Defense Flexibility Act

[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2883 Introduced in House (IH)]

113th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2883

To provide, for purposes of mitigating the effects of a sequestration, 
  the Secretary of Defense transfer authority with respect to amounts 
   made available to the Department of Defense in fiscal years 2014 
                 through 2021, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 31, 2013

   Mr. Cooper (for himself and Mr. Ryan of Wisconsin) introduced the 
 following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Appropriations

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To provide, for purposes of mitigating the effects of a sequestration, 
  the Secretary of Defense transfer authority with respect to amounts 
   made available to the Department of Defense in fiscal years 2014 
                 through 2021, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Defense Flexibility Act''.

SEC. 2. FLEXIBILITY FOR DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE BUDGET CUTS DUE TO 
              SEQUESTRATION.

    (a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
            (1) Former Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta has stated 
        that the budget cuts to the Department of Defense due to 
        sequestration would deeply damage the Nation's national 
        security.
            (2) General William Shelton, Commander, Air Force Space 
        Command, has testified that the budget cuts to the Department 
        of Defense due to sequestration have created ``chaos'' and 
        ``the chaos created cannot be overstated''.
            (3) Martin Dempsey, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, 
        testified about sequestration and noted, ``Sequestration leaves 
        me three places to go to find the additional money: operations, 
        maintenance, and training. That's the definition of a hollow 
        force.''.
            (4) Regarding the impact of sequestration, the Nation's 
        military leaders have said it will cause ``severe and 
        irreversible impact'', ``crisis response will be significantly 
        degraded'', and ``cuts of this magnitude would be catastrophic 
        to the military''.
            (5) The Nation's military leaders have written to the 
        Committee on Armed Services of the House of Representatives 
        saying the readiness of the Armed Forces is at a tipping point, 
        a hollow force is about to be created, and they are requesting 
        ``flexibility to properly shape the best military force in the 
        world''.
            (6) The Nation's defense leaders need flexibility to manage 
        these budget cuts so the national security is not compromised 
        and their warnings about unacceptable risk, hollow force, 
        chaos, and loss of faith may be averted.
    (b) Transfer Authority.--In addition to any transfer authority 
otherwise available, and subject to subsections (c) and (d), of the 
amounts appropriated to the Department of Defense in any of fiscal 
years 2014 through 2021, the Secretary of Defense may transfer any 
appropriation subject in such a fiscal year to reduction under a 
sequestration order issued pursuant to section 254 of the Balanced 
Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 between such 
appropriations, to address an urgent national priority or the 
consequences of a national emergency resulting from such sequestration, 
as determined by the Secretary of Defense.
    (c) Limitation.--The amount transferred to an appropriation under 
subsection (b) shall not exceed the amount by which such appropriation 
is reduced under the sequestration order referred to in such 
subsection.
    (d) Requirement To Merge With Recipient Appropriation.--Amounts 
transferred under subsection (b) shall be merged with the appropriation 
or fund to which transferred.
    (e) Congressional Notification Required.--Amounts transferred under 
subsection (b) shall not be available for obligation unless the 
Secretary of Defense notifies the Committees on Armed Services of the 
House of Representatives and the Senate at least 30 days in advance of 
such transfer.
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