federal public safety officials. The Committee will also
examine the progress being made by the First Responder Network
Authority (FirstNet) in carrying out the mandates of the Middle
Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012. Specifically,
the progress made in finding private sector partners to develop
an interoperable public safety broadband network and
implementation of the network. In addition, the Committee will
conduct oversight regarding the implementation of legacy 911
and Next Generation 911 (NG911) services. The Committee will
review efforts to promote deployment of these advanced systems
and challenges to realizing ubiquitous NG911.
DIGITAL COMMERCE AND CONSUMER PROTECTION
Privacy and Security
In the 115th Congress, the Committee will examine issues
relating to the privacy and security of methods, information
and data collected by businesses about consumers and the
potential for improving protection without undercutting
innovative uses that benefit consumers and the economy.
Further, the Committee will continue to review the manner in
which fraud and other criminal activities affect e-commerce.
The Committee will also explore how privacy and cybersecurity
policies should treat the burgeoning Internet of Things.
Self-Driving Vehicles
The Committee will examine the policy framework being put
into place for self-driving vehicles. Self-driving vehicles
hold the promise to greatly reduce traffic fatalities, while at
the same time expanding mobility to additional subsets of
Americans and doing so with less impact on the environment. It
is critical that this technology is encouraged through smart
approaches and to ensure that the potential of revolutionary
change to the industry is not curtailed by unnecessary
regulation.
Manufacturing
The Committee will explore the state of manufacturing in
the United States to identify factors that are hampering or
furthering U.S. competitiveness. The Committee will review the
issues presented by the globalization of production and
manufacturing networks, including the integrity of products and
components assembled overseas and the impact on national
security.
Trade
The Committee will examine trade negotiations to ensure
that foreign governments are not imposing non-tariff trade
barriers, such as regulations or requirements, that harm U.S.
businesses, their competitiveness and their ability to support
jobs in the United States, especially as it relates to the flow
of data across borders.
Department of Commerce Management and Operations
The Committee will conduct oversight of the Commerce
Department and complementary or conflicting Federal efforts to
promote U.S. manufacturing, exports, and trade, including
efforts to lower or eliminate non-tariff barriers and harmonize
regulation of products sold internationally where other
countries share our health, safety, and consumer protection
goals.
Consumer Product Safety Commission Management and Operations
The Committee will continue oversight of the Consumer
Product Safety Commission and its implementation and
enforcement of laws and regulations relating to the safety of
consumer products, including the agency's implementation of
Public Law 112-28 and determination of priorities to ensure
that it is efficiently and effectively protecting consumers.
NHTSA Management and Operations
The Committee intends to continue oversight of the National
Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), including the
effectiveness of the agency's structure, regulations, research
activities, investigations, and enforcement actions pertaining
to motor vehicle safety. The committee will be particularly
concerned with the way the Administration processes information
and its ability to effectively oversee ever advancing safety
technologies.
Federal Trade Commission Management and Operations
The Committee will conduct oversight of the Federal Trade
Commission's management and operations, including the impact of
its decisions and actions on the general public and the
business community, its determination of priorities and the
need, if any, for refinement of its authorities. In particular,
the Committee will explore the FTC's role relative to emerging
sectors of the economy and its jurisdiction relative to new
technologies.
MISCELLANEOUS
Cybersecurity
The Committee will exercise its jurisdiction over
cybersecurity to ensure the country is well protected while at
the same time avoiding one-size-fits-all approaches that hinder
the flexibility of commercial and governmental actors to combat
the rapidly evolving threats. The Committee will also review
the efforts of agencies within its jurisdiction to secure their
networks consistent with the Homeland Security Act of 2002. In
doing so, the Committee will explore current cybersecurity
threats and strategies to address those threats. The Committee
will also examine government initiatives to improve
cybersecurity both in the public and private sectors, and
review efforts at agencies within the Committee's jurisdiction
to regulate cybersecurity. The Committee will also examine the
security of the Internet of Things, discovery and disclosure of
cybersecurity vulnerabilities, the National Institute of
Standards and Technology (NIST) Cybersecurity Framework, and
the recently released report from the Presidential Commission
on Enhancing Cybersecurity.
Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response
The Committee will continue its examination of the roles of
HHS agencies in assisting the nation's detection, warning
capability, and response to potential biological attacks. In
addition, the Committee will evaluate the potential impact and
preparedness of the nation's public health system. The
Committee will continue to review the implementation of the
Public Health Security and Bioterrorism Preparedness and
Response Act of 2002 by HHS, and the extent of the coordination
between HHS and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS),
especially as it relates to Project Bioshield.
