FINDINGS.

SEC. 922. FINDINGS. Congress makes the following findings: (1) Since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the United States has conducted two substantial assessments of the force structure of the Armed Forces necessary to meet United States defense requirements. (2) The assessment by the Bush Administration (known as the “Base Force” assessment) and the assessment by the Clinton Administration (known as the “Bottom-Up Review”) were intended to reassess the force structure of the Armed 110 STAT. 2624Forces in light of the changing realities of the post-Cold War world. (3) Both assessments served an important purpose in focusing attention on the need to reevaluate the military posture of the United States, but the pace of global change necessitates a new, comprehensive assessment of the defense strategy of the United States and the force structure of the Armed Forces required to meet the threats to the United States in the twenty-first century. (4) The Bottom-Up Review has been criticized on several points, including— (A) the assumptions underlying the strategy of planning to fight and win two nearly simultaneous major regional conflicts; (B) the force levels recommended to carry out that strategy; and (C) the funding proposed for such recommended force levels. (5) In response to the recommendations of the Commission on Roles and Missions of the Armed Forces, the Secretary of Defense endorsed the concept of conducting a quadrennial review of the defense program at the beginning of each newly elected Presidential administration, and the Department intends to complete the first such review in 1997. (6) The review is to involve a comprehensive examination of defense strategy, the force structure of the active, guard, and reserve components, force modernization plans, infrastructure, and other elements of the defense program and policies in order to determine and express the defense strategy of the United States and to establish a revised defense program through the year 2005. (7) In order to ensure that the force structure of the Armed Forces is adequate to meet the challenges to the national security interests of the United States in the twenty-first century, to assist the Secretary of Defense in conducting the review referred to in paragraph (5), and to assess the appropriate force structure of the Armed Forces through the year 2010 and beyond (if practicable), it is important to provide for the conduct of an independent, nonpartisan review of the force structure that is more comprehensive than prior assessments of the force structure, extends beyond the quadrennial defense review, and explores innovative and forward-thinking ways of meeting such challenges.