§181. Joint Requirements Oversight Council

(a) Establishment.-The Secretary of Defense shall establish a Joint Requirements Oversight Council in the Department of Defense.

(b) Mission.-In addition to other matters assigned to it by the President or Secretary of Defense, the Joint Requirements Oversight Council shall-

(1) assist the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in identifying and assessing the priority of joint military requirements (including existing systems and equipment) to meet the national military strategy;

(2) assist the Chairman in considering alternatives to any acquisition program that has been identified to meet military requirements by evaluating the cost, schedule, and performance criteria of the program and of the identified alternatives; and

(3) as part of its mission to assist the Chairman in assigning joint priority among existing and future programs meeting valid requirements, ensure that the assignment of such priorities conforms to and reflects resource levels projected by the Secretary of Defense through defense planning guidance.

(c) Composition.-(1) The Joint Requirements Oversight Council is composed of-

(A) the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who is the chairman of the Council;

(B) an Army officer in the grade of general;

(C) a Navy officer in the grade of admiral;

(D) an Air Force officer in the grade of general; and

(E) a Marine Corps officer in the grade of general.

(2) Members of the Council, other than the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, shall be selected by the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, after consultation with the Secretary of Defense, from officers in the grade of general or admiral, as the case may be, who are recommended for such selection by the Secretary of the military department concerned.

(3) The functions of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff as chairman of the Council may only be delegated to the Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

(d) Availability of Oversight Information to Congressional Defense Committees.-(1) The Secretary of Defense shall ensure that, in the case of a recommendation by the Chairman to the Secretary that is approved by the Secretary, oversight information with respect to such recommendation that is produced as a result of the activities of the Joint Requirements Oversight Council is made available in a timely fashion to the congressional defense committees.

(2) In this subsection, the term "oversight information" means information and materials comprising analysis and justification that are prepared to support a recommendation that is made to, and approved by, the Secretary of Defense.

(Added Pub. L. 104–106, div. A, title IX, §905(a)(1), Feb. 10, 1996, 110 Stat. 403 ; amended Pub. L. 104–201, div. A, title IX, §908, Sept. 23, 1996, 110 Stat. 2621 ; Pub. L. 106–65, div. A, title X, §1067(1), Oct. 5, 1999, 113 Stat. 774 ; Pub. L. 108–136, div. A, title X, §1043(b)(3), Nov. 24, 2003, 117 Stat. 1610 .)

Amendments

2003-Subsec. (d)(2). Pub. L. 108–136 substituted "subsection, the term 'oversight" for "subsection:", struck out "(A) The term 'oversight" before "information' means", and struck out subpar. (B) which read as follows: "The term 'congressional defense committees' means-

"(i) the Committee on Armed Services and the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate; and

"(ii) the Committee on Armed Services and the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives."

1999-Subsec. (d)(2)(B)(ii). Pub. L. 106–65 substituted "Committee on Armed Services" for "Committee on National Security".

1996-Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 104–201 added subsec. (d).

Effective Date

Section 905(b) of Pub. L. 104–106 provided that: "The amendments made by this section [enacting this section] shall take effect on January 31, 1997."

Reports on Joint Requirements Oversight Council Reform Initiative

Pub. L. 106–398, §1 [[div. A], title IX, §916], Oct. 30, 2000, 114 Stat. 1654 , 1654A-231, as amended by Pub. L. 107–107, div. A, title IX, §923, Dec. 28, 2001, 115 Stat. 1199 , directed the Chairman of the Joints Chiefs of Staff to submit reports to committees of Congress not later than Mar. 1, 2001, Sept. 1, 2001, Mar. 1, 2002, and Mar. 1, 2003, on the progress made on the initiative of the Chairman to reform and refocus the Joint Requirements Oversight Council.