A pair of key House lawmakers introduced bipartisan legislation Monday designed to simplify the defense acquisition process with the goal of speeding the fielding of new systems and technology to the military’s front lines.
But the latest proposal is sponsored by the top Republican (House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mike Rogers, R-Ala.) and top Democrat (committee ranking member Adam Smith, D-Wash.), making it a rare bipartisan priority in the chamber and an expected focal point of the annual defense authorization bill debate.
“The current [system] is too slow, rigid, and bureaucratic to meet today’s urgent needs,” the pair wrote in a bill summary provided to reporters Monday. “The requirements process alone can take well over two years. This is followed by a rigid budget process that adds another three years, and then a lengthy contracting process.
“All told, more than a decade can pass between identifying a capability gap to equipping our warfighters with a solution. By then, the threat has changed, the technology is outdated, and the program is over budget.”
The sweeping legislation would establish a new Requirements, Acquisition, and Programming Integration Directorate (RAPID) to serve as a decision hub led by the senior defense leaders, providing new authorities to quickly test, approve and purchase new military systems.
That change, along a host of new streamlined program requirements, could help reduce the program validation process from about 800 days now to three months, bill supporters said.
The sponsors argue the acquisition issue is about more than efficiency and cost savings. They said the current system — “optimized to avoid failure, rather than to rapidly deliver capabilities to the warfighter” — is endangering national security because the country lacks the surge capacity in its industrial base to sustain its forces during a prolonged military conflict.
House officials said they do not see an inherent conflict between the SPEED Act and the Fostering Reform and Government Efficiency in Defense (FORGED) Act introduced by Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Roger Wicker, R-Miss., late last year.
That legislation also focuses on updates to the acquisition process, with an eye toward faster development and production timelines.
The White House in April also announced its own effort to reform how the Pentagon buys weaponry, stating that “our defense acquisition system does not provide the speed and flexibility our armed forces need to have decisive advantages in the future.”
Work consolidating all of those ideas into a single reform package will likely begin in the House Armed Services Committee, which is expected to offer its draft of the annual defense authorization bill in the next few weeks. That bill is one of the few legislative certainties in an increasingly partisan Congress, passing for more than 60 consecutive years.
Wicker and Rogers are expected to work on compromise language for the balance of the summer. Regardless of the final legislation, House officials said that boosting the defense industrial base will also take significant financial investment from the government, money they hope will be approved as part of ongoing budget discussions.
Leo covers Congress, Veterans Affairs and the White House for Military Times. He has covered Washington, D.C. since 2004, focusing on military personnel and veterans policies. His work has earned numerous honors, including a 2009 Polk award, a 2010 National Headliner Award, the IAVA Leadership in Journalism award and the VFW News Media award.
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