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News and updates

House Considers NDAA Today

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The House will debate and vote on the compromise National Defense Authorization Act today, likely before noon.

The measure is expected to pass, though it is unclear by how wide a margin. The White House hasn’t indicated where President Barack Obama will come down on the final bill, though it leaves out many of the most controversial provisions that drew Democratic opposition and a veto threat from the administration.

The compromise NDAA ditched the contentious riders, including provisions on the greater sage grouse and workplace protections based on sexual orientation. It’s also expected to include $9 billion on top of the Pentagon’s budget request, incorporating the administration’s $5.8 billion war supplemental request as well as funding to cover military readiness shortfalls.

For FY2017, the NDAA conference agreement would authorize Department of Defense (DoD) Basic Research (6.1) at $2.142 billion (FY16 is $2.309 billion), Science and Technology (6.1-6.3) at $12.489 billion (FY16 is $13.251 billion), and Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) at $2.957 billion (FY16 is $2.891 billion).

The NDAA conference also would extend the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) program until FY2022 (Sec. 1834). The bill would not make any changes to the SBIR/STTR set-aside amounts.

The conference agreement would establish the Manufacturing Engineering Education program (Sec.215), to award grants to industry, non-profits, universities or consortiums of such groups, to enhance or establish new programs in manufacturing engineering education. The Manufacturing Engineering Education program language is a slightly modified version of the Manufacturing Universities language originally included in the Senate-passed FY2017 NDAA bill.

 The FY2017 NDAA report, summary fact sheet and joint explanatory statement are posted here.

The Senate is expected to consider the bill next week.

Mattis for SECDEF

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President-elect Trump has named James Mattis to be the Secretary of Defense.

President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Pentagon is largely credited with inspiring the Department of Defense’s operational renewable energy initiatives.

Retired Marine Gen. James Mattis, who retired in 2013 from his post as head of U.S. Central Command, has been an outspoken critic of the Obama administration and the Iran nuclear deal since he retired in 2013 following a 41-year career in the Marines. Mattis led the Marines into Kuwait during the Persian Gulf War and the initial wave into Afghanistan and Iraq in 2001 and 2003.

It was during his time in Iraq that Mattis noticed that service members under his command were trying to move faster than fuel supplies could accommodate, requiring forces to slow down for resupply chains. The observation led Mattis to famously ask Congress, in a post-combat report, to “unleash” the military “from the tether of fuel.”

Mattis’ report prompted the Pentagon to take a closer look at its supply chain, with DOD ultimately finding that by 2009 more than 3,000 troops and civilian contractors had been killed or wounded protecting convoys, 80 percent of which were transporting truck fuel.

DOD began a number of efforts to reduce soldiers’ reliance on oil in combat, including the development of solar blankets to provide energy to Marines on foot patrol, and more energy-efficient generators that could power entire forward operating bases.

Those steps are likely to stay in place under Mattis’ leadership, and the use of renewables in the field has a clear tie to saving time and lives.

Cures Passes House

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Last night, the House approved, 392-26, the 21st Century Cures Act, amended by a Manager’s Amendment submitted by House Energy and Commerce Chair Fred Upton (R-MI). While the Manager’s Amendment modifies slightly the allocation of funding in the NIH Innovation Account on an annual basis, it maintains the overall level of funding in the Account at a total of $4.796 billion between FYs 2017 and 2026. For the Precision Medicine Initiative, the Amendment provides $1.455 billion between FYs 2017 and 2026; for BRAIN, $1.511 billion between FYs 2017 and 2026; for cancer research, $1.8 billion between FYs 2017 and 2023; and for clinical research to advance regenerative medicine using adult stem cells, the Amendment provides $30 million between FYs 2017 and 2020.

The overwhelming vote tally gained more Republican votes and registered the same level of Democratic support when compared to the vote on a previous 2015 bill version (HR 6).

The legislation now moves to the Senate for consideration next week.

White House Supports Cures

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Late yesterday, the White House issued a Statement of Administrative Policy (SAP) in support of the 21st Century Cures legislation, which is on the House Floor today.

The SAP expressly calls out the Innovation Fund in the measure, which targets funding for several of the Administration’s health care priorities, as a highlight of the measure.

Read the SAP here. 

No Additional Funding for NIH in CR

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Senate Appropriations Labor-HHS subcommittee Chairman Roy Blunt (R-MO) has said today that the CR will not include the $2b bump to NIH that was included in the Senate bill. The CR, in whatever duration, should contain level funding of $32.084b or FY 2016 levels. There has been a research and health community effort to increase funding for NIH as an anomaly to the CR, but Blunt said today that it will not happen.

While this does not mean that an ultimate increase to NIH will not happen in a final FY 2017 package, it will not happen in the stopgap spending measure.

Additionally, there is now tension between the House and Senate as to when to end the CR. House is looking towards a March ending and the Senate wants a May date.