Defense Budget

NSN Urges Congress to Vote “NO” on NDAA November 4, 2015 Dear Senator: The undersigned human rights, civil liberties, national security, and religious organizations write to strongly urge you to vote “NO” on the latest version of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2016 (NDAA). The harmful and unwarranted transfer restrictions in the current version of the bill will make closing the Guantanamo detention facility much more difficult and continue the practice of indefinite detention without charge or trial. We ask you to vote against the latest version of the bill. In his Veto Message, President Obama stated that by failing “to remove the unwarranted restrictions on the transfer of detainees…[the NDAA] seeks to impose more onerous [restrictions].” Further, the president made clear… Read More ›

NSN backs President’s NDAA veto threat October 19, 2015 | THE HILL Dozens of progressive outside groups are pushing President Obama to veto an annual defense bill over extra war funds. Thirty-seven groups sent a letter to Obama on Friday voicing their support for his threat to send the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) back to Congress because of the extra $38 billion in Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) funding. “We believe that the separate funding stream in the form of the Overseas Contingency Operations Account is being used to shield the Pentagon from the pressure meant to be produced by the Budget Control Act caps, while none of that relief is being offered to the other spending bills which fund the vital needs of all Americans,… Read More ›

Letter to House of Representatives Urges ‘No’ Vote on NDAA Conference Bill September 30, 2015 Vote “NO” on the Conference Report for H.R. 1735, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2016 NDAA Would Block Closure of the Guantanamo Detention Facility and Continue Indefinite Detention Without Charge or Trial Dear Representative: The undersigned human rights, civil liberties, national security, and religious organizations write to strongly urge you to vote “NO” on final passage of the conference report for H.R. 1735, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2016 (NDAA). The harmful and unwarranted transfer restrictions in the bill could block the closing of the Guantanamo detention facility and continue the practice of indefinite detention without charge or trial. We ask you to vote… Read More ›

NSN Cosign Letter on NDAA Cited in Hill Article October 1, 2015 | THE HILL A group of 14 human rights, civil liberties, national security and religious nonprofits is urging lawmakers to vote against the defense policy bill before them Thursday because it would keep the Guantanamo Bay military facility open for another year. “The harmful and unwarranted transfer restrictions in the bill could block the closing off the Guantanamo detention facility and continue the practice of indefinite detention without charge or trial,” the groups wrote in a letter to representatives. “We ask you to vote again final passage of the bill.” The House is scheduled to vote on the 2016 National Defense Authorization Act on Thursday…The bill would also make it slightly more difficult to… Read More ›

F-35: The Pentagon’s $1,500,000,000,000 Failure, with Bill French August 14, 2015 | The Zero Hour NSN Policy Analyst, Bill French, discusses the high cost and low benefits of the F-35 program. To watch the original interview posting, click here.   Read More ›

Thunder without Lightning: The High Costs and Limited Benefits of the F-35 Program Policy Report by Bill French August 2015 The National Security Network (NSN) is pleased to release a new policy report, Thunder without Lightning: The High Costs and Limited Benefits of the F-35. According to our analysis, the F-35 lacks the capabilities to execute its primary mission, and costs too much relative to its predecessors. The Department of Defense should examine ways to reduce its commitment to this albatross of an acquisition program. To read the full report, click here. From the report: “To perform against near-peer adversaries, the F-35 will have to be capable of executing a range of missions, from defeating enemy aircraft to penetrating enemy air defenses to strike surface… Read More ›

Unpacking the National Defense Authorization Act May 12, 2015   On May 6th, National Security Network and the Pentagon Budget Campaign co-hosted a lunch panel discussion, “Unpacking the NDAA” for over 30 Hill staffers. The panel included presentations from Todd Harrison, Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, Mandy Smithberger, Project on Government Oversight, and Ben Friedman, Cato Institute, and was moderated by Wendy Jordan, Taxpayers for Common Sense. Harrison outlined budget caps levels under the Budget Control Act and discussed areas of efficiency reforms that were included and not included in the NDAA. Friedman discussed budgetary gimmicks in the Overseas Contingency Operations account and key areas where the Pentagon needed to make strategic choices. Smithberger highlighted particular weapons programs full of waste that were cut… Read More ›

Maj. Gen. Paul Eaton (Ret.) Signs Open Letter Warning of Imbalances in Defense Budget May 1, 2015 Maj. Gen. Paul Eaton (Ret.), Senior Advisor at the National Security Network, signed an open letter calling for Defense and Congressional leaders to address “growing imbalances within the defense budget that threaten the health and viability of America’s military power.” The letter, a part of the Defense Reform Consensus project, included 38 signatories from 15 think tanks and universities, including the American Enterprise Institute, the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, and the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Significant quotes from the letter: too much of the defense budget is currently consumed by institutional inefficiencies, some of which are mandated by law. This is leaving a smaller share of… Read More ›

An Updated NDAA Falls Short of Real Reform May 1, 2015 This week, the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) was marked up in the House Armed Services Committee and now waits to head to the floor for additional work. While the bill takes the important step of modernizing the outdated military retirement system, it stops well short of the kind of reforms and choices needed to sustain American military power efficiently and effectively. Overdue cost-savings reforms like paring down the Pentagon’s bloated civilian work force or closing excess bases were either not tackled or explicitly prohibited in the bill. Meanwhile, Congress is keeping its Overseas Contingency Operation (OCO) funding $38 billion above the president’s request, ensuring that the war fund actually serves as a slush… Read More ›

Letter to Senate Urges “No” Vote on Budget Resolution Conference Report May 1, 2015 Dear Senator: On behalf of the undersigned organizations and our combined memberships, we urge you to oppose the Fiscal Year 2016 Budget Resolution conference report scheduled for votes this week. The conference report contains serious fiscal concerns, particularly related to billions of dollars being allocated toward the Pentagon’s war budget for ill-defined purposes. The conferees agreed to add $38 billion to the Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) account, an emergency account that has been used to pay for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. This brings the new total to $89 billion in addition to the $523 billion 050 defense budget. An additional $7 billion has been added in the Overseas Contingency… Read More ›