The House Armed Services Committee will distribute amendments to its Fiscal Year 2015 National Defense Authorization Act electronically this year, rather than handing out paper copies in the hearing room, a committee spokesman said Tuesday.
In the past, the committee streamed the markup live on its website, but only reporters and others in attendance could receive hard copies of amendments as they were brought up. This year, the markup will be streamed live and the amendments will be emailed out to a special distribution list as they are called up, allowing people to follow along remotely. Those interested can sign up for the distribution list on the HASC website. Email addresses must be registered by Tuesday, May 6 and should expect to receive 100 or more emails during a 24-hour period, depending on the number of amendments offered.
HASC spokesman Claude Chafin said Tuesday that the committee staff is still working on writing the NDAA language, which will be completed before the subcommittee markups on April 30 and May 1. The full committee markup will take place at 10 a.m. on May 7.
On April 10, HASC Chairman Buck McKeon (R-Calif.) and Ranking Member Adam Smith (D-Wash.) launched the NDAA process by filing the Defense Department’s request as placeholder text. Before the committee markup, that text will be struck and replaced with the HASC legislative language. Upon filing the placeholder text, McKeon and Smith said in a statement, “This will be the fifty-third year in which Congress has come together in a bi-partisan manner to pass this vital national security authorization. It is our intent that the bill is passed and conferenced with the Senate by October 1st of this year. We know the Senate understands the importance of this legislation, and we would welcome their help to finish this bill before the November elections.”