Senate Appropriations Bill for Fiscal Year 2012 Contains Earmarks and Continued Funding for an Unnecessary and Expensive Program

As the first group to uncover NASA earmarks in the 2011 Continuing Resolution for fiscal year (FY) 2011 and earmarks in the FY 2012 House Defense Appropriations Bill, the Taxpayers Protection Alliance (TPA) has found more earmarks, this time in the FY 2012 Senate Defense Appropriations Bill.  TPA has preliminarily found 62 earmarks worth $2.8 billion.  In addition, the Senate also funded the Medium Extended Air Defense System (MEADS).  In addition to the other problems with MEADS (click here and here), according to language in the Senate bill,  “The Committee is concerned with the historical management of the MEADS program and that it has taken the Department 3 years, following the 2008 program Preliminary Design Review, to conclude that with a production delay of at least 4 years and a U.S. investment of $1,160,000,000 required in addition to the $804,000,000 budgeted in fiscal years 2012 and 2013, the program was simply unaffordable. As such, the Committee echoes the concerns voiced in section 807 of S. 1253, the National Defense Authorization Act of Fiscal Year 2012, as reported.” The Senate Defense Appropriations Bill is funding unrequested earmarks and a project (MEADS) that the committee is concerned about.  Not a smart way to fund the Department of Defense.

The projects listed below are in order as they appear in the Senate appropriations bill:

Military personnel

Preventive health allowance demonstration project (Junior ROTC):  $1,125,000

Military personnel Marine Corps

Unemployment benefits:  $44,000,000

Environmental Restoration

Environmental Restoration, Formerly Used Defense Sites:  $50,000,000

Operation and Maintenance, Army

Adjustment for Defense efficiency:  $843,000

Adjustment for defense efficiency – civilian staffing:  $23,560,000

Operation and Maintenance – Defense Wide

Impact Aid:  $40,000,000

Impact Aid for children with disabilities:  $5,000,000

Procurement of W&TCV

Abrams upgrade program:  $240,000,000

Shipbuilding and Conversion, Navy

Intratheater connector:  $185,100,000

Other Procurement, Navy

Aviation electronic equipment MATCALS:  $7,232,000

Ship communication automation:  $77,600,000

Weapons range support equipment:  $15,000,000

Aircraft Procurement, Air Force

C–130J advance procurement (CY):   $120,000,000

Civil Air Patrol A/C:  $6,800,000

Other Procurement, Air Force

Combat training ranges:  $15,000,000

Defense Production Act purchase:  $150,000,000

Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation – Army

Nanotechnology research:  $10,000,000

Silicon Carbide research:  $15,000,000

Restore unjustified reductions for missile lethality and precision research:  $20,000,000

Unexploded ordnance and landmine detection research:  $15,000,000

Power generation research:  $20,000,000

Military Burn Research Program:  $6,000,000

Alternative energy research:  $40,000,000

Cyber security/information assurance research:  $15,000,000

High Performance Computing Modernization Program:  $45,000,000

Light Tactical Wheeled Vehicles:  $20,000,000

Army Test Ranges and Facilities:  $50,000,000

Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation – Navy

Nanotechnology Research:  $10,000,000

Alternative Energy:  $40,000,000

Advanced Radar Innovation Fund (Electromagnetic Systems Advanced Technology):  $20,000,000

Advanced Radar Innovation Fund (Advanced Above Water Sensors):   $20,000,000

Cyber Security Research:  $15,000,000

Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation – Air Force

Cyber Security Research (University Research Initiatives):  $15,000,000

Nanotechnology Research:  $10,000,000

Space Situational Awareness (Directed Energy Technology):  $30,000,000

Silicon Carbide Research:  $15,000,000

Advanced Materials Research:  $10,000,000

Space Situational Awareness (Advanced Weapon Technology):  $20,000,000

Responsive Launch (Operationally Responsive Space):   $25,000,000

Recompetition for new satellite and continued Government sensor development (Weather Satellite Follow-On):  $250,000,000

Alternative Energy Research:  $40,000,000

Program Adjustment (Classified Program):  $38,000,000

Enterprise Query and Correlation (Classified Program):  $10,000,000

Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation – Defense Wide

Industrial Base Innovation Fund program (Defense-Wide Manufacturing Science and Technology Program):  $30,000,000

Defense Rapid Innovation Program:  $200,000,000

David’s Sling Weapons Program (Israeli Cooperative Programs):  $69,400,000

Arrow System Improvement Program (ASIP) (Israeli Cooperative Programs):  $47,200,000

Arrow 3 Upper Tier Interceptor Program  (Israeli Cooperative Programs):  $13,000,000

Department of Defense Corrosion Program:  $32,100,000

Defense Acquisition Challenge Program (DACP):  $25,000,000

Cyber threat discovery:  $20,000,000

Restore unjustified reduction (Central Test and Evaluation Investment Development):  $20,000,000

Classified Program USD(P):  $100,000,000

Development Test and Evaluation:  $5,000,000

Cybersecurity pilots (Defense Info Infrastructure Engineering and Integration):  $10,000,000

Defense Health

Peer Reviewed Breast Cancer Research Program:  $120,000,000

Peer Reviewed Medical Research Program:  $50,000,000

Peer Reviewed Ovarian Cancer Research Program:  $10,000,000

Peer Reviewed Prostate Cancer Research Program:  $64,000,000

Peer Reviewed Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury Program:  $60,000,000

Joint Warfighter Medical Research Program:  $50,000,000

Drug Interdiction and Counter-Drug Activities

National Guard Counter-Drug Program State Plans:  $50,000,000