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House Appropriations Committee Approves Increased VA Budget for 2019
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House Appropriations Committee Approves Increased VA Budget for 2019


House Appropriations Committee Approves Increased VA Budget for 2019The House Appropriations Committee has passed a 2019 funding plan worth $194.5 billion for the Department of Veterans Affairs, which is an 8 percent increase from the department’s current budget, Military Times reported Wednesday.

Members of the committee asserted that the proposed VA fund addresses the Trump administration’s concerns and recommendations despite some technical differences with the White House’s requests.

The government’s priorities for the VA include $8.6 billion in mental health care services, $7.4 billion in homeless veterans treatment and $1.2 billion for the development of a new VA electronic health record system.

The committee’s proposal allots $1.7 billion for major and minor VA construction projects, $2 billion for the restoration of existing infrastructure, $76 billion for 2020 appropriations and $85.3 billion in discretionary spending.

“We owe it to those who serve and fight for our freedom every day to ensure they have the necessary tools and support to do their jobs,” said House Appropriations Committee Chairman Rodney Frelinghuysen.

The committee’s support for the increased budget provides relief to VA officials as there have been political disagreements over other military and non-military spending.

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Report: DOT Selects 10 Drone Test Program Winners
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Report: DOT Selects 10 Drone Test Program Winners


Report: DOT Selects 10 Drone Test Program WinnersThe Transportation Department is set to announce Wednesday the 10 winning local, tribal and state government agencies of a pilot program that will allow them to test unmanned aerial systems through partnerships with technology companies, Reuters reported Wednesday.

Sources said Apple, Intel, Amazon, Airbus and Qualcomm are among the companies that submitted applications for the program.

The report said Qualcomm will work with AT&T and Verizon Communications to test network connectivity, while Airbus has expressed interest to perform risk analysis for airspace management.

A U.S. official said approximately 149 applications involving more than 200 companies have been submitted for the program and the winning projects will deal with package delivery, precision agriculture, drone integration into airports, pipeline oversight and environmental monitoring.

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House Appropriations Bill to Allocate $62.5B in FY 2019 Justice, Commerce, Science Funds
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House Appropriations Bill to Allocate $62.5B in FY 2019 Justice, Commerce, Science Funds


House Appropriations Bill to Allocate $62.5B in FY 2019 Justice, Commerce, Science FundsThe House Appropriations Committee has introduced a bill that would authorize $62.5 billion in discretionary funds for the departments of Justice and Commerce and federal science agencies for fiscal 2019.

The House panel said Tuesday the proposed FY 2019 Commerce, Justice, Science Appropriations bill reflects a $2.9 billion increase from the FY 2018 budget level.

The bill would allocate $30.7 billion for DOJ, including $9.3 billion for the FBI and $3 billion for the U.S. Marshals Service.

The measure would provide the Commerce Department with $12.1 billion in funds, including $5.2 billion for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and $985 million for the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

NASA would get $21.5 billion in funds with $5.1 billion for deep space exploration programs and $6.7 billion for the agency’s science programs.

The National Science Foundation would receive $8.2 billion in appropriations under the proposed measure.

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DHS Supports Blockchain Projects, Standardization Efforts; Douglas Maughan Comments
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DHS Supports Blockchain Projects, Standardization Efforts; Douglas Maughan Comments


DHS Supports Blockchain Projects, Standardization Efforts; Douglas Maughan CommentsThe Department of Homeland Security‘s science and technology directorate has partnered with other DHS components and startup companies to develop blockchain-based technology platforms, GCN reported Tuesday.

S&T also supports the World Wide Web Consortium in efforts to standardize the Verifiable Claims Data Model and Decentralized Identifiers.

“Government must be informed and ensure blockchain technology supports standardized approaches for security, privacy and data exchange,” Douglas Maughan, director of S&T’s cyber security division, told two subcommittees of the House Science, Space and Technology Committee at a hearing Tuesday.

The report noted the directorate collaborates with the Customs and Border Protection to explore the potential uses of blockchain in international travel and shipping processes.

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National Weather Service Implements Automated Weather Balloon Launch System
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National Weather Service Implements Automated Weather Balloon Launch System


National Weather Service Implements Automated Weather Balloon Launch SystemThe National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration‘s National Weather Service has adopted a system to automatically launch weather balloons from a facility in Alaska.

NOAA said Monday the service also launched an initiative to demonstrate autolaunchers after completing a nearly two-year field test of the technology in Kodiak.

The agency aims to deploy an autolauncher to Anette within the month and install the system across 10 sites across the state over the next two years.

The system is part of NOAA’s broader plan to remove weather balloon signals from the radio frequency of the new Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite satellites.

NWS Director Louis Uccellini said the autolauncher platform will work to help NOAA conduct scientific efforts and deliver services to the public.

NOAA estimates the agency will save $20 million through the use of autolaunchers for weather balloons that support the agency’s modeling and forecasting activities.

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Report: DoD to Transfer Space Situational Awareness Authority to Commerce Dept
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Report: DoD to Transfer Space Situational Awareness Authority to Commerce Dept


Report: DoD to Transfer Space Situational Awareness Authority to Commerce DeptA new policy that would facilitate the transition of the Defense Department’s space traffic management functions to the Commerce Department is now headed to the White House for President Donald Trump’s final approval, SpaceNews reported Monday.

