Biden Issues Waivers To Expedite, Expand Production Of US Defense Articles - Memorandum

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 04th October, 2022) US President Joe Biden issued a Presidential Waiver of Statutory Requirements to expedite and expand the production of defense articles amid an outpouring of equipment to Ukraine, the Commander in Chief said in a memorandum to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.

"By the authority vested in me as President.... I hereby determine, pursuant to (the Defense Production Act) that action is necessary to increase the production capacity of material critical to support the defense against adversarial aggression and that a shortfall in this area would severely impair national defense capability," Biden said on Monday.

Biden waived requirements of two sections of the Defense Production Act to expand and accelerate the domestic production capability of critical weapons and equipment, the memorandum said.

Federal law requires the president to provide explanatory material about national security needs before executing contracts under the Defense Production Act, as well as provide notification to Congress about a domestic industrial base shortfall.

The Biden administration has sent nearly $17 billion in security assistance to