,i  #aacth ,,congress  #ast ,session    
,h4 ,r4 #bhhc  ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of  
,,representatives  ,july #ca1 #bjac ,mr4
 ,cooper 7for himself and ,mr4 ,ryan of 
,wisconsin7 introduced the following    
bill2 which was referred to the         
,committee on ,appropriations  ,a ,,bill
  ,to provide1 for purposes of          
mitigating the effects of a             
sequestration1 the ,secretary of        
,defense transfer authority with respect
 to amounts made available to the       
,department of ,defense in fiscal years 
#bjad through #bjba1 and for other      
purposes4  #a4 ,short title ,this ,act  
may be cited as the ,defense            
,flexibility ,act4  #b4 ,flexibility for
 ,department of ,defense budget cuts due
 to sequestration  7a7 ,findings        
,congress finds the following3  7#a7    
,former ,secretary of ,defense ,leon    
,panetta has stated that the budget cuts
 to the ,department of ,defense due to  
sequestration would deeply damage the   
,nation's national security4  7#b7      

,general ,william ,shelton1 ,commander1 
,air ,force ,space ,command1 has        
testified that the budget cuts to the   
,department of ,defense due to          
sequestration have created chaos and the
 chaos created cannot be overstated4    
7#c7 ,martin ,dempsey1 ,chairman of the 
,joint ,chiefs of ,staff1 testified     
about sequestration and noted1          
,sequestration leaves me three places to
 go to find the additional money3       
operations1 maintenance1 and training4  
,that's the definition of a hollow      
force44  7#d7 ,regarding the impact of  
sequestration1 the ,nation's military   
leaders have said it will cause severe  
and irreversible impact1 crisis response
 will be significantly degraded1 and    
cuts of this magnitude would be         
catastrophic to the military4  7#e7 ,the
 ,nation's military leaders have written
 to the ,committee on ,armed ,services  
of the ,house of ,representatives saying
 the readiness of the ,armed ,forces is 
at a tipping point1 a hollow force is   

about to be created1 and they are       
requesting flexibility to properly shape
 the best military force in the world4  
7#f7 ,the ,nation's defense leaders need
 flexibility to manage these budget cuts
 so the national security is not        
compromised and their warnings about    
unacceptable risk1 hollow force1 chaos1 
and loss of faith may be averted4  7b7  
,transfer authority ,in addition to any 
transfer authority otherwise available1 
and subject to subsections 7c7 and 7d71 
of the amounts appropriated to the      
,department of ,defense in any of fiscal
 years #bjad through #bjba1 the         
,secretary of ,defense may transfer any 
appropriation subject in such a fiscal  
year to reduction under a sequestration 
order issued pursuant to section #bed of
 the ,balanced ,budget and ,emergency   
,deficit ,control ,act of #aihe between 
such appropriations1 to address an      
urgent national priority or the         
consequences of a national emergency    
resulting from such sequestration1 as   

determined by the ,secretary of         
,defense4  7c7 ,limitation ,the amount  
transferred to an appropriation under   
subsection 7b7 shall not exceed the     
amount by which such appropriation is   
reduced under the sequestration order   
referred to in such subsection4  7d7    
,requirement ,to merge with recipient   
appropriation ,amounts transferred under
 subsection 7b7 shall be merged with the
 appropriation or fund to which         
transferred4  7e7 ,congressional        
notification required ,amounts          
transferred under subsection 7b7 shall  
not be available for obligation unless  
the ,secretary of ,defense notifies the 
,committees on ,armed ,services of the  
,house of ,representatives and the      
,senate at least #cj days in advance of 
such transfer4