56 Recommendations for Congress: Shaping the FY 2022 National Defense Authorization Act and Defense Appropriations to Enhance the National Defense

Contact Your Elected Officials
The Heritage Foundation Header

SUMMARY

The National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2022 and the defense appropriations bill should keep the U.S. Armed Forces focused on the challenges of great-power competition. The new Administration has indicated that this focus is appropriate and ought to continue. The best way forward for the country and for the military is to build on the bipartisan consensus on the challenges posed by China and Russia and properly prepare for those. Heritage Foundation analysts provide 56 specific recommendations for how Congress can strengthen the national defense through the new legislation.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

  • The NDAA and defense appropriations bill shape the national defense and serve as pivotal guides for the direction of the military in the coming year.
  • The military is facing challenges in preparing to meet the requirements of the National Defense Strategy. Congress should provide resources to meet these needs.
  • In crafting these bills, policymakers should look to the Index of U.S. Military Strength as a guidepost and indicator of the health and needs of the military.

The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) has been a significant element of congressional legislation for the past six decades, having become law every year since 1962.1

Brendan W. McGarry and Valerie Heitshusen, โ€œDefense Primer: The NDAA Process,โ€ Congressional Research Service In Focus, January 6, 2021, https://fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/IF10515.pdf (accessed January 19, 2021). The legislation has evolved and changed since it was first passed, and its importance has increased with time. The NDAA is the focus of the annual calendar of the Committees on Armed Services in the House and in the Senate. It represents the bulk of congressional input on how the Armed Forces ought to work and how the United States military should position itself in the international arena.

Additionally, defense appropriations bills have funded the nationโ€™s military since its origins. Both bills are vital to shaping the nationโ€™s national defense. They serve as pivotal markers delineating the direction that the military will take in the coming year.

The Heritage Foundationโ€™sย Index of U.S. Military Strengthย serves as a guidepost and as indicator of the health of the military services. Theย Indexย reflects a frank assessment of the state of the Armed Forces and the work that lies ahead. Asย Indexย editor Dakota Wood explains:

In 2014, when The Heritage Foundation began tracking the status of the U.S. military with the โ€œIndex of U.S. Military Strength,โ€ the services were consistently deferring maintenance, postponing modernization programs, and not even considering force expansion. Job No. 1 was as basic as it gets: to improve readiness to assure the success of ongoing operationsโ€ฆ.

From 2018 onward, gains were made in unit and personnel readiness, maintenance backlogs were reduced, and major acquisition programs were stabilized. Meanwhile, policy decisions to reduce operations in the Middle East and South Asia brought much needed relief to the force, allowing the Pentagon to assess and begin adjusting to the reorientation demanded by the new National Defense Strategy. That strategy adopted a marked shift from counter-terrorism and counter-insurgency operations to meeting the rapidly evolving challenges posed by major powers such as China and Russia.2

The 2021 edition of the Index of U.S. Military Strength finds that,

[i]n the aggregate, the United Statesโ€™ military posture is rated โ€œmarginalโ€ and features both positive and negative trends: progress in bringing some new equipment into the force, filling gaps in manpower, and rebuilding stocks of munitions and repair parts alongside worrisome trends in force readiness, declining strength in key areas like trained pilots, and continued uncertainty across the defense budget.3

Dakota L. Wood, ed., โ€œExecutive Summary,โ€ 2021 Index of Military Strength (Washington, DC: The Heritage Foundation, 2020), p. 20, https://www.heritage.org/military-strength.

The task of lessening that uncertainty in the defense budget falls to lawmakers in crafting both the NDAA and the defense appropriations bill. In this fashion, thisย Backgrounderย outlines recommendations on how to craft these bills in a way that strengthens the national defense.

By Frederico Bartels
Frederico Bartels is a senior policy analyst for defense budgeting at The Heritage Foundation’s Davis Institute.

Read Full Article on Heritage.org or in the PDF Report below.

56 Recommendations for Congress: Shaping the FY 2022 National Defense Authorization Act and Defense Appropriations to Enhance the National Defense PDF

56-recommendation-for-Congress-NDAA

The Heritage Foundation
The Heritage Foundationhttps://www.heritage.org/
The Heritage Foundation formulates and promotes public policies based on free enterprise, limited government, individual freedom, traditional values, and strong national defense.

Was Texas Storm Manmade?

Another โ€œ1-in-100 yearsโ€ weather event in Kerr County happened next to a Texas designated โ€œWeather Modification Map of Rain-Enhancement Projects in Texasโ€.

The America Party Will Harm Democrats The Most

Elon Musk formed the America Party after an X poll asking his followers if they wanted โ€œindependence from the two-party system!

Democrats Exhibit the Dunning-Kruger Effect (DKE)

โ€œThe Dunning-Kruger effect is a cognitive bias where people with low ability at a task overestimate their competence, while those with high ability underestimate their competence.

250 Countdown

Those 56 intrepid men who signed put their very lives, honor and fortunes on the line. There was no auto-quill to accommodate their signatures.ย 

How the Senate Parliamentarian Changed the OBBB

An unelected bureaucrat does a important job in the U.S. Senate. Elizabeth MacDonough enforces senate rules on Trumpโ€™s โ€œOne Big Beautiful Billโ€.

Trial Begins Over Trump Adminโ€™s Deportations of Pro-Palestinian Students

A trial over President Trumpโ€™s attempts to deport pro-Palestinian activists began on July 7 with attorneys debating free speech.

Man Killed After Opening Fire at Border Patrol Facility in Texas

27-year-old man armed with a rifle was killed after opening fire outside Border Patrol facility in McAllen, TX, prompting shootout with feds and local police.

California Rejects Federal Push to End Transgender Participation in School Sports

CA education officials are refusing to end policies allowing transgender students to participate in school sports consistent with their gender identities.

Amazon Prime Day Set to Lift US Online Sales by $23.8 Billion

Online spending in the United States is expected to surge by $23.8 billion during Amazonโ€™s expanded Prime Day event from July 8 to July 11.

Trump to Extend Tariff Deadline to Aug. 1, Keep Rates at 10 Percent During Talks

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that Trump will sign the order to move the deadline to Aug. 1 from its current date of July 9.

DOJ, FBI Find Epstein Committed Suicide, Had No โ€˜Client Listโ€™

Jeffrey Epstein committed suicide and had no โ€œclient list,โ€ according to the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the FBI.

National Weather Service Fully Staffed During Deadly Texas Flooding: White House

White House press sec. Karoline Leavitt told reporters that the National Weather Service had a full staff on hand to handle the Central Texas flooding.

US Removes Terrorist Designation for Al Qaeda Affiliate in Syria

The State Department has removed from its list of foreign terrorist organizations Al Qaedaโ€™s affiliate in Syria, Jabhat al-Nusra.
spot_img

Related Articles