Norman D. Dicks: “It has, once again, been an honor to work with my friend from Florida, Chairman Bill Young, to prepare the Defense…”

“It has, once again, been an honor to work with my friend from Florida, Chairman Bill Young, to prepare the Defense appropriations bill for FY 2012. In the longstanding tradition of this committee, the bill has been prepared on a bipartisan basis, and I support the bill. I know that Chairman Rogers will be glad to hear that. I am happy to report that the bill provides the funds necessary to support our troops both at home and in the field. It also makes the investment in research and development and acquisition needed to fully equip our troops and maintain our Nation's technological edge. {time} 1800 Within the funds provided, and after careful review, the committee exercised its constitutional responsibility to allocate resources to those programs that best support the requirements of our military forces. In writing this bill, the committee had to make hard choices. The allocation for this bill is $530 billion, $9 billion below the request. While this is $17 billion above the fiscal year 2011-enacted level, much of the increase is absorbed by the military pay, operation and maintenance, and the Defense Health Program accounts. The bill also provides the funds needed to support U.S. service personnel. Examples of this include the military pay accounts fund at a 1.6 percent raise, consistent with the budget request and the level included in the House-passed fiscal year 2012 armed services authorization bill.…”