The annual slog to completion of the defense authorization and appropriation legislation has begun. The House passed the Fiscal Year 2013 National Defense Authorization Bill last week by a vote of 299-120. The bill authorizes $554 billion for national defense and $88.5 billion for Overseas Contingencies Operations, $4 billion more than the President’s request but less than FY 2012 funding levels.The House-approved provisions:Restate the firmly-held sense of Congress that prior service to our nation is a pre-payment of healthcare benefits in retirement. Specifically, the bill states that "This nation must honor its commitment to generations of service members, families, and survivors who have spent decades sacrificing their personal interests in service to their country. As such, it rejects Administration proposals to increase some TRICARE fees and establish new TRICARE fees. These proposals went too far and were not included in the bill."AUSA thanks Committee Chairman Rep. Buck McKeon, R-Calif., for recognizing that decades of service and sacrifice constitute a very large, pre-paid premium for career service members’ healthcare in retirement, over and above what they pay in cash.Include a modest increase in TRICARE pharmacy co-pays in 2013 and a cap on pharmacy co-pays beginning in 2014 that would allow fees to rise by no more than the annual retiree cost of living allowance (COLA). This is offset by a five-year pilot program that requires TRICARE for Life recipients to obtain refills of maintenance drugs through the TRICARE mail-order program.Authorize a 1.7 percent pay increase and extends bonuses and special payCap the number of troops that can be separated from the force in a single year.Mandate that in the future, funding for troops designated for separation must be part of DoD’s base budget and not carried in accounts for contingency operations.Allow transition benefits for members involuntarily separated during force cuts, including six months’ continued access to family housing and two years of commissary and exchange benefits.Reject the Pentagon proposal for two additional rounds of Base Reduction and Closure (BRAC) action, and bar the Pentagon from planning any closures during fiscal 2013.Authorize $30 million in Impact Aid assistance for civilian schools serving significant populations of military children.Protect child custody agreements in the event of deployment of the military parent.Extend certain refinancing help for qualifying servicemembers who can’t sell their homes in conjunction with a military-ordered relocation.Authorize transition benefits of 180 days of TRICARE Reserve Select health coverage and TRICARE dental coverage for members involuntarily separated from the Selected Reserve.Require DoD to establish a unified medical commandThe House’s passage of the defense bill was not without some controversy.In a press conference, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta blasted the House Armed Services Committee and charged that Congress was protecting "particular constituencies that may not be critical to our national defense capabilities." He also said that every dollar added to the budget will "have to be offset by cuts in national security."In response, Committee Chairman Rep. Buck McKeon, R-Calif., sent a scathing letter to Panetta justifying his committee’s bill. McKeon said, "In your criticism of my proposal for the Department’s FY13 Authorization Bill, you are clearly operating under some misconceptions."He also noted that the bill passed with overwhelming bipartisan support.The full House’s approval of the Defense Authorization Bill is just one step in the process.The Senate must pass its version.As this column went to press the Senate version of the authorization bill cleared the Senate Armed Services Committee.The good news is that the TRICARE fee increases were not included in the Senate version either – a huge win for AUSA and its Military Coalition partners.The Senate version does authorize a commission that would study changes in the retirement system and does not prohibit DoD from increasing pharmacy fees.These and about 100 other differences will have to be ironed out in conference eventually in order to get a final bill that can be signed by the president.This process, unfortunately, often drags on into the fall as political maneuvering competes with the necessity of finishing the process before the October beginning of the next fiscal year.While there is no timeline yet, both House and Senate leaders hope to have the defense authorization and appropriations bills completed by the end of the fiscal year on 30 September. 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.So 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.I always end the column written closest to Memorial Day with the words of AUSA President Gen. Gordon 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."