Federal Oversight of High-Containment Bio Laboratories
The Committee will examine issues related to high-
containment bio laboratories, which handle some of the world's
most exotic and dangerous diseases, including anthrax,
smallpox, foot and mouth disease, and Ebola virus. Among the
issues under review are the adequacy of the security and
practices of high-containment bio laboratories, Federal efforts
to oversee the laboratories, and whether some of these efforts
are duplicative and overlapping. The Committee will continue
its oversight into issues raised by the improper storage and
handling of Federal select agents at CDC, NIH, and FDA labs.
Anti-Terrorism Security for Chemical Facilities
The Committee will continue its oversight of DHS's
implementation of the Chemical Facilities Anti-Terrorism
Program, originally authorized in Section 550 of Public Law
109-295, the Homeland Security Appropriations Act of 2007. The
Committee will continue to examine whether taxpayer funds are
spent prudently and the extent to which DHS is advancing the
purpose of securing chemical facilities against terrorist
threats.
Government Scientific and Risk Assessment Programs
During the 115th Congress, the Committee will examine
issues relating to the numerous Federal science programs
assessing public health risks, including the Integrated Risk
Information System at the EPA, the Report on Carcinogens
produced by the National Toxicology Program at HHS, and
assessments proposed or ongoing in other Federal departments
and agencies. The Committee will review programs to assess the
objectives, transparency, and integrity of scientific
assessments that inform regulatory and public health policies.
Controlling Spending
The Committee will examine Departments and agencies under
its jurisdiction to assure adequate and prompt implementation
of recommendations from the Administration, the Offices of
Inspectors General, the Government Accountability Office, and
other sources to achieve cost savings or eliminate wasteful
spending.
Critical Infrastructure
In June 2006, the Bush Administration issued a National
Infrastructure Protection Plan. This plan created a process by
which DHS is to identify critical assets and assess their
vulnerabilities and risks due to loss or natural disaster.
During the 115th Congress, the Committee will review the
Department's activities with respect to identifying high-
priority assets and implementing plans to protect these assets
in areas within the Committee's jurisdiction. The Committee
will also examine the activities of DOE, FERC, and other
Federal agencies related the physical and cybersecurity of the
nation's energy infrastructure. Further, the Committee will
examine the roles and responsibilities of the private sector,
which owns and operates the bulk of the nation's critical
infrastructure assets.
Nuclear Smuggling
The Committee will continue to monitor Federal government
and private sector efforts at border crossings, seaports, and
mail facilities. The Committee's review will analyze and assess
U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the Department of
Energy's efforts, including international efforts, aimed at
detecting and preventing the smuggling of dangerous commerce,
particularly nuclear and radiological weapons of mass
destruction.
AUTHORIZATION OF PROGRAMS WITHIN THE JURISDICTION OF THE COMMITTEE ON
ENERGY AND COMMERCE
During the 115th Congress, as part of both its oversight
and legislative agenda, the Committee on Energy and Commerce
will review the authorizations of agencies and programs within
its jurisdiction and, specifically with regard to lapsed
authorizations, determine whether the program should be
reauthorized or terminated. Each subcommittee will conduct
oversight of these programs and offices, including hearings,
outreach to the Executive Branch, and requests for information
in order to gather the necessary information to support these
determinations.
The Committee plans to dedicate considerable time in the
115th Congress to examining the policies of the Patient
Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) and then developing
legislation to improve health care delivery and treatment and
lower costs for families. When the PPACA was enacted in 2010,
it authorized dozens of individual programs. Some of these
programs received indefinite, or ``such sums'' authorizations,
and others were authorized at a specific level. Since 2010, the
authorizations for most of these programs have expired; some
have continued to receive appropriations while others have not.
The Committee expects to consider the now-lapsed programs that
the law authorized and determine which ones should be
reauthorized. The Committee's oversight of the PPACA, as
described previously in this document, will necessarily inform
how the Committee will advance alternative solutions to the
PPACA and either reauthorize or terminate the programs first
authorized by the that law. The Committee plans to work closely
with the Department of Health and Human Services and the
Executive Branch when making decisions about individual
programs.
