On the recordMay 17, 2012
I am in opposition to redundant reporting and requests on items that are already available. Section 1045 of the FY12 National Defense Authorization Act, condition nine of the Senate's resolution of ratification for the New START Treaty, already requires almost exactly the same report as this amendment would require. But the President--not the Secretary of Defense or the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff--is required to provide this report forward. The report is required to be submitted whenever there is a shortfall in funding from the section 1251 plan levels. Because the FY12 omnibus appropriations resulted in a 5 percent shortfall, the reporting requirement was triggered, and the report was due in February. Congress has yet to receive the report. So perhaps one of the things that we need to do is to just have the administration file the reports that are already being requested instead of requiring an additional report. This amendment is duplicative of an existing reporting requirement. We think that we should work together to ensure that the administration provides us with the reports that are already due. We too have very serious concerns as to how this administration is moving forward with its New START implementation.…
