Appropriations bill FY99, Defense

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Title I: Military Personnel

Title II: Operation and Maintenance

Title III: Procurement

Title IV: Research, Development, Test and Evaluation

Title V: Revolving and Management Funds

Title VI: Other Department of Defense Programs

Title VII: Related Agencies

Title VIII: General Provisions

Title IX: Monitoring of Human Rights Abuses in China

Title X: Human Rights in China

Subtitle A: Forced Abortions in China

Subtitle B: Freedom of Religion in China

Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 1999 - Title I: Military Personnel - Appropriates funds for FY 1999 for active-duty and reserve personnel in the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, and Air Force and for National Guard personnel in the Army and Air Force.

Title II: Operation and Maintenance - Appropriates funds for FY 1999 for the operation and maintenance (O&M) of the Army, Navy, and Air Force (including a transfer of funds in each case), the Marine Corps, the defense agencies, the reserve components, and the Army and Air National Guards. Appropriates funds for: (1) overseas contingency operations (including a transfer of funds); (2) the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces; (3) environmental restoration for the Army, Navy, Air Force, and defense-wide (including a transfer of funds in each case); (4) environmental restoration at former defense sites (including a transfer of funds); (5) overseas humanitarian, disaster, and civic aid; (6) nuclear threat reduction programs with respect to republics of the former Soviet Union; (7) quality of life enhancements, defense (including a transfer of funds); (8) renovation of the Pentagon (including a transfer of funds); and (9) morale, welfare, and recreation and personnel support for contingency deployments (including a transfer of funds).

Title III: Procurement - Appropriates funds for FY 1999 for procurement by the armed forces and its reserve components of aircraft, missiles, weapons, tracked combat vehicles, ammunition, and shipbuilding and conversion and for other procurement. Appropriates funds for defense-wide procurement and for National Guard and reserve equipment.

Title IV: Research, Development, Test and Evaluation - Appropriates funds for FY 1999 for research, development, test and evaluation by the armed forces and defense agencies. Appropriates funds for the Directors of Test and Evaluation and Operational Test and Evaluation. Earmarks specified funds for the development of electric and hybrid-electric vehicles.

Title V: Revolving and Management Funds - Appropriates funds for: (1) the defense working capital funds (including a transfer of funds); and (2) programs under the National Defense Sealift Fund.

Title VI: Other Department of Defense Programs - Appropriates funds for: (1) the Department of Defense (DOD) medical and health care programs, with an earmark of funds for research and surveillance activities relating to Lyme disease and other tick-borne diseases; (2) the destruction of lethal chemical agents and munitions; (3) drug interdiction and counter-drug activities, defense (including a transfer of funds); and (4) expenses and activities of the Office of Inspector General in carrying out the Inspector General Act of 1978.

Title VII: Related Agencies - Appropriates funds for: (1) the Central Intelligence Agency Retirement and Disability System Fund; (2) expenses of the Intelligence Community Management Account; (3) authorized payments to the Kaho'olawe Island Conveyance, Remediation, and Environmental Restoration Fund; and (4) national security scholarships, fellowships, and grants (using funds derived from the National Security Education Trust Fund).

Title VIII: General Provisions - Specifies authorized, restricted, and prohibited uses of appropriated funds.

(Sec. 8008) Authorizes procurement funds appropriated under this Act to be used for multiyear procurement contracts for E-2C aircraft, the Longbow Hellfire missile, and medium tactical vehicle replacement.

(Sec. 8010) Prohibits during FY 1999 the management by end strengths of DOD civilian personnel.

(Sec. 8019) Authorizes the Secretary of Defense (Secretary) to establish with host governments of NATO-member countries an account for the deposit of residual value amounts negotiated in the return of U.S. military installations to such countries.

(Sec. 8031) Authorizes DOD to incur up to $350 million in obligations for DOD personnel compensation, military construction projects, and supplies and services in anticipation of receipts of contributions from the Government of Kuwait.

(Sec. 8032) Earmarks funds from this Act for the Civil Air Patrol.

