Statement of Administration Policy: H.R. 4370 - Department of Defense Reorganization Act of 1986

(House)
(Rep. Nichols (D) Ala.)

The Administration has serious concerns with H.R. 4370 due to its overly prescriptive legislative detail. The Administration recommends amendments to:

— delete those provisions in Title I defining "command" and "command authority" because they are overly specific and could confuse the distribution of responsibilities between the operational and administrative chains of command. Substituting the definition of "operational command" provided in S. 2295 is preferable and would achieve the purposes of Title I;

— modify Title III concerning the establishment of a joint officer specialty to make more flexible the conditions for selection, promotion, and career development of officers for joint assignments; and

— modify Title IV, the Military Department Organization, to provide more flexibility to integrate the Service Secretariat and military headquarters staff.

In addition to these concerns, the Administration may seek to have certain features of the bill modified in conference to conform more closely to the President's Special Message to the Congress of April 24, 1986, on the recommendations of the Packard Commission on Defense Management.