The annual slog to completion of the defense authorization and appropriation legislation has begun. The House of Representatives is first out of the gate and has passed its version of the defense authorization bill and the House also has passed its version of the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs appropriations bill.The MilCon bill provides housing and services to military personnel and their families as well as funding to build and maintain infrastructure. It also funds veteran benefits and programs.This year’s bill provides $76.6 billion in discretionary funding which is $4.6 billion above the FY 15 level.That is a 5.6 percent increase over the FY 15 level for the VA, allowing increases for health care, benefits claims processing, the Board of Veterans Appeals, medical and prosthetic research, and information technology.Military construction increases by $904 million above the FY 15 enacted level, which allows full funding of family housing, construction of new hospitals and health facilities, and support for critical overseas investments.The House Defense Authorization bill includes almost $40 billion in overseas contingency fund money to make up for money that is capped by sequestration legislation.It also does not increase TRICARE fees and copay, does not increase service member contribution to housing costs and maintains the 2.3 percent pay raise based on current law.The bill also authorizes a change to the military retirement plan beginning in 2017 that would introduce a 401-k style savings plan that service members who leave the service before 20 years could take with them, but also reduces the 20-year retirement-defined benefits by 20 percent. AUSA has urged Congress not to rush to make such a major change without further study.The House also is marking up its defense appropriations legislation increasing funding by $24.4 billion and including a 2.3 percent pay raise for servicemembers – higher than the 1.3 percent proposed by the administration.The Senate has begun its authorization and appropriations process as well. As befits the "world’s greatest deliberative body," the machinery moves much more slowly on that side of Capitol Hill. The Senate version of the Defense Authorization Bill has been voted out of committee and now awaits its time before the full Senate. Unlike the House version, the Senate version authorizes only a 1.3 percent pay increase, would increase the out-of-pocket housing costs for service members and, like the House version, would change the military retirement system in 2017.The Senate version also includes almost $40 billion in overseas contingency money. While having that money is better than not having it, funding base budget items with money amounts that may not be reauthorized the next year makes long range planning and contracting a nightmare.The Senate appropriators also are hard at work with the Defense Subcommittee and the MilCon-VA Subcommittee marking up their portions of the appropriations bill at this writing. So little by little Congress is dividing up the money pie.Unfortunately, this agonizing process often drags on into the fall as political maneuvering competes with the necessity of finishing the funding dance before October, the beginning of the next fiscal year.That notwithstanding, based on past performance, it seems unlikely that Congress will have its funding work completed by the end of this fiscal year, but hope, as they say, springs eternal.There is a long road ahead, but AUSA will be monitoring the process closely and will make our voice heard if the issues our constituents care about are not properly addressed.Also, AUSA president, Gen. Gordon R. Sullivan, USA, Ret., continues to push the argument that sequestration is having a profoundly adverse effect on the defense of the Nation – and it will do so well into the next decade.General Sullivan’s message is that sequestration has set America on a path to reduced military readiness and national security.Sequestered budgets are rapidly shrinking the nation’s military forces to unprecedented and even unacceptable levels, thereby creating unready forces unable to accomplish the tasks assigned by the defense strategy. All of this while the global security environment continues to become increasingly uncertain.Sequestration has created an atmosphere of fiscal desperation that leads to false arguments and false choices when it comes to the compensation and benefits provided to the service members and families who make up the All-Volunteer force, General Sullivan has said.Service personnel are now facing even greater uncertainties with force reduction measures and compensation adjustments, General Sullivan said while making the point that sequestration is the "long pole in the tent" that is making a viable defense budget so difficult to maintain. He continues by saying that America will remain the world’s greatest power only so long as it continues to fulfill its reciprocal obligation to the only weapon system that has never let our country down – our extraordinarily dedicated, top-quality, All-Volunteer career force.Help General Sullivan and AUSA get the message out.CONTACT CONGRESS to urge them to end sequestration permanently.Go to http://capwiz.com/ausa/home/ and submit AUSA’s prepared letter to Congress titled "End Sequestration Permanently."I always end the column written closest to Memorial Day with the words of AUSA President Gen. Sullivan that get to the heart of the issue of service: "Reflect on the selfless and loyal service of hundreds of thousands of soldiers each and every day – service marked with honor and courage and exemplary of our values as an Army and as Americans – and remember to thank them and pray for them."