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Carl Levin and Howard P. ‘Buck’ McKeon National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2015

H.R. 3979 · 113th Congress · Dec 19, 2014 · Lineage

AN ACT

To authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2015 for military activities of the Department of Defense, for military construction, and for defense activities of the Department of Energy, to prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for other purposes.

1. Short title

(a)
Short title— This Act may be cited as the “Carl Levin and Howard P. ‘Buck’ McKeon National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2015”.
(b)
Findings— Congress makes the following findings:
(1)
(A)
Senator Carl Levin of Michigan was elected a member of the United States Senate on November 7, 1978, for a full term beginning January 3, 1979. He has served continuously in the Senate since that date, and was appointed as a member of the Committee on Armed Services in January 1979. He has served on the Committee on Armed Services since that date, a period of nearly 36 years.
(B)
A graduate of Detroit Central High School, Senator Levin went on to Swarthmore College, and graduated from Harvard Law School in 1959, gaining admittance to the Michigan bar. He served his State as assistant attorney general and general counsel of the Michigan Civil Rights Commission from 1964–1967, and later served his hometown of Detroit as a member of the Detroit City Council from 1969–1973, and as the council’s president from 1974–1977.
(C)
Senator Levin first served as chairman of the Committee on Armed Services of the United States Senate for a period of the 107th Congress, and has remained chairman since the 110th Congress began in 2007. He has exercised extraordinary leadership as either the chairman or ranking minority member of the committee since the start of the 105th Congress in 1997.
(D)
Each year, for the past 52 years, the Committee on Armed Services has reliably passed an annual defense authorization act, and this will be the 36th that Senator Levin has had a role in. In his capacity as member, ranking member, and chairman, he has been an advocate for a strong national defense, and has made lasting contributions to the security of our Nation.
(E)
It is altogether fitting and proper that this Act, the last annual authorization act for the national defense that Senator Levin manages in and for the United States Senate as chairman of the Committee on Armed Services, be named in his honor, as provided in subsection (a).
(2)
(A)
Representative Howard P. “Buck” McKeon was elected to the House of Representatives in 1992 to represent California’s 25th Congressional District.
(B)
Chairman McKeon was born in Los Angeles and grew up in Tujunga CA. He served a two and a half year mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and attended Brigham Young University. Prior to his election to Congress, he was a small business owner, and served both on the William S. Hart Union High School District Board of Trustees and as the first mayor of the City of Santa Clarita.
(C)
In the 111th Congress, Chairman McKeon was selected by his peers as the Ranking Member of the House Armed Services Committee and has served as Chairman since in the 112th and 113th Congresses. Previously Chairman McKeon had served as the Chairman of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce.
(D)
Chairman McKeon is a champion of a strong national defense, the men and women of America's Armed Forces and their families, and returning fiscal discipline to the Department of Defense. His priority has been to ensure our troops deployed around the world have the equipment, resources, authorities, training and time they need to successfully complete their missions and return home.
(E)
For 52 consecutive years, the House Armed Services Committee, in a bipartisan, bicameral tradition, has passed and enacted an annual defense authorization act. Chairman McKeon had said it has been the privilege of his life to shepherd that tradition under his tenure.
(F)
It is therefore fitting this Act, the last national defense authorization act of his tenure, be named in Chairman McKeon’s honor, as provided in subsection (a).
(c)
References— Any reference in this or any other Act to the “National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2015” shall be deemed to refer to the “Carl Levin and Howard P. “Buck” McKeon National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2015”.

2. Organization of Act into divisions; table of contents

(a)
Divisions— This Act is organized into four divisions as follows:
(1)
Division A—Department of Defense Authorizations.
(2)
Division B—Military Construction Authorizations.
(3)
Division C—Department of Energy National Security Authorizations and Other Authorizations.
(4)
Division D—Funding Tables.
(b)
Table of contents— The table of contents for this Act is as follows:

3. Congressional defense committees

In this Act, the term “congressional defense committees” has the meaning given that term in section 101(a)(16) of title 10, United States Code.

4. Budgetary effects of this Act

The budgetary effects of this Act, for the purposes of complying with the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010, shall be determined by reference to the latest statement titled “Budgetary Effects of PAYGO Legislation” for this Act, jointly submitted for printing in the Congressional Record by the Chairmen of the House and Senate Budget Committees, provided that such statement has been submitted prior to the vote on passage in the House acting first on the conference report or amendment between the Houses.

5. Explanatory statement

The explanatory statement regarding this Act, printed in the House section of the Congressional Record on or about December 3, 2014, by the Chairman of the Committee on Armed Services of the House of Representatives and the Chairman of the Committee on Armed Services of the Senate, shall have the same effect with respect to the implementation of this Act as if it were a joint explanatory statement of a committee of conference.