by Sandra Erwin
In a year that has been marked by congressional paralysis it is remarkable that both the Senate and the House approved a $440 million funding boost for the Pentagon’s missile-defense program within a matter of weeks.
With North Korea threatening to strike the United States and allies with nuclear-armed missiles, this was not a budget action that Congress wanted to punt to next year. Frequent trips to Capitol Hill by Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Joseph Dunford also helped to expedite the process.
“I, for one, very much appreciate your regular briefings that you’ve had with this committee. I think they’ve been constructive,” Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, told Dunford Tuesday during a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Sullivan, a long-time proponent of missile defense programs, credited Dunford for helping to build consensus. He said the general’s outreach was instrumental in mobilizing bipartisan support for additional funding.
The reprogramming approved by the Senate and the House gives the Pentagon access to $440 million from unspent fiscal year 2017 dollars to buy more ground-based interceptors, sensors and ship-based antimissile systems.
The Pentagon sent a missile defense supplemental budget request to Congress in early August. The initial funding proposal submitted by the Trump administration in May had actually cut $300 million from missile defense program. The administration sought $7.8 billion for the Pentagon’s Missile Defense Agency, compared to $8.2 billion appropriated by Congress for 2017. The House and Senate versions of the 2018 National Defense Authorization Act recommend $9.2 billion and $8.9 billion, respectively.
http://spacenews.com/lawmakers-promise-pentagon-a-lot-of-support-for-ballistic-missile-defense/
