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1 [1] (November 28, 2016)

handle is hein.crs/crsmthmbbyz0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Df Congressional Research Service Informing th legisi ative debate since 1914 Defense Primer: Navigating the NDAA November 28, 2016 The annual National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) has a legacy of being signed into law each year for 54 consecutive years. Hence, enactment has come to be expected and the bill is seen by many as a reliable legislative vehicle for a range of policy matters. The NDAA routinely exceeds 1,000 pages. It is comprised of policy provisions and annual authorizations of appropriations in excess of $600 billion. Unlike an appropriations bill, the NDAA does not provide budget authority for DOD. Instead, the NDAA establishes or continues DOD programs, policies, projects, or activities and provides guidance on how the appropriated funds are to be used in carrying out those authorized activities. This primer provides an overview of the structure and organization of the NDAA. Organization of the NDAA The NDAA establishes policy and authorizes appropriations for the Department of Defense (DOD), nuclear weapons programs of the Department of Energy, and the DOD elements of the Intelligence Community. The NDAA has been generally consistent in form and organization over time. Typically, there is a House legislative vehicle (e.g. H.R. 4909) as well as a separate Senate vehicle (e.g. S. 2943), though sometimes the Senate committee alternative is proposed as an amendment to the House bill. The bills are typically broken into 4 divisions. * Division A: Department of Defense Authorizations * Division B: Military Construction Authorizations * Division C: Department of Energy National Security Authorizations and Other Authorizations * Division D: Funding Tables Legislative Provisions Divisions A, B and C are organized by title, subtitle and section. For example, in Division A, Title I covers Procurement, Title II covers Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation (RDT&E), Title III covers Operation and Maintenance (O&M), and so forth. Individual legislative provisions are assigned section numbers according to title and subtitle. A detailed table of contents (organized by division, title, subtitle, and section number) provides a complete list of items in the bill. Funding Tables Division D provides funding tables that specify dollar amounts authorized to be appropriated. The tables are organized by appropriation account and correspond to the associated legislative provisions. Funding provided for Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) is also specified in Division D, with each OCO table following the table that provides authorization of appropriations for base budget requirements. What's in a Committee Report? In addition to providing the legislative text and funding tables that comprise the NDAA, the House and Senate Armed Services Committees-the HASC and SASC- typically produce committee reports to accompany the bills. The reports provide rationale for the committee bill, explain committee actions, and provide further guidance and directives to government agencies. The committee may also prepare a classified annex to the report. Unlike the bill text, committee reports are not considered or amended during floor proceedings. In practice, the HASC and SASC reports mirror the organization of the bills, providing a section-by-section description of the bill text (by division, title, subtitle, and section). They also include the results of committee roll call votes, additional views of members of the committee, items of special interest (ISIs), cost estimates and other relevant information, such as a comparison to current law. Section-by-Section Summaries The HASC and SASC reports each provide summaries of what each section of the proposed bill would do. Such summaries may provide additional context for the provision and may also express committee concerns or rationale behind inclusion of the related provision. Items of Special Interest There are generally two types of items of special interest (ISIs): ISIs that are directive, and those that are not. Directive ISIs, often referred to as directive report language, direct an individual (such as a senior DOD official) to take a specified action by a date certain. Although it is not legally binding, DOD generally regards directive report language as a congressional mandate and responds accordingly. Nondirective ISIs are statements of the committee's views, concerns, opinions, or rationale for acting. For example, a nondirective ISI may explain why the committee recommends an increase in funding for a particular project, or may note the committee's support for (or concern over) actions taken by the DOD or military services. Cost Estimates House and Senate rules require that a report on a measure that provides new budget authority must contain a statement from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projecting the cost of the bill for the first fiscal year affected and the four subsequent fiscal years. www.crs.gov 17-5700

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