Panel trims $341 million from Defense IT programs

The House Armed Services Terrorism Subcommittee slashed $341 million from a variety of information technology programs as it approved its portion of the fiscal 2007 defense authorization bill Thursday.

The cut represents only about 1 percent of the Pentagon's $31 billion budget request for information technology programs in the next fiscal year. But Terrorism Subcommittee ranking member Martin Meehan, D-Mass., said some programs would be affected more than others. For example, the Pentagon's Business Transformation Account would be cut by $50 million, which he said is a reduction of 15 percent.

Meehan vowed to try and restore the funding when the defense bill is voted on by the full House Armed Services Committee, probably next week. If that fails, he said he will try to restore the funding in conference with the Senate.

"I get a sense that they just wanted to find $350 million in cuts and picked IT. I think that's a mistake," he said after the markup. "I think as we engage the Senate in a conference committee, I think that we have a chance of getting the money put back in."

The panel has slashed information technology funding the last four years.

"Any cuts to military technology must be done in a well-researched and thoughtful manner," added Rep. Ellen Tauscher, D-Calif. "These cuts will raise questions about the effectiveness of our programs and their eventual execution -- a situation we can ill-afford."

Overall, the subcommittee unanimously approved about $40 billion in fiscal 2007 Pentagon spending, an increase of about $15.7 million from what President Bush requested.

"We remain a nation at war, with our troops engaged in battle every day," said Terrorism Subcommittee Chairman Jim Saxton, R-N.J.

One of the largest increases went to the Special Operations Command, which would get $183 million added to a $7 billion request, according to aides.

The subcommittee also increased funding for chemical and biological science and technology by $7 million, aides said. About $970 million was requested.

But the subcommittee placed a new requirement on the Pentagon's Director of Operational Testing and Evaluation. Aides said DOT&E would be required to inform Congress of what capabilities major defense systems demonstrate when tested if they do not meet 100 percent of requirements. Now, DOT&E only has to report whether a test was appropriate and whether the system passed the test, aides said.

The subcommittee's mark would also bar the Army from transporting and dumping the byproduct of VX nerve agent destruction from Indiana into New Jersey until the Government Accountability Office does an analysis of current and alternative proposals.