House Appropriations Committee Chairman Hal Rogers (R-KY) Tuesday evening released language for another short-term continuing resolution that would keep the government funded through April 28, 2017. The proposed CR, which must clear Congress by Friday to avoid a shutdown of the federal government, includes $5.8 billion in overseas contingency operations, which funds the ongoing war against ISIS. It increases funding for KC-46 production, which was necessary to avoid expensive penalties on existing contracts, and directs $724 million of the OCO money toward the purchase of additional Hellfire missiles, Joint Direct Attack Munitions, and Small Diameter bombs. The legislation also provides $72 million for the acquisition of existing technology to combat enemy drones and $170 million for systems development, including new counter-drone systems. The Kurdish Peshmerga would also receive $290 million for “sustainment and stipends” related to their support of the war against ISIS. Overall, the OCO funding in the proposed CR meets President Obama’s request for $5.8 billion in supplemental war funding submitted in a letter to Congress on Nov. 10. Some senators, including Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), had called for a higher supplement that would also begin to meet more of the military’s long-term program needs, some of which may be cast into doubt by a long-term CR.
The U.K. and the U.S. will continue to enjoy access to the ports, airfield, and workshops at Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean for at least another century, under a deal inked between the U.K. and Mauritius May 22.