In addition to examining the lapsed authorizations
contained within the ACA, the Committee in the first session of
the 115th Congress will work on the reauthorization of two key
programs before they expire: the State Children's Health
Insurance Program (SCHIP), last authorized in the Medicare
Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 and expiring in
2017, and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) User Fees,
including the Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA) and
Generic Drug User Fee Amendments (GDUFA). The reauthorization
of both programs will require multiple hearings and may involve
extensive negotiations.
With regard to the Committee's jurisdiction over energy and
the environment, a number of the energy and environment
programs within the Committee's jurisdiction have lapsed but
continue to receive appropriations. The bulk of the lapsed
programs are within the Committee's energy jurisdiction,
including the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (P.L. 109-58) and the
Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (P.L. 110-140). In
addition, there are various lapsed programs within the Clean
Air Act; the Safe Drinking Water Act; the Toxic Substances
Control Act; the Nuclear Waste Policy Act; the Solid Waste
Disposal Act, also referred to as the Resource Conservation and
Recovery Act (RCRA); the Comprehensive Environmental Response,
Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980; the Superfund
Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986; the Energy Act of
2000; the Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields
Revitalization Act; the Pollution Prevention Act; the
Department of Energy Organization Act; and the Energy Policy
and Conservation Act of 1975.
As many of the programs related to energy and environmental
matters have lapsed for more than a decade, and as part of the
Committee's ongoing work to modernize energy policy, it is an
appropriate time to consider whether these programs should
continue, be updated, or be terminated. The Committee plans to
collect information as appropriate and to evaluate the relevant
programs within the Department of Energy, the Environmental
Protection Agency, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the
Energy Information Administration, the Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission, the Department of Homeland Security, and
other relevant agencies. Such reauthorization activity will
include consideration of programs in relation to current and
projected U.S. economic, energy, and environmental conditions.
In addition to the reauthorization work described
previously in the health, environment, and energy jurisdictions
of the Committee, and as explained in the oversight plan, the
Committee plans to lay the groundwork for other
reauthorizations in this Congress. Within the jurisdiction of
the Subcommittee on Communications and Technology, the
oversight of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and
the NTIA that the Committee pursued in the 114th Congress will
continue in the 115th Congress, including the examination of
the Federal Communications Commission Authorization Act of 1990
and the NTIA Organization Act. Finally, within the jurisdiction
of the Subcommittee on Digital Commerce and Consumer
Protection, the Federal Trade Commission was last reauthorized
in 1996, with the authorization expiring at the end of Fiscal
Year 1998. The Subcommittee on Digital Commerce and Consumer
Protection plans to conduct continued oversight of how the FTC
carries out its authorities relating to unfair or deceptive
acts or practices, specifically the agency's actions with
respect to disruptive and technology-driven markets, innovative
products, and services that benefit consumers. The purpose of
this oversight work is to clarify the FTC's consumer protection
authority in areas where observed harms have plagued consumers
and better understand the legal and economic basis for the
agency's enforcement actions.
The reauthorization work will require extensive Committee
resources and member participation, particularly of the members
of the Subcommittee on Health and Subcommittee on Energy. While
the Committee expects that the repeal and replacement of the
PPACA will be accomplished by the end of the 115th Congress, it
is possible that the Committee's work to reauthorize the energy
and environment-related programs and agencies will continue
into the next Congress.
COMMITTEE ON FINANCIAL SERVICES
AUTHORIZATION AND OVERSIGHT PLAN
Pursuant to clause 2(d)(1) of Rule X of the House of
Representatives, the following agenda constitutes the
authorization and oversight plan of the Committee on Financial
Services for the 115th Congress. It includes areas in which the
Committee and its subcommittees expect to conduct oversight
during this Congress; it does not preclude oversight or
investigation of additional matters or programs as they arise.
The Committee will consult, as appropriate, with other
committees of the House that may share jurisdiction on any of
the subjects listed below.
Pursuant to House Rules, this Authorization and Oversight
Plan contains oversight initiatives that will be undertaken for
the purpose of identifying cuts to or the elimination of
programs that are inefficient, duplicative, outdated, or more
appropriately administered by State and local government.
Finally, the Authorization and Oversight Plan identifies
agencies and programs with lapsed authorizations that received
appropriations in the previous fiscal year and/or agencies or
programs with permanent authorizations that have not been
subject to a comprehensive review in the prior three
Congresses.
OVERSIGHT PLAN
THE DODD-FRANK WALL STREET REFORM AND CONSUMER PROTECTION ACT
The Committee intends to continue its close examination of
the implementation of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and
Consumer Protection Act (P.L. 111-203) (the Dodd-Frank Act) by
the financial regulators charged with implementing the law.
Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC). The Committee
will review the operations, activities, and initiatives of the
FSOC.
Office of Financial Research (OFR). The Committee will
review the operations, activities, and initiatives of the OFR.
Volcker Rule. The Committee will examine financial
regulators' implementation of Section 619 of the Dodd-Frank
Act, known as the ``Volcker Rule,'' and the effect of the
Volcker Rule on the strength and international competitiveness
of U.S. capital markets.
``Too Big to Fail.'' The Committee will examine whether
financial regulators' implementation of Titles I and II of the
Dodd-Frank Act, which together were designed to end the
government's practice of bailing out financial institutions
deemed ``too big to fail,'' is advancing or impeding that goal.
FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS AND CONSUMER CREDIT
Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (CFPB). The
Committee will oversee the regulatory, supervisory,
enforcement, and other activities of the CFPB, the effect of
those activities on regulated entities and consumers, and the
CFPB's collaboration with other financial regulators. The
Committee will also examine the governance structure and
funding mechanism of the CFPB.
Financial Supervision. The Committee will examine financial
regulators' safety and soundness supervision of the banking,
thrift and credit union industries, to ensure that systemic
risks or other structural weaknesses in the financial sector
are identified and addressed promptly.
Capital Standards and Basel III. The Committee will explore
generally the twin subjects of bank capital and liquidity, and,
in so doing, examine closely the guidelines developed by the
international Basel Committee on Banking Supervision and how
domestic financial regulators are implementing or planning to
implement those guidelines in the U.S.
Mortgages. The Committee will closely review recent
rulemakings by the CFPB and other agencies on a variety of
mortgage-related issues. The Committee will monitor the
coordination and implementation of these rules and the impact
they are having on the cost and availability of mortgage
credit.
Deposit Insurance. The Committee will monitor the solvency
of the Deposit Insurance Fund administered by the Federal
Deposit Insurance Corporation and the National Credit Union
Share Insurance Fund administered by the National Credit Union
Administration.
Community Financial Institutions. The Committee will review
issues related to the health, growth, safety, and soundness of
community financial institutions, including the effect of
regulations promulgated pursuant to the Dodd-Frank Act,
individually and cumulatively, on community financial
institutions' role in lending to small businesses, fostering
employment, and promoting economic growth.
Regulatory Burden Reduction. The Committee will continue to
review the current regulatory burden on financial institutions,
particularly community financial institutions, with the goal of
reducing unnecessary, duplicative, or overly burdensome
regulations, consistent with consumer protection and safety and
soundness.
Credit Scores and Credit Reports. The Committee will
monitor issues related to credit scores and credit reporting.
Access to Financial Services. The Committee will generally
examine ways to expand access to mainstream financial services
among traditionally underserved segments of the U.S.
population.
``Operation Choke Point.'' The Committee will conduct
oversight of the Department of Justice, financial regulators,
and other agencies relating to the coordinated interagency
initiative known as ``Operation Choke Point.''
Discrimination in Lending. The Committee will examine the
effectiveness of regulators' fair lending oversight and
enforcement efforts to ensure that the Federal government does
not tolerate discrimination.
Diversity in Financial Services. The Committee will
continue to monitor Federal regulators' efforts to implement
the diversity requirements of the Dodd-Frank Act.
Improper Disclosure of Personally Identifiable Information.
The Committee will evaluate best practices for protecting the
security and confidentiality of personally identifiable
financial information from loss, unauthorized access, or
misuse. The Committee will also examine how data breaches are
disclosed to consumers.
Payment System Innovations/Mobile Payments. The Committee
will review government and private sector efforts to achieve
greater innovations and efficiencies in the payments system.
Payment Cards. The Committee will monitor payment card
industry practices.
Money Services Businesses and their Access to Banking
Services. The Committee will examine the operations of Money
Services Businesses.
Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI
Fund). The Committee will monitor the operations of the
Community Development Financial Institutions Fund.
Community Reinvestment Act (CRA). The Committee will
monitor developments and issues related to the Community
Reinvestment Act of 1977.
Financial Literacy. The Committee will review efforts to
promote greater financial literacy among investors, consumers,
and the general public.
CAPITAL MARKETS
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The Committee
will monitor all aspects of the Securities and Exchange
Commission's operations, activities, and initiatives to ensure
that it fulfills its Congressional mandate to protect
investors, maintain fair, orderly, and efficient markets, and
facilitate capital formation.
