smart lawmaking

In order to maintain a record of passing a defense authorization bill for a 52d straight year, members of the Senate and House armed services committees have agreed on a compromise measure they hope will pass without amendments. The 1,105-page bill has many interesting provisions on issues I follow:


Sect. 932: requires a report on Cyber Command, establishes a post on OSD Policy called Principal Advisor on Military Cyber Force Matters and requires him/her to establish an inter-agency "Cross Functional Team."

Sect. 933: requires a comprehensive "Mission Analysis" for ccyber operations forces.

Sect. 940: requires President to establish "an interagency process" to provide an integrated policy to control proliferation of cyber weapons.

Sect. 941: requires President to establish an interagency process to develop an integrated policy to deter adversaries in cyberspace.

Sect. 1041: Requires prompt notification to defense committees of "sensitive military operations," defined as "lethal or capture operation[s] conducted by the armed forces outside the United States and outside a theater of major hostilities.

Sect. 1042: requires quarterly briefings to defense committees of counterterrorism operations.


Sect. 1043: requires report on porcess for determining targets of lethal or capture operations.


Sect. 1086: requires major "review and assessment" by SecDef of special operations forces and SOCOM. [Note: Sect. 1244 prohibits establishment of Regional Special Operations Forces Coordination Centers.]


Sect. 1087: requires report from defense, transportation and FAA on plans for collaborating on and coordinating useof Unmanned Aerial Systems.


To me, these are good examples of good oversight and lawmaking,the kind of "regular order" that Congress should be doing more often.