Press Releases

THORNBERRY UNVEILS DOD REFORM EFFORT FOR FY21 NDAA
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Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-TX), ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee, today released his latest Department of Defense reform legislation. Consistent with his past efforts, Thornberry is releasing this discussion draft and soliciting feedback well ahead of the FY21 NDAA markup.

This effort expands the scope of Thornberry's reform efforts beyond acquisition to focus on the sustainment process, vulnerabilities in the Defense Industrial Base, and formalizing the Pentagon's internal reform process.

A fact sheet summarizing the legislation can be found here.

proposed legislative text can be found here.

Commenting on the effort, Thornberry said:

"The Department of Defense is making important improvements in how it buys the systems and platforms our troops depend on. As that agility improves, it is important to plan for how these platforms will be sustained. That means looking at the individual systems and also looking across the systems to assess total sustainment costs.

"I am also encouraged by Secretary Esper's efforts to prioritize projects relevant to great power competition and I want to ensure those efforts continue in the future. This legislation ensures I also want to ensure that Congress has an ability to exercise oversight on the process and its results.

"Finally, one of the lessons we have already learned from the country's COVID-19 response is that we must pay closer attention to the vulnerabilities in the industrial base, especially the Defense Industrial Base. Last year, we gave DOD the tools and resources to begin mitigating Defense Industrial Base vulnerabilities. This legislation increases oversight on that process, ensuring that DOD's mitigation efforts will stay on track."