The JOBS Act. The Committee will conduct oversight of the
SEC's implementation of the ``Jumpstart Our Business Startups''
or ``JOBS'' Act (P.L. 112-106) and the effect of that law on
capital formation and investor protection.
Derivatives. The Committee will continue to review the
impact of Title VII of the Dodd-Frank Act on the operations,
growth, transparency, and structure of the over-the-counter
(OTC) derivatives market.
Credit Rating Agencies. The Committee will examine the role
that credit rating agencies, also known as Nationally
Recognized Statistical Ratings Organizations (NRSROs), play in
the U.S. capital markets including the issuer-selected model,
and will review the effectiveness of the SEC's regulation and
oversight of NRSROs.
Regulation and Oversight of Broker-Dealers and Investment
Advisers. The Committee will review the SEC's regulation and
oversight of broker-dealers and investment advisers.
Self-Regulatory Organizations (SROs). The Committee will
examine the activities, operations, and initiatives of self-
regulatory organizations (SROs), including the Financial
Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), and the SEC's oversight
of these SROs.
Equity/Option Market Structure. The Committee will review
recent developments in the U.S. equity and option markets and
the SEC's response to those developments.
Fixed-Income Market Structure. The Committee will review
recent developments in the U.S. corporate and municipal bond
markets and the SEC's response to those developments.
Corporate Governance. The Committee will review
developments and issues concerning corporate governance at
public companies and the SEC's proposals that seek to modernize
corporate governance practices.
Employee Compensation. The Committee will monitor the
implementation of provisions in Title IX of the Dodd-Frank Act
governing the compensation practices at public companies and
financial institutions.
Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC). The
Committee will review the operations, initiatives, and
activities of the Securities Investor Protection Corporation,
as well as the application of the Securities Investor
Protection Act (SIPA).
Asset Managers. The Committee will continue to examine the
SEC's regulation and oversight of asset managers and investment
companies, including their impact on capital formation and
investor protection.
Advisers to Private Funds. The Committee will examine the
functions served by advisers to private funds in the U.S.
financial marketplace and their interaction with investors,
financial intermediaries, and public companies.
Securitization and Risk Retention. The Committee will
monitor the implementation of joint agency risk retention
rulemaking mandated by Section 941 of the Dodd-Frank Act.
Covered Bonds. The Committee will examine the potential for
covered bonds to increase mortgage and broader asset class
financing, improve underwriting standards, and strengthen U.S.
financial institutions.
Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB). The Committee
will review the operations, initiatives, and activities of the
Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board.
Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB). The
Committee will review the operations, initiatives and
activities of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board.
Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB). The Committee
will review the initiatives of the Financial Accounting
Standards Board.
Government Accounting Standards Board (GASB). The Committee
will review the initiatives of the Government Accounting
Standards Board.
Convergence of International Accounting Standards. The
Committee will review efforts by the SEC, the FASB, and the
International Accounting Standards Board to achieve robust,
uniform international accounting standards.
Securities Litigation. The Committee will examine the
effectiveness of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act
of 1995 in protecting securities issuers from frivolous
lawsuits while preserving the ability of investors to pursue
legitimate actions.
Securities Arbitration. The Committee will examine
developments in securities arbitration, including the impact of
the arbitration-related provisions contained in Section 921 of
the Dodd-Frank Act.
HOUSING
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The Committee will examine
proposals affecting the operations of Fannie Mae and Freddie
Mac, including consolidating their business operations, winding
down their legacy business commitments, and repealing their
statutory charters. The Committee will also examine the overall
size of the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac's footprint in various
aspects of the housing finance system and ways to reduce or
constrain their large market share and develop a vibrant,
innovative, and competitive private mortgage market.
Federal Home Loan Bank (FHLB) System. The Committee will
monitor the capital requirements and financial stability of the
Federal Home Loan Bank System, as well as the FHLB System's
ability to fulfill its housing and community economic
development mission and provide liquidity to member banks in a
safe and sound manner.
Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA). The Committee will
monitor the activities and initiatives of the Federal Housing
Finance Agency.
Government National Mortgage Association (Ginnie Mae). The
Committee will examine Ginnie Mae to ensure that the agency has
the proper resources, procedures and oversight necessary to
manage the $1.7 trillion in outstanding mortgage-backed
securities it currently guarantees.
