A key lawmaker asked Defense Secretary Leon Panetta to ensure a reprogramming request would be made so the United States’ $211 million contribution toward Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system is available for fiscal year 2013.
“Because the President did not request any funding for Iron Dome in fiscal year 2012, a year-long continuing resolution (CR) for fiscal year 2013 will mean there is no support for that critical program this year,” House Armed Services Committee Strategic Forces Subcommittee Chairman Michael Rogers (R-Ala.) asked Panetta in a letter Wednesday.
Rogers said because President Barack Obama did not request funds for the U.S. contribution to Iron Dome in FY ’12 and FY ’13 the strategic forces subcommittee authorized the $211 million to be allocated in the FY ’13 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which Obama signed into law in January. But because Obama did not request any funding for Iron Dome in FY ’12, a year-long CR for FY ’13 will mean no U.S. funding for Iron Dome, Rogers said.
Despite passing the NDAA, Congress has failed to reach an agreement on a FY ’13 defense appropriations bill. But Jennifer Hing, spokeswoman for House Appropriations Committee Chairman Harold Rogers (R-Ky.), told Defense Daily yesterday the Chairman was working on legislation proposing a full-year CR with the defense, military construction and veterans affairs bills attached. Hing said the legislation would still be subject to sequestration, but would avoid a government shutdown and would give the Defense Department more budget flexibility.
Andrew Krepinevich, head of the influential Washington think tank Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments (CSBA) said Wednesday the United States should reconsider its contribution for Iron Dome because the system costs much more than the cheap incoming missiles it defends against. Krepinevich said Iron Dome costs $50 million to buy while incoming rockets Hamas launched in a recent strike cost a few thousand dollars each (Defense Daily, Feb. 13).