Proposed Train and Equip Authorities for Syria: In Brief

The FY2015 continuing appropriations resolution (H.J.Res. 124, P.L. 113-164, CR), enacted on September 19, 2014, authorizes the Department of Defense through December 11, 2014, or until the passage of a FY2015 national defense authorization act (NDAA), to provide overt assistance, including training, equipment, supplies, and sustainment, to vetted members of the Syrian opposition and other vetted Syrians for select purposes. The CR provision was enacted in response to President Obama's request for authority to begin such a program as part of U.S. efforts to combat the Islamic State and other terrorist organizations in Syria and to set the conditions for a negotiated settlement to Syria's civil war. The current CR does not include any dedicated funding for this activity but authorizes DOD to submit reprogramming requests to the four congressional defense committees to transfer funds made available by the act. DOD submitted the first such reprogramming request for approximately $225 million in November 2014. In order to continue any related programs beyond the expiration of the CR, Congress would have to extend the authority or include an amended version of it in new legislation. The version of the FY2015 NDAA proposed by defense authorizing committee leaders on December 2 (House Rules Committee Print 113-58, House Amendment to the Text of H.R. 3979, hereafter H.R. 3979) would amend and extend the authority granted in the CR until December 31, 2016. Notably, H.R. 3979 and its accompanying explanatory statement would further specify the types of assistance to be provided, expand reporting requirements, include human rights and rule of law commitment vetting requirements, authorize the provision of assistance to third countries for the purposes of the program, and create a broad waiver authority for the President relative to the assistance program, subject to a 30 day congressional notification period. This report reviews the authority granted in the CR and explores similarities and differences among the CR authority, the President's requests, and the recently proposed version of the FY2015 NDAA (H.R. 3979).