Federal Housing Administration (FHA). The Committee will
examine the operations of the Federal Housing Administration in
our housing finance system, including FHA's appropriate role,
market share, and ability to manage its mortgage portfolio and
mitigate taxpayer risk.
Mortgage Insurance. The Committee will continue to examine
the role private mortgage insurance plays in increasing
consumer choice and protection, and furthering the goal of
robust private sector participation in our housing finance
system.
Housing and Urban Development, Rural Housing Service, and
the National Reinvestment Corporation. The Committee will
conduct oversight of the mission, operations, and budgets of
the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the
Rural Housing Service (RHS), and NeighborWorks America. The
Committee will review current HUD, RHS, and NeighborWorks
America programs with the goal of identifying inefficient and
duplicative programs.
Public Housing. The Committee will conduct oversight of
HUD's public housing programs and the subsidies they provide
for the operations, management and capital development for
public housing agencies. The Committee will also investigate
the impact of funding of Public Housing Authorities and seek
ways to ensure capital repairs are made to improve the health
and well-being of residents.
Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Program and Affordable
Housing. The Committee will monitor and review HUD's rental
assistance programs and the government's role in the future of
affordable rental housing. As part of its review, the Committee
will examine the conduct of landlords participating in the
Section 8 program and investigate HUD's oversight of landlord
participants to ensure rules and regulations are being
followed.
Homelessness. The Committee will examine progress towards
the nation's goals to end homelessness in America, including
successful strategies and best practices where local
communities have effectively ended homelessness for certain
populations.
Fair Housing. The Committee will conduct oversight to
ensure the enforcement of fair housing practices. The Committee
will seek to ensure that the principles of the Fair Housing Act
of 1968 are upheld so that no person is subject to illegal
discrimination in housing practices.
Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination
Act (NAHASDA). The Committee will conduct oversight of the
grants and other programs under the NAHASDA block grant
program, the authorization for which expired on October 1,
2013.
Settlement Procedures. The Committee will conduct oversight
of the regulation of real estate settlement procedures,
including appraisals and disclosures involving closing costs
and the settlement process.
INSURANCE
National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). The Committee will
conduct oversight of the National Flood Insurance Program, the
authorization for which is set to expire on October 1, 2017. In
particular, the Committee will examine proposals to limit
taxpayer exposure under the NFIP, improve the efficiency and
transparency associated with the processing of claims submitted
by policy holders, and increase the participation of the
private sector in the flood insurance market. The Committee
will also examine proposals to address the National Flood
Insurance Program's debt, and other proposals to ensure the
affordability and availability of flood insurance.
Federal Insurance Office (FIO). The Committee will examine
the Treasury Department's Federal Insurance Office and the
conduct of its statutory functions under the Dodd-Frank Act
regarding domestic and international insurance policy issues.
Impact of Dodd-Frank Act Implementation on the Insurance
Sector. The Committee will monitor implementation of various
provisions in the Dodd-Frank Act and various international
regulatory initiatives for their potential impact on the
insurance sector, including FIO's efforts to enter into a
covered agreement with the European Union.
MONETARY POLICY AND TRADE
The Federal Reserve System. The Committee will exercise
oversight of the operations and activities of the Federal
Reserve System, including its conduct of monetary policy, its
regulation and supervision of the financial services sector,
its role in the payment system, and its susceptibility to
cybersecurity threats and other security risks.
Defense Production Act. The Committee will continue to
monitor the effectiveness of the Defense Production Act, which
was reauthorized in 2014, and its individual authorities in
promoting national security and recovery from natural
disasters.
Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States
(CFIUS). The Committee will continue to monitor the
implementation of the Foreign Investment and National Security
Act of 2007 and actions taken by CFIUS to identify and address
foreign investments that pose threats to national security.
Coins and Currency. The Committee will conduct oversight of
the printing and minting of U.S. currency and coins, and of the
operation of programs administered by the U.S. Mint for
producing congressionally authorized commemorative coins,
bullion coins for investors, and Congressional gold medals. The
Committee will continue its review of efforts to detect and
combat the counterfeiting of U.S. coins and currency in the
United States and abroad. Finally, the Committee will examine
commemorative coins and medals, including potential reforms
related to the process for funding the production of such
items.
Economic Sanctions. The Committee will monitor the
implementation of financial sanctions as well as any proposals
to expand such sanctions or impose new ones. As part of this
oversight, the Committee will monitor the efforts of Treasury's
Office of Foreign Assets Control, which administers such
sanctions.