(Sec. 8033) Prohibits the use of funds from this Act to establish a new DOD federally funded research and development center (FFRDC). Limits the Federal compensation to be paid to DOD FFRDC members or consultants. Prohibits the use of FY 1999 DOD FFRDC funds for new building construction, cost-sharing payments for projects funded by Government grants, absorption of cost overruns, or certain charitable contributions. Limits the staff years of technical effort that may be funded for DOD FFRDCs from FY 1999 funds. Directs the Secretary to report to the defense committees concerning such staff year allocations.

(Sec. 8040) Directs the President to include within each fiscal year budget the amounts requested for administrative activities of DOD, the military departments, and the defense agencies.

(Sec. 8046) Prohibits the use of funds: (1) for the modification of an aircraft, weapon, ship, or other equipment that the military department concerned plans to retire or otherwise dispose of within five years after completion of the modification; (2) by a DOD entity without compliance with the Buy American Act; (3) for assistance to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea unless specifically appropriated for such purpose; (4) to reduce the civilian medical and medical support personnel assigned to military treatment facilities below the September 30, 1997, level; and (5) to transport chemical munitions to the Johnston Atoll for storage or demilitarization (with an exception and an authorized wartime waiver by the President).

(Sec. 8049) Earmarks funds appropriated under this Act for the mitigation of adverse environmental impacts on Indian lands resulting from DOD activities.

(Sec. 8056) Authorizes DOD to lease real and personal property at the Adak Naval Air Facility, Alaska.

(Sec. 8057) Rescinds specified funds from various accounts under prior defense appropriations Acts.

(Sec. 8064) Prohibits the transfer to any other department or agency, except as specifically provided in an appropriations law, of funds available to DOD or the Central Intelligence Agency in any fiscal year for drug interdiction and counter-drug activities.

(Sec. 8071) Directs the Secretary to report quarterly to specified congressional committees setting forth all costs incurred by DOD in implementing or supporting United Nations (UN) Security Council resolutions.

(Sec. 8072) Prohibits FY 1998 DOD funds from being obligated or expended to transfer to another nation or international organization defense articles or services for use in any UN peacekeeping or peace enforcement operation, or for any other international peacekeeping, peace enforcement, or humanitarian assistance operation, unless specified congressional committees are given 15 days' advance notice.

(Sec. 8073) Directs the Secretary, to the extent authorized by law, to issue loan guarantees in support of U.S. defense exports not otherwise provided for, with a contingent liability limit of $15 billion. Requires quarterly reports to specified congressional committees on such loan guarantees.

(Sec. 8078) Authorizes the use of DOD O&M funds in support of U.S. missions and with eligible organizations and activities outside of DOD.

(Sec. 8081) Directs the Secretary, upon the enactment of this Act, to make specified transfers between various DOD accounts.

(Sec. 8082) Directs the Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller) to report to the defense committees identifying separately any activity for which the fiscal year 2000 budget request was reduced because the Congress appropriated funds above the President's request for that activity for FY 1999.

(Sec. 8084) Authorizes the Secretary to waive reimbursement of certain educational costs of the Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies for military officers and civilian officials of foreign countries if determined to be in the national security interest.

(Sec. 8086) Appropriates during FY 1998 amounts necessary for the O&M of Fisher houses.

(Sec. 8090) Directs DOD to submit to the defense committees a budget justification document for the active and reserve military personnel accounts which identifies the amounts requested by the President to be appropriated to DOD for military personnel in any budget request for FY 2000.

(Sec. 8093) Requires each budget request submitted by the President for FY 2000 and thereafter to separately identify all costs incurred by DOD to support NATO expansion.

(Sec. 8094) Authorizes the Secretary, on a case-by-case basis, to waive limitations on the procurement of defense items from a foreign country if: (1) the Secretary determines that such limitation would invalidate cooperative programs or reciprocal trade agreements for the procurement of defense items; and (2) such country does not discriminate against the same or similar defense items produced in the United States for that country. Provides exceptions.

(Sec. 8097) Reduces by $150 million the total amount appropriated for O&M under this Act to reflect savings from consolidations and personnel reductions mandated under the Defense Reform Initiative.

(Sec. 8098) Reduces by $400.6 million the total amount appropriated in this Act to reflect savings from revised economic assumptions, to be allocated among various DOD accounts.