Vice President Mike Pence disclosed the decision to transfer space traffic management to the Commerce Department in April during the Space Symposium in Colorado.

The report said the Pentagon has public responsibility and authority over space situational awareness under section 2274 within Title 10 of the U.S. Code.

A markup of the proposed fiscal 2019 National Defense Authorization Act released Monday by House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mac Thornberry’s (R-Texas) office includes a provision that would revise section 2274 in order to put an end to DoD’s authority to provide SSA data to foreign and commercial entities by Jan. 1, 2024.

The proposed amendment would direct the DoD secretary to create a plan to “ensure that one or more departments may provide space situational awareness services to foreign governments” and designate a federally funded research and development center to help evaluate and determine agencies that should be responsible for SSA functions under section 2274.

 

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Shay Assad: DoD Wants Vendors to Submit Final Proposals Within 2 Months
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Shay Assad: DoD Wants Vendors to Submit Final Proposals Within 2 Months


Shay Assad: DoD Wants Vendors to Submit Final Proposals Within 2 MonthsThe Defense Department wants government contractors to submit their proposals within two months in an effort to expedite the weapons systems procurement process, Federal News Radio reported Monday.

Shay Assad, director of procurement and acquisition policy at DoD, said the Pentagon has asked Congress to make some changes to the Truth in Negotiations Act that would allow the department and vendors to agree first on the actual pricing and cost data that need to be certified in order to speed up the submission of final proposals within a month to 60 days.

The report said contractors are required to submit certified cost and pricing data for acquisitions worth at least $2 million under TINA.

“We’re going to commit to them: ‘You submit your proposal in 60 days, we’re going to get it audited in 60 days, and we’re going to get to the table quickly,’” Assad said at an Association of the U.S. Army-hosted contracting conference.

He noted that DoD has called on its acquisition workforce to include additional options in contracts that would provide service branches an opportunity to extend those contracts without the need to negotiate new deals for the procurement of the same equipment, the report added.

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Draft Fiscal 2019 NDAA to Keep DISA, Fund AI, Machine Learning Tech
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Draft Fiscal 2019 NDAA to Keep DISA, Fund AI, Machine Learning Tech


Draft Fiscal 2019 NDAA to Keep DISA, Fund AI, Machine Learning TechA markup of the proposed fiscal 2019 defense policy bill released by the office of House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mac Thornberry (R-Texas) does not include a plan to shut down the Defense Information Systems Agency, Nextgov reported Monday.

The chairman’s markup of the fiscal 2019 National Defense Authorization Act released Monday calls for the Defense Department to have a plan in place by March 1, 2020 to transfer all of DISA’s communications and IT contracting functions to other Pentagon components and eliminate the Washington Headquarters Service.

DISA and the Washington Headquarters Service were among the seven DoD agencies that Thornberry proposed to eliminate in April through a bill in an effort to generate more than $25 billion in savings.

The proposed bill would direct the Pentagon’s chief management officer to implement a 25 percent reduction in DoD’s contracting, logistics, property management and human resources spending by Jan. 1, 2021.

FCW reported that the draft NDAA would provide more funds for artificial intelligence, machine learning, direct energy and hypersonic technology programs and would require DoD to establish a “separate alternative acquisition process” for space initiatives.

The measure would impose a ban on technology products from Chinese firms such as ZTE and Huawei and is scheduled for a full committee markup on Wednesday, May 9.

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USAF Begins Light Attack Experiment’s Second Phase; Lt. Gen. Arnold Bunch Comments
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USAF Begins Light Attack Experiment’s Second Phase; Lt. Gen. Arnold Bunch Comments


USAF Begins Light Attack Experiment's Second Phase; Lt. Gen. Arnold Bunch CommentsThe U.S. Air Force has initiated the second phase of its light-attack experiment at Holloman AF Base in New Mexico to further examine aircraft capacities and potential interoperability with allies.

USAF said Monday pilots participating in the three-month experiment have started flying the A-29 Super Tucano aircraft from a Sierra Nevada–Embraer team and the AT-6B Wolverine plane from Textron‘s aviation business.

“This second phase of experimentation is about informing the rapid procurement process as we move closer to investing in light attack,” said Lt. Gen. Arnold Bunch, military deputy at USAF’s Office of the Assistant Secretary for Acquisition.

Bunch added he believes adopting such aircraft to support “permissive” combat missions will help the service branch to increase the availability of fourth- and fifth-generation platforms for real combat training and operations.

The service also seeks to determine how it can conduct light attack operations alongside coalition partners in the future as part of the National Defense Strategy.

USAF used four aircraft models during the first phase of the experiment that occurred in August 2017.

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DoD Proposes to Host NATO Joint Force Command
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DoD Proposes to Host NATO Joint Force Command


DoD Proposes to Host NATO Joint Force CommandThe Defense Department has proposed to accommodate in Norfolk, Va., a future command that would support NATO operations across the trans-Atlantic region.

DoD said Friday it seeks to host the NATO Joint Force Command for the Atlantic, which the international alliance will establish to help address global security challenges.

NATO intends for the new command to support deterrence, stabilization and defense operations.

The North Atlantic Council is scheduled to hand down a decision on JFC’s location in the summer.

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