(new information in italics)
$1.067 billion: Total cost of Omnibus bill
2,009: Total pages of the bill
$573 billion: Total cost of Pentagon budget
$607 billion: Total cost of national defense budget category 050, Pentagon plus Department of Energy weapons programs plus the Overseas Contingency Operations account
The bill includes $514 billion for the base Pentagon budget. It also includes $74 billion for the slush fund called loosely the Overseas Contingency Operations account, which includes $59 billion for the Pentagon. The $573 billion for defense is $5 billion less than the President’s request and $19 billion more than what was enacted for FY 2015.
The most ironic line in the Democrat’s Senate Appropriations Committee press release: “The Subcommittee’s allocation eliminates the OCO gimmick.” Aside from $74 billion in the account.
Provides funding for the following programs:
- $1.4 billion for the new strategic nuclear-armed submarines (Ohio replacement program), which was the Pentagon request
- $736 million for the new long range strategic bomber, a reduction of $510 million from the request of $1.2 billion “to rephase funds to current schedule”
- $75 million for the Intercontinental Continental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) replacement program, which was the Pentagon request
- $16 million for a new long-range cruise missile, a reduction of $20.5 million from the $37 million requested due to “execution delays”
- $1.3 billion for the ground based mid-course missile defense system, small adjustment from the Pentagon request
- $89 million for conventional prompt global strike development and flight test, an increase of $10 million from the Pentagon request
- $20 million added to initiate the multi-object kill vehicle (MOKV) and $10 million added for technology for the MOKV.
- $700 million for chemical weapons destruction, a reduction of $20 million
- $359 million for the Cooperative Threat Reduction non-proliferation program$8.8 billion for nuclear weapons work in the Department of Energy budget, an increase of $615 million from last year
- $250 million for Ukraine defensive equipment and training
- $8.1 billion for the Missile Defense Agency, an increase of $175 million from the request
- $5.7 billion for F-35 procurement for 3 more planes than requested
Notable Provisions in the bill:
- Bars closing of the Guantanamo Bay prison
- Dropped House-passed provision providing funding through transfer authority to a National Sea-Based Deterrence Fund to pay for new nuclear-armed submarines.
- Bars spending on nuclear armed missile defense interceptors (Section 8076)
- Bars reductions or preparation for reductions of any deployed or non-deployed nuclear strategic delivery systems or launchers below New START levels (Section 8112)
- Bars spending to implement the Arms Trade Treaty (Section 8118)
- Bars retirement or preparations for retirement of A-10 aircraft (Section 8123)
- Bars any preparations for a new round of base closures (Section 8132)
- Rejects Pentagon request for $600 million for the Syria train-and-equip program but permits transfer of other funds for this purpose.
- States Pentagon is working to achieve ‘auditability” by 2017, but does not require it.
Among the add-ons from the Pentagon’s original request:
- $350 million for 5 F/A-18 Super Hornets for the Navy.
- $660 million to the President’s request for 7 E/A-18G Growlers for the Navy.
- F-35 Lightning II Procurement:
- $294 million for three Air Force aircraft.
- $780 million for six Marine Corps aircraft.
- $255 million for two Navy aircraft.
- Adds $329.8 million to the President’s request for Israeli missile defense programs.
- Adds $138.8 million to the President’s request for seven additional Blackhawks for the Army National Guard.
- Adds $1 billion to the President’s request for an additional DDG-51 Destroyer and $635 million for an Afloat Forward Staging Base.
- Adds $1 billion for national guard and reserve equipment