(Sec. 8100) Authorizes the Secretary of the Navy to transfer naval vessels on a sale or combined sale-lease basis (in accordance with a specified amendment to be proposed to S. 2057 as filed in the Senate). Establishes in the Treasury the Defense Vessels Transfer Program Account for paying costs associated with vessel transfers.

(Sec. 8101) Enacts into law specified amendments to the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1999 which limit: (1) the Secretary's waiver authority with respect to maintaining certain cash balances in DOD working capital funds; and (2) the National Defense Stockpile disposal authority of the President.

(Sec. 8104) Appropriates funds for military personnel accounts within the active and reserve forces, as well as within the Army and Air Force National Guards. Decreases by $159 million the total amount available for Quality of Life Enhancements, Defense, allocating such reduction among military O&M accounts. Reduces by $24.668 million the total amount appropriated for National Guard and Reserve equipment.

(Sec. 8105) Appropriates funds for the Overseas Contingency Operations Transfer Fund, with transfer limitations and conditions.

(Sec. 8106) Prohibits funds appropriated or otherwise made available by this Act from being used for any deployment of U.S. military forces to Yugoslavia, Albania, or Macedonia unless and until the President reports to the Congress on specified matters regarding such deployment.

(Sec. 8107) Earmarks funds appropriated to various accounts under this Act for: (1) support of test and training operations at White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico, and Fort Bliss, Texas; (2) acoustic sensor technology development planning for DOD; (3) the DOD share of environmental restoration activities at Defense Logistics Agency inventory location 429 in Charleston, South Carolina; (4) the Strategic Materials Manufacturing Facility project; (5) the Assembled Chemical Weapons Assessment for demonstrations of technology and a pilot facility; (6) a vessel scrapping pilot program; (7) payments to subcontractors and suppliers for certain work performed at Fort Wainwright, Alaska; (8) the Electronic Circuit Board Manufacturing Development Center; (9) procurement of Multiple Integrated Laser Engagement System training equipment; (10) the Digital Intelligence Situation Mapboard; (11) the Shortstop Electronic Protection System; (12) advanced research on solid state dye lasers; (13) the integration and evaluation of a passenger safety system for heavy tactical trucks; (14) Persian Gulf illness research and development; (15) a Domestic Preparedness Sustainment Training Center at Pine Bluff Arsenal, Arkansas; (16) efforts associated with building and demonstrating a deployable mobile large aerostat system platform; (17) the management and conversion of Havre Air Force Base and Training Site, Montana, for public benefit purposes; (18) the development and testing of alternate turbine engines for missiles; and (19) converting the Eighth Regiment National Guard Armory into a Chicago Military Academy.

(Sec. 8109) Directs the Secretary to report to the appropriations committees on food stamp assistance for members of the armed forces.

(Sec. 8110) Directs the Comptroller General to study and report to the appropriations committees on issues relating to military family life, morale, and retention of members.

(Sec. 8111) Prohibits the use of funds to carry out any conveyance of land at the former Fort Sheridan, Illinois, unless such conveyance is consistent with a specified regional agreement among the communities and jurisdictions in the area and in accordance with provisions of the Military Construction Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1996.

(Sec. 8112) Directs the Secretary of the Air Force to convey to Newington, New Hampshire, specified real property at the former Pease Air Force Base, New Hampshire, known as the site of the old Stone School.

(Sec. 8115) Authorizes the Secretary to provide transportation on DOD aircraft for veterans in American Samoa who must be transported to Hawaii to receive veterans' hospital care.

(Sec. 8116) Directs the Secretary to report to the defense and appropriations committees regarding the potential for development at Ford Island within the Pearl Harbor Naval Complex, Hawaii, through an integrated resource plan incorporating both appropriated funds and one or more public-private ventures.

(Sec. 8117) Reduces by $8 million the amount available for S-3 weapon system improvement. Increases by such amount the funds available for a cyber-security program.

(Sec. 8118) Authorizes the Secretary of the Army to expend from any available funds $2 million for repair of the Korean War Veterans Memorial.

(Sec. 8120) Authorizes the Secretary of the Navy to lease to the University of Central Florida for up to 50 years such portions of the Naval Air Warfare Center, Training Systems Division, Orlando, Florida, as considered appropriate for the establishment of a center for research in the fields of law enforcement, public safety, civil defense, and national defense.

