Committee InfoDescriptionOn December 2nd 2009, Barack Obama announced a new wave of troop deployment to Afghanistan. Within the next six months, 30,000 more troops will be sent overseas, with the expectation that this will expedite the war effort and allow US withdrawal to begin by 2011. This increase in troops will bring the total American force serving in Afghanistan to approximately 100,000. Though Obama feels that this deployment is necessary to combat enemy forces, many of his fellow Democrats in Congress remain skeptical about increasing troop levels and escalating the war. In light of the necessity to withdraw from Afghanistan, there has been a push to speed up training of the Afghan forces, with General McChrystal, the commander of the International Security Assistance Force, as well as U.S. Forces in Afghanistan, calling for an increase in the Afghan Army/ national police. His estimates call for 400,000 new recruits. The current Afghan administration is resisting this by claiming there must be a balance between “quality and quantity” of the recruits.The House Armed Services Committee (HASC) was created by the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946, which replaced two previous legislative bodies (the Committee on Military Affairs and the Committee on Naval Affairs) with one overarching committee. It should also be noted that the name of the Armed Services Committee has been changed since its inception -- when Republicans took control of the House of Representatives in 1994, the committee was renamed the Committee on National Security. It was later renamed the Committee on Armed Services. The current House Armed Services Committee has 7 subcommittees (Readiness, Seapower and Expeditionary Forces, Air and land Forces, Oversight and Investigations, Terrorism and Unconventional Threats, Strategic Forces, and Military Personnel). It has jurisdiction over laws, programs, and agencies under the permanent authority in numerous titles of the United States Code, including the Armed Forces, the National Guard, the Pay and Allowance of the Uniformed Services, Atomic Energy, War efforts, and National Defense (Titles 10,32,37,42,46,and 50, respectively). In essence, one can consider the House Armed Services Committee the group of members of the House empowered with legislative oversight of America’s military force. As a result, though not explicitly defined, this includes aeronautical and space activities that directly contribute to the development of military intelligence or defense systems. Moreover, in its oversight of national defense, the committee is responsible for collaborating directly with the Department of Defense, the Department of the Army, the Department of the Navy, and the Department of the Air Force. This also covers energy based research related to nuclear development and nuclear weapons, and more generally all modern military research and development. The committee is also responsible for the Selective Service System and, as a result, the draft when necessary. It should be noted that most of these responsibilities fall to the Senate Armed Services Committee as well, though not all. With the recent war effort and other military expenditures, the House Armed Services Committee completed its markup of the Fiscal Year 2010 with its Defense Authorization bill (HR 2647). This allocated a total $680.5 billion to current military efforts. This includes allocations of $130 billion to ongoing military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, $550.5 billion to the Department of Defense, and $16.5 billion to the Department of Energy’s nuclear weapons activities. The House Committee on Armed Services has, for the most part, worked in a bipartisan manner. Recently, both the Majority leader Ike Skelton and Minority leader Buck McKeon have worked together along with their respective parties to aid the war effort. We hope to continue this cooperation, as we try to fulfill our Constitutional obligation to raise and support the U.S. Armed Forces in the 2010 Penn Model Congress. Our committee’s jurisdiction is quite broad, and we highly encourage you to research past and current issues and work to address and remedy our nation’s security issues. For the most current committee activity, visit http://armedservices.house.gov/. Other recommended resources are: http://www.loc.gov/index.html and http://www.govtrack.us/congress/subjects.xpd?type=crs&term=House%20Committee%20on%20Armed%20Services, and http://www.nationalpriorities.org/node/7192 This is just a starting point, feel free to go beyond these sources to create a bill that addresses an issue which you think is significant. We look forward to hearing your insight. ------- Hello! My name is Scott Lee, and I am a freshman in Penn's College of Arts and Sciences, double majoring in Political Science and English. It's my greatest my pleasure to welcome you to the 2010 Penn Model Congress Conference! I am extremely delighted to be co-chairing the White Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. Though I have had no previous experience in Model Congress, I participated extensively in high school forensics (parliamentary debate and student congress) through the local circuit based in my hometown, San Francisco, California. I am currently active in Penn's Parliamentary Debate family, Model Congress, and Kite and Key, our community service, tour guiding, and outreach society. If you have any concerns, need help in crafting a bill, or seek answers to questions regarding Penn or this year's Model Congress conference, please do not hesitate to contact me at scottlee@sas.upenn.edu. I'm very friendly, I promise. With that, I look forward to meeting you, and hope you are as anxious as I am for this February. Best of luck, senators! Chairs
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Account LoginConference DatesMarch 31 - April 3, 2011 RegistrationRegistration is now closed. InformationClick here for more details about PENNMC 2011! Check us out on Facebook!
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