On Sept. 8, 1982, Pres. Ronald Reagan signed into law the DoD Authorization Act which included what has come to be known as the Nunn-McCurdy (NM) Act. The NM Act requires DoD to report to Congress whenever a major defense acquisition program experiences cost overruns that exceed certain thresholds. Contents of this report: (1) Intro.; (2) Background: What is a NM Breach?: NM Thresholds; NM Timelines; Conseq. of a Critical NM Breach; Effectiveness of the NM Act: NM as a Reporting Mechanism; NM as a Mechanism for Controlling Cost Growth; (3) Issues for Congress: NM as a Reporting and Mgmt. Tool; Shortening the NM Timeline; Managing Admin. Breaches; Applying NM-Type Reporting Requirements to O&S Costs. Illus.

Congressional concern with cost overruns, or breaches, in several major defense acquisition programs led the authors, in a partnership with the Performance Assessments and Root Cause Analysis Office in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics, to investigate root causes by examining program reviews, analyzing data, participating in contractor briefings, and holding meetings with diverse stakeholders.

NASA's Science Mission Directorate (SMD) currently operates over five dozen missions, with approximately two dozen additional missions in development. These missions span the scientific fields associated with SMD's four divisionsâ€"Astrophysics, Earth Science, Heliophysics, and Planetary Sciences. Because a single mission can consist of multiple spacecraft, NASA-SMD is responsible for nearly 100 operational spacecraft. The most high profile of these are the large strategic missions, often referred to as "flagships." Large strategic missions are essential to maintaining the global leadership of the United States in space exploration and in science because only the United States has the budget, technology, and trained personnel in multiple scientific fields to conduct missions that attract a range of international partners. This report examines the role of large, strategic missions within a balanced program across NASA-SMD space and Earth sciences programs. It considers the role and scientific productivity of such missions in advancing science, technology and the long-term health of the field, and provides guidance that NASA can use to help set the priority of larger missions within a properly balanced program containing a range of mission classes.

The Department of Defense (DOD) relies extensively on contractors to equip and support the U.S. military in peacetime and during military operations, obligating more than $300 billion on contracts in FY2013.

For nearly 30 years, the statutory provision, known as Nunn-McCurdy (NM), has been an oversight tool for Congress to hold the DoD accountable for cost growth on major defense programs. A NM breach occurs when a program's unit cost exceeds certain thresholds. When that happens, DoD must notify Congress of the breach. There are a number of statutory provisions that help implement cost growth reporting under NM. Referring to these statutory provisions as the NM process, this report examines trends in NM breaches and factors that may be responsible for these trends. It also discusses changes DoD is making or proposing to make to the NM process. Charts and tables. This is a print on demand report.

The Rationale for Federal Involvement -- Program Scoring, Justification, and Other Issues -- Questions for Chapter 10 -- Discussion Items for Chapter 10 -- Appendix: Federal Credit and Insurance Program Summary -- 11. The Budget and the Economy: Each Affects the Other -- The Economy's Effect on the Budget -- The Budget's Effect on the Economy -- Standardized vs. Cyclical Budget -- Issues-Did the Stimulus Measures do their Job? -- The Business Cycle vs. the Political Cycle -- Conclusions -- Questions for Chapter 11 -- Discussion Item for Chapter 11 -- 12. The Budget and Government Performance: Will Making the Government more Efficient Save Lots of Money? -- "The Budget and Government Performance" Comprises several Discrete Issues -- Some Historical Background -- The Challenges Facing Congress and the Executive Branch -- The Bottom Line -- Question for Chapter 12 -- Discussion Items for Chapter 12 -- 13. Federalism and the Budget: Washington and the States: the 1 Trillion Puzzle -- Federal Assistance-some Historical Context -- Federal Assistance Today -- The Federal Budget's Impact outside Washington Extends beyond Intergovernmental Assistance -- Using Intergovernmental Assistance to Help Achieve Federal Goals -- Unfunded Mandates -- Preemption-What's that All About? -- The Bottom Line -- Questions for Chapter 13 -- Discussion Items for Chapter 13 -- 14. Controlling the Budget in a Partisan Environment -- What is the Problem with the Budget? -- The Short-term Budget Dilemma -- The Long-term Budget Dilemma -- Efforts to Balance the Budget-a Review -- The Budget Control Act of 2011 and the Breakdown of the Budget Process -- The Bottom Line -- Discussion Items for Chapter 14 -- Appendix: Medicaid, Medicare and Social Security: What are They? -- Notes -- Appendix 1 -- Appendix 2 -- Bibliography -- Index.

The Congressional Record is the official record of the proceedings and debates of the United States Congress. It is published daily when Congress is in session. The Congressional Record began publication in 1873. Debates for sessions prior to 1873 are recorded in The Debates and Proceedings in the Congress of the United States (1789-1824), the Register of Debates in Congress (1824-1837), and the Congressional Globe (1833-1873)