On Wednesday, U.S. Senator John McCain criticized Rep. Ann Kirkpatrich for her silence regarding the threat by President Obama to veto the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which is vital to Arizona’s military installations and U.S. national security.
“This legislation is crucial to strengthening Arizona’s important role in protecting our nation, and includes vital provisions to prevent the premature divestment of the A-10 at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, and funds millions in Arizona defense acquisition and military construction projects across our state,” said Senator John McCain. “It is deeply disturbing that Congresswoman Kirkpatrick has been totally silent as President Obama has threatened to veto this bill which is so important to Arizona and to America’s security. I urge Congresswoman Kirkpatrick to speak up for a change and demand that President Obama prioritize the well-being of our military men and women and the security of our nation by signing this critically important legislation.”
Yesterday, the Wall Street Journal Editorial Board wrote: “President Obama is determined to end his second term in another blaze of spending glory, and toward that end he’s taking the U.S. military hostage. That’s the way to understand his threat to veto the National Defense Authorization Act.” The piece concludes: “It’s hard to find a worse example of Washington dysfunction than a Commander in Chief, backed by fellow Democrats, who is willing to punish the military so he can break the little fiscal discipline that Congress has.”
The Washington Post Editorial Board recently criticized the President’s tactics by stating that “refusing to sign this bill would make history, but not in a good way.”
The provisions of the bill that are of critical importance to the State of Arizona are below:
ARIZONA-RELATED PROVISIONS OF THE FY 2016 NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT (NDAA)
The NDAA once again prevents any premature retirement of the A-10, which continues its vital role of protecting American service members and our allies in combat. Despite the Obama Administration’s repeated attempts to retire the A-10 fleet, the NDAA prohibits the Air Force from retiring any A-10 Warthogs and fully funds the flight hours, pilot training, fuel, and maintenance for all A-10s for the upcoming year. The NDAA also requires the Secretary of the Air Force to maintain a minimum of 171 combat-coded A-10 aircraft, many of which are stationed at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base (AFB) in Tucson, and directs the Government Accountability Office to conduct an investigation and review of the A-10’s close-air support mission.
The NDAA prevents the Air Force from following through on its proposal to retire seven EC-130H Compass Call electronic attack fleet airplanes stationed at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson. These jamming and surveillance aircraft are critical to protecting our airmen and women from sophisticated electronic attacks in conflicts across the Middle East such as Libya, Iraq and Afghanistan as well as against potential threats in the Pacific and Europe.
The NDAA ensures that Arizona’s small businesses continue to manufacture and innovate new weapons systems and defense technologies that our troops need to defend and protect the nation. The NDAA also removes bureaucratic hurdles and red tape so that non-traditional defense contracting companies in Arizona can benefit from fair and open competition in the defense market.
Additional NDAA provisions related to Arizona:
- Fully funds Army’s request for 64 Apache helicopters to be remanufactured in Mesa;
- Increases the military’s budget to purchase 49 additional Tomahawk missiles, which will be manufactured at Raytheon in Tucson;
- Increases the military’s budget by $140 million to purchase additional anti-tank missiles, which will be manufactured at Raytheon in Tucson;
- Allows the transfer of approximately 125-200 unneeded mobile homes from the Department of Defense to Native American tribes – for which the Navajo and other tribes have long advocated – at no cost to the American taxpayer.
The NDAA provides much-needed funding for military construction projects in Arizona, including:
- $16.9 million at Davis-Monthan AFB in Tucson for C-130 storage and cleaning facilities;
- $50.6 million at Marine Corps Air Station Yuma for aircraft maintenance facilities;
- $33 million at Luke AFB for an Air Force Squad Operations Facility;
- $13.2 million at Luke AFB for an aircraft maintenance hangar;
- $5.5 million at Luke AFB for a bomb maintenance facility;
- $5 million at Luke AFB for a fuel offloading facility; and
- $3.8 million at Fort Huachuca for communications facility renovations.
The NDAA also includes several measures that strengthen Arizona’s border security operations that keep communities safe across the U.S.-Mexico border, including:
- $45 million for Operation Phalanx, which would increase border security operations by the National Guard along the southern border and could result in an approximately 60 percent increase in aerial surveillance of the region;
- Up to $75 million in additional assistance to Customs and Border Protection operations to secure the southern border, which may include the deployment of personnel, surveillance assets, and intelligence support;
- $50 million to address U.S. Southern Command’s unfunded priorities to increase surveillance and interdiction operations in Central America, a primary transit point for illicit trafficking into the United States; and
- Enables the Secretary of Defense to transfer excess defense articles and equipment to the Department of Homeland Security for border security activities.