International Monetary Fund (IMF). The Committee will
consider the policies of the IMF to ensure effective use of
resources and appropriate alignment with U.S. interests to
promote economic growth and stability, including through
technical assistance that strengthens the capacity of Fund
members to prevent money laundering and the financing of
terrorism. The Committee will review the statutorily required
annual report to Congress by the Secretary of the Treasury on
the state of the international financial system and the IMF.
U.S. Oversight over the Multilateral Development Banks
(MDBs) and Possible U.S. Contributions. The Committee will
consider any Administration request that the U.S. contribute to
the replenishment of the concessional lending windows at the
World Bank and other multilateral development banks, which
provide grants and below market-rate financing to the world's
poorest nations.
Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank). The
Committee will examine the operations of the Ex-Im Bank, the
authorization for which expires in September 2019.
International Trade. The Committee will oversee existing
and proposed trade programs and consider policies within the
Committee's jurisdiction to promote U.S. international trade so
that U.S. companies retain access to foreign markets and remain
globally competitive.
Exchange Rates. The Committee will review and assess the
semi-annual report to Congress from the Secretary of the
Treasury on International Economic and Exchange Rate Policies
pursuant to the Omnibus Trade Act of 1988.
Global Economic Conditions. The Committee will monitor
economic developments overseas--particularly in those countries
experiencing severe economic stress or dislocation--and assess
the effect of those developments on the U.S. economy.
Extractive Industries and Conflict Minerals. The Committee
will monitor the implementation of provisions in Title XV of
the Dodd-Frank Act imposing disclosure requirements relating to
so-called extractive industries and conflict minerals.
ILLICIT FINANCING
Terrorist and Illicit Financing. The Committee will monitor
the extent to which individuals or groups may fund terrorist or
other criminal acts by transmitting funds through the financial
system, including through the use of anonymous shell companies,
and will additionally monitor methods to detect and inhibit
illicit uses such as cyber extortion and cyber threats.
Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence (TFI). The
Committee will conduct oversight of TFI's development and
implementation of U.S. government strategies to combat
terrorist financing, including on matters relating to the
National Money Laundering Strategy.
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). The Committee will
monitor activities of OFAC, which is housed within TFI, on
matters relating to countering terrorist financing and illicit
financial flows.
Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). The
Committee will examine the operations of the FinCEN, which is
housed within TFI, and its ongoing efforts to implement its
regulatory mandates.
Information Sharing. The Committee will examine the extent
to which government agencies and financial institutions have
adequate capacity under current law to share information
concerning terrorist financing threats.
Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Countering Terrorist
Financing (CFT). The Committee will review the application and
enforcement of anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist
financing laws and regulations, and whether such laws and
regulations are sufficient to counter threats posed by
terrorist organizations and international criminal syndicates.
AUTHORIZATION OF PROGRAMS
With respect to capital markets matters, several lapsed
programs received appropriations in Fiscal Year 2016. The
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) received $1.605
billion in appropriations in FY 2016, though its authorization
lapsed in the prior fiscal year. Additionally, the SEC Office
of the Inspector General's authorization lapsed after FY 2011;
it received over $11.3 million in FY 2016 as part of the SEC's
appropriation. The Committee will perform oversight as
necessary to support activities related to the reauthorization
of the SEC and the Office of Inspector General.
With respect to financial institution matters, the
Community Development Financial Institutions Fund received FY
2016 appropriations without authorization. The Committee will
take appropriate action on matters relating to oversight and
authorization of this program.
With respect to housing and insurance matters, virtually
all Department of Housing and Urban Development programs within
the Committee's jurisdiction have lapsed authorizations but
received FY 2016 appropriations. The bulk of the lapsed
programs are within the Committee's housing assistance
jurisdiction and include the Housing Choice Voucher and Public
Housing programs authorized by the U.S. Housing Act of 1937
(P.L. 75-412). These programs represent the largest portion of
HUD's annual budget authority.
In addition, there are several programs created through the
Cranston-Gonzales National Affordable Housing Act, the Housing
and Community Development Act of 1974, and the Native American
Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act of 1992 that have
lapsed authorizations. The Committee will evaluate the efficacy
of these programs in alleviating poverty and increasing housing
affordability and how reforms can increase individual choice
and self-sufficiency.
