Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Acquisition and Technology

The authorizing subcommittee in the Senate for much of the Department of Defense’s R&D is the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Acquisition and Technology. Its jurisdiction includes military research, development, testing and evaluation as well as the defense technology base. The comparable subcommittee on the House side is the National Security Subcommittee on Military Research and Development (see FYI #50 .)

Congress deals primarily with two types of bills, authorization and appropriations. Authorizing legislation gives a federal department or agency permission to spend money and sets policy direction; appropriations provide the actual money.

COMMITTEE ON ARMED SERVICES SR-228 Russell Senate Office Bldg, Washington, DC 20510-6050 Phone: (202) 224-3871 http://www.senate.gov/committee/armed_services.html Strom Thurmond (R-S.C.) - Chairman Carl Levin (D-MI) - Ranking Minority Member SUBCOMMITTEE ON ACQUISITION AND TECHNOLOGY SR-228 Russell Senate Office Bldg, Washington, DC 20510 Phone: (202) 224-3871 Republicans: Rick Santorum (Pa.) - Chairman http://www.senate.gov/~ santorum/ Robert C. Smith (N.H.) http://www.senate.gov/~smith/ Olympia J. Snowe (Maine) http://www.senate.gov/~snowe/ Pat Roberts (Kan.) http://www.senate.gov/senator/roberts.html Democrats: Joseph Lieberman (Conn.) - Ranking Member http://www.senate.gov/~lieberman/ Edward Kennedy (Mass.) http://www.senate.gov/~kennedy/ Jeff Bingaman (N.M.) http://www.senate.gov/~bingaman/