House Overturns Appropriators’ Attempt to Block Transfers into Sea-Based Deterrence Fund

The House voted late last night to eliminate  a part of the House Appropriations Committee’s version of the Fiscal Year 2016 defense spending bill that would have blocked financial transfers into the National Sea-Based Deterrence Fund, a standalone account established to protect Navy shipbuilding from significant financial impacts anticipated from the Ohio-class Replacement Program. At 10:31 p.m. during floor debate on the bill, House members voted 321-111 to adopt an amendment introduced by Rep. Randy Forbes (R-Va.), Chairman of the House Armed Services Seapower & Projection Forces Subcommittee, to overturn the provision of the appropriations bill. “The National Sea-Based Deterrence Fund is the best way to ensure the future of America’s undersea nuclear deterrent,” Forbes wrote yesterday in a statement to Weapons Complex Morning Briefing before introducing his amendment. “This is a national project and requires a national effort to implement. The House, by a vote of 375-43 has already overwhelmingly supported this program and recognized the importance of maintaining a credible undersea nuclear deterrent for decades to come.” 

 

The vote comes nearly a month after the House voted 375-43 to strike down an amendment introduced by Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) during floor debate of the National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2016, which would have outright eliminated the Fund. The House NDAA for FY 2016 authorizes $1.4 billion to be transferred into the Sea-Based Deterrence Fund.