House Armed Services Committee Chairman Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) is trying to energize action on the 2006 defense authorization bill by getting staffers in next week to settle lingering policy difference between the House and Senate versions. A panel spokesman told Congress Daily the “condensed time frame” requires “outside the box” thinking. If Hunter’s iniative works, the House could vote on the measure the first week in December, followed by the Senate after its recess. Per the Daily, the spokesman says the many amendments tied to this bill still would receive due deliberation.
Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall doesn’t see great value in trying to break the Sentinel ICBM program off as a separate budget item the way the Navy has with its ballistic-missile submarine program, saying such a move wouldn’t create any new money for the Air Force to spend on other…