Finally, the Department of the Treasury's Office of
Terrorism and Financial Intelligence and the Financial Crimes
Enforcement Network received FY 2016 appropriations without
authorization. During the 115th Congress, the Committee will
hold hearings and conduct oversight as appropriate to support
activities related to the reauthorization of these two
programs. In addition, certain headquarters functions of the
Treasury Department received FY 2016 appropriations despite
having lapsed authorizations. The Committee will take
appropriate actions relating to the oversight and authorization
of these functions.
COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS
AUTHORIZATION AND OVERSIGHT PLAN
Adopted January 24, 2017
1. INTRODUCTION
Pursuant to the requirements of clause 2(d) of House Rule
X, the Committee on Foreign Affairs (``the Committee'') has
adopted this authorization and oversight plan for the 115th
Congress, which will be shared with the Committee on Oversight
and Government Reform, the Committee on House Administration,
and the Committee on Appropriations. This plan summarizes the
Committee's authorization and oversight priorities for the next
two years, subject to the understanding that new developments
will undoubtedly affect priorities and work assignments in the
months ahead.
Budget authorization and agency oversight remain key
responsibilities of the legislative branch. Committee Rule 15
requires each Subcommittee to hold regular oversight hearings
that, according to usual practice, include an annual hearing on
the portions of the Administration's budget request within that
Subcommittee's jurisdiction. Oversight activities will thus be
coordinated between the Committee and the Subcommittees, in
order to facilitate comprehensive and strategic review of the
programs and agencies within the Committee's jurisdiction.
These Committee activities may include hearings, briefings,
investigations, Member or staff-level meetings, correspondence,
fact-finding travel, reports, and public statements. They may
also include effective use and review of reports by the
Government Accountability Office and by statutory Inspectors
General, as well as Congressional Notifications submitted by
executive branch agencies. The Committee also will consult, as
appropriate, with other committees of the House that may share
jurisdiction over relevant issues and activities.
The Committee's authorization and oversight activities will
emphasize:
effectiveness of U.S. foreign policy;
effective implementation of U.S. law;
the review of agencies and programs
operating under permanent statutory authority;
the elimination of programs and expenditures
that are inefficient, duplicative, or outdated; and
institutional reform, efficiency, and fiscal
discipline.
2. FUNDING AUTHORIZATION
a. Legislative Context: The agencies and programs within
the jurisdiction of the Foreign Affairs Committee are funded by
discretionary appropriations.\1\ Notwithstanding the
Committee's extensive authorization work, almost all of the
funding authorities within its legislative jurisdiction have
been lapsed for more than 13 years. The last enacted Foreign
Relations Authorization Act (P.L. 107-228) was passed in 2002,
and provided funding authority through fiscal year 2003.
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\1\A relatively minor amount of mandatory spending is involved with
the Foreign Service Retirement and Disability Fund.
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This lapse is not due to a lack of action by the Committee
or the House of Representatives: The Committee produced and the
House passed Foreign Relations Authorization bills in five of
the six Congresses that followed, under both Republican and
Democratic control, usually with overwhelming bipartisan
support.\2\ Unfortunately, the Senate did not act on any of
those bills.
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\2\Un-enacted, House-passed foreign relations funding authorization
bills include: H.R. 1950 in the 108th Congress; H.R. 2601 in the 109th
Congress; H.R. 2410 in the 111th Congress; H.R. 6018 in the 112th
Congress; and H.R. 2848 in the 113th Congress.
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Notwithstanding these challenges, during the 114th Congress
the Committee succeeded in authorizing, modernizing, and
reforming the $2.8 billion International Disaster Assistance
account for the first time since 1987 (P.L. 114-195),
reauthorizing and reforming the U.S. Commission on
International Religious Freedom (P.L. 114-71), fundamentally
restructuring and reforming the Broadcasting Board of Governors
(sec. 1288 of P.L. 114-328), and working with the Senate to
successfully enact a fiscal year 2017 Department of State
Authorities Act that provided authority for important embassy
security enhancements and personnel reforms (P.L. 114-323).
b. Funding Without Current Authorization: As mentioned,
nearly all of the agencies and entities within the Committee's
legislative jurisdiction are operating without current funding
authorizations, including:
The Department of State
United States Agency for International
Development
The Millennium Challenge Corporation
Broadcasting Board of Governors
International Border, Water, and Fisheries
Commissions
National Endowment for Democracy
United States Trade and Development Agency
Peace Corps
Inter-American Foundation
United States African Development Foundation
Overseas Private Investment Corporation