(Sec. 8122) Requires certain DOD considerations prior to the allocation of funds for the Next Generation Internet Initiative.

(Sec. 8125) Amends the Combatting Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction Act of 1996 with respect to the establishment of the Commission to Assess the Organization of the Federal Government to Combat the Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction to: (1) increase from eight to 12 the Commission's membership; and (2) extend the dates for its initial meeting and report to the Congress.

(Sec. 8127) Reduces by $10.981 million the amount available for development of the Army Joint Tactical Radio. Increases by such amount the funds available for the Army Data Distribution System development.

(Sec. 8132) Authorizes the Secretary of the Air Force to lease from the city of Phoenix, Arizona, real property known as Auxiliary Field 3 that was formerly an Air Force training and emergency field.

(Sec. 8134) Amends the Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 1997 to delay until June 30, 1999, the requirement that each DOD disbursement in an amount exceeding $3 million be matched to a particular obligation before such disbursement is made.

(Sec. 8136) Reduces by $9.827 million the amount available for development of the Navy Hard and Deeply Buried Target Defeat System. Increases by such amount the funds available for Consolidated Training Systems development.

(Sec. 8137) Directs the Comptroller General to report to the Congress a comprehensive assessment of the TRICARE program (a DOD managed health care program).

(Sec. 8138) Authorizes the Secretaries of the Army and Air Force to enter into multiyear leases of non-tactical fire fighting, crash rescue, or snow removal equipment. Limits such leases to ten-year periods, and subjects such leasing to available appropriations.

(Sec. 8142) Repeals certain limitations on the authority of the military departments to set rates and waive requirements for the reimbursement of expenses incurred for the educational instruction of foreign students at military service academies.

(Sec. 8143) Earmarks funds appropriated under title VI of this Act to fund the testing of alternative chemical demilitarization technologies under the Assembled Chemical Weapons Assessment and to carry out a related pilot program under a prior defense appropriations Act.

(Sec. 8144) Expresses the sense of the Senate that the President and the Secretary of State should: (1) support efforts to end the abduction of children by the Lord's Resistance Army in northern Uganda, secure their release, and facilitate their rehabilitation and reintegration into society; (2) not block efforts to establish 18 as the minimum age for participation in conflict; and (3) provide greater support to UN agencies and nongovernmental organizations in the rehabilitation and reintegration of former child soldiers.

(Sec. 8145) Provides for a specified obligation of funds appropriated under the Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 1998 for counterterror technical support.

(Sec. 8147) Amends the Soldiers' and Sailors' Civil Relief Act of 1940 to ensure the continuation of residency in a State, for purposes of voting for offices of the United States or such State, for military personnel who are absent due to military service. Requires each State to permit absentee registration by such personnel and to accept and process all such applications received at least 30 days before the election.

(Sec. 8149) Requires the Air National Guard, during the period between April 15 and October 15, 1999, to provide support at the Francis S. Gabreski Airport, Hampton, New York, for seasonal search and rescue mission requirements of the Coast Guard in the Hampton vicinity.

(Sec. 8150) Authorizes the Secretary to carry out a program to donate surplus dental equipment to Indian Health Service facilities and Federally-qualified health centers. Requires a program report.

(Sec. 8151) Directs the Secretary to report to the defense and appropriations committees on military dental care policies, practices, and experience with respect to the dependents of active-duty personnel who are 18 years of age and younger.

(Sec. 8152) Allows specified Army funds appropriated under this Act to be made available for eliminating the backlog of unpaid military retired pay. Requires a report from the Secretary of the Army concerning such backlog.

(Sec. 8153) Authorizes the Secretary to eliminate the backlog of incomplete actions on requests for replacement of medals and other military decorations.

(Sec. 8154) Authorizes the provision of tobacco cessation products and counseling to current military personnel, former military personnel entitled to retired pay, and their dependents.

(Sec. 8155) Makes certain funds appropriated under this Act available for: (1) the procurement of lightweight maintenance enclosures; and (2) support, O&M, and procurement with respect to drug interdiction efforts in the Caribbean and South America.

(Sec. 8157) Directs the Secretary to study and prescribe in regulations the policies, procedures, and practices necessary to ensure the maximum protection of the confidentiality of records of family advocacy services and other professional support services relating to incidents of sexual harassment, sexual abuse, and intrafamily abuse. Requires a report from the Secretary to the Congress on actions taken.

(Sec. 8158) Expresses the sense of the Congress that the United States should resolve the claims of the victims of the February 8, 1998, U.S. Marine Corps aircraft incident in Cavalese, Italy, as quickly and fairly as possible.

(Sec. 8159) Prohibits funds available under this Act from being used to support any training program involving a security force unit of a foreign country if the Secretary has received credible information from the State Department that a member of such unit has committed a gross violation of human rights, unless all necessary corrective steps have been taken. Requires the monitoring of all information received. Authorizes the Secretary to waive such prohibition under extraordinary circumstances and requires a report to specified committees and subcommittees explaining such circumstances, along with related information.

(Sec. 8160) Expresses the sense of the Congress that the readiness of U.S. military forces to execute the national security strategy is being eroded from a combination of declining defense budgets and expanded missions, including the peacekeeping mission in Bosnia, and that defense appropriations are not keeping up with military needs. Requires a report from the President to the defense and appropriations committees on U.S. military readiness, including an assessment of current and necessary force structure.

(Sec. 8161) Expresses the sense of the Senate that: (1) if the Congress decides to provide tax relief, reducing the burden of payroll taxes should be a top priority; and (2) the Congress and the President should work to reduce such payroll tax burden on American families.

Title IX: Monitoring of Human Rights Abuses in China - Political Freedom in China Act of 1998 - Calls upon the Secretary of State (Secretary, for purposes of this title) to: (1) request the immediate and unconditional release of Ngodrup Phuntsog and other political prisoners in Tibet and the People's Republic of China; (2) seek access for international humanitarian organizations to certain prisons in Tibet and China; and (3) request China to begin serious discussions with the Dalai Lama or his representatives on the future of Tibet.

(Sec. 9004) Authorizes appropriations for FY 1999 and 2000 for: (1) additional personnel at U.S. diplomatic posts to monitor political suppression in China; and (2) the National Endowment for Democracy for the promotion of democracy, civil society, and the development of the rule of law in China. Directs the Secretary to use funds from the East Asia-Pacific Regional Democracy Fund for such promotion.

(Sec. 9006) Directs the Secretary to: (1) report annually to specified congressional committees on human rights in China, including religious persecution, the development of democratic institutions, and the rule of law; and (2) establish a Prisoner Information Registry for political prisoners in China.

(Sec. 9007) Expresses the sense of the Congress: (1) calling for establishment of a Commission on Security and Cooperation in Asia, to be modeled after the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe; (2) calling for continued democracy and free elections for the people of Hong Kong; and (3) condemning, and calling on China to stop the practice of, the harvesting and transplanting for profit of organs from executed prisoners.

Title X: Human Rights in China - Subtitle A: Forced Abortions in China - Forced Abortion Condemnation Act - Prohibits the Secretary of State from using any FY 1999 State Department funds to issue a visa to any official of a country (except the head of state, the head of government, and cabinet-level ministers) who the Secretary finds has been directly involved in the establishment or enforcement of population control policies forcing a woman to undergo an abortion, or a man or woman to undergo sterilization, against his or her free choice. Prohibits the Attorney General from using FY 1999 Justice Department funds to admit any such national into the United States. Authorizes the President to waive such prohibitions in the national interest, after written notification of the Congress.

Subtitle B: Freedom of Religion in China - Expresses the sense of the Congress that the President should make freedom of religion one of the major objectives of U.S. foreign policy with respect to China. Calls for the State Department to raise in every relevant forum the issue of individuals imprisoned, detained, confined, or otherwise harassed by the Chinese Government on religious grounds and to take certain other related actions.

(Sec. 10012) Prohibits the Secretary of State from using FY 1999 State Department funds to issue a visa to an official of any country (with the same heads of state exceptions as above) who the Secretary finds has been directly involved in the establishment or enforcement of policies or practices designed to restrict religious freedom. Prohibits the Attorney General from using FY 1999 Justice Department funds to admit any such national into the United States. Authorizes the President to waive such prohibitions in the national security interest, after congressional notification.