Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), chairman of the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Strategic Forces, voted today in favor of advancing the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year (FY) 2018. The Senate Armed Services Committee unanimously approved the bill. This annual legislation authorizes defense spending and sets the policy and priorities for our military. Overall, the bill authorizes a base budget of $632 billion for national defense. 

“The president has clearly stated his goal of rebuilding our military and Secretary Mattis has candidly testified before our committee about the challenges we face as a nation, including the readiness gaps in our armed forces. I’m pleased to see the committee respond to the administration today in a strong, bipartisan fashion. National defense is the number one priority of the federal government and this legislation reflects a shared agreement among members of both parties that more must be done to strengthen our military,” said Senator Fischer.

Below are some highlights from the FY 2018 NDAA: 

Strategic Forces Subcommittee: As Chair of the Strategic Forces subcommittee, Senator Fischer directly oversees key programs, policies, and operations related to U.S. Strategic Command (STRATCOM). The subcommittee mark incorporated into the full committee’s bill includes provisions to:

• • Fully fund the modernization of our nuclear deterrent, including the supporting command and the control networks they rely on.
• • Provide additional resources to meet unfunded requirements identified by our military, including over $700 million in unmet needs relating to space operations.
• • Fully fund bilateral U.S.-Israel cooperative missile defense efforts.

The FY 2018 defense authorization bill also continues to build on the committee’s work over the last three years to reform and streamline the Department of Defense’s operations, improve the military justice system to better combat sexual assault in the military, and build a more flexible and agile acquisition system capable of responding to 21^st-centry threats. The bill also requires the Department of Defense to undertake the first-ever Cyber Posture Review, which will evaluate the military’s policy and capabilities in the cyber domain. Similar studies are conducted of nation’s nuclear and missile defense forces.

Senator Fischer also serves on the Senate Armed Services subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Capabilities and subcommittee on Cybersecurity. 

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