Key Amendments to House FY24 NDAA Would Improve Pentagon Oversight and Accountability

On behalf of the undersigned organizations, we urge that you and your colleagues on the House Committee on Rules make the following amendments to H.R. 2670, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2024, in order so that they might receive due consideration and a vote by the full House of Representatives:

• No. 31: Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), Chip Roy (R-Texas), Abigail Spanberger (D-Va.), Harriet Hageman (R-Wyo.): This amendment would repeal the dated and unused 2002 and 1991 Authorizations for Use of Military Force (AUMF) in Iraq. It is essential that Congress takes steps to restore their constitutional responsibilities in these serious matters and avoid the danger of potential misuse.
• No. 161: Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.): This amendment would require congressional approval of an AUMF for any further military actions in Syria, within one year of enactment.
• No. 435: Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), Tom McClintock (R-Calif.), Warren Davidson (R-Ohio), John Garamendi (D-Calif.): This amendment would repeal the statutory requirement that the Department of Defense (DOD) submit annual unfunded priorities lists to Congress outside the formal budget request process. Pentagon Comptroller Mike McCord writing on behalf of Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III, advised that Congress should “reconsider the merits of this approach,” explaining that the current statutory requirement was “not an effective way to illuminate our top joint priorities.”

The following amendments, which should likewise be made in order, would help address costly overcharging by defense contractors as recently reported by CBS News’ respected 60 Minutes news magazine broadcast:

• No. 302: Garamendi (D-Calif.), Chris Deluzio (D-Pa.), Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas): This amendment would clarify cost and pricing data requirements to ensure transparency in the absence of competition.
• No. 311: Deluzio (D-Pa.), Doggett (D-Texas), Garamendi (D-Calif.), Jill Tokuda (D-Hawai’i), Jimmy Panetta (D-Calif.), Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), Ro Khanna (D-Calif.): This amendment would lower the mandatory disclosure threshold from $2 million to $750,000, its pre-2018 level, providing additional cost information for more Pentagon contracts.
• No. 1260: Doggett (D-Texas), Deluzio (D-Pa.), Garamendi (D-Calif.), Khanna (D-Calif.): This amendment would implement the recommendation of Director of Defense Pricing, Shay Assad, to establish a panel of government and industry experts to review contracts for DOD purchases, from weapons systems to services, in order to identify potential overcharging and to make recommendations for future contract reforms.
• No. 1306: Doggett (D-Texas), Garamendi (D-Calif.), Khanna (D-Calif.), Deluzio (D-Pa.): This amendment would end the commercial exemption for access to critical information used in evaluating price reasonableness.

Sincerely,

R Street Institute

Taxpayers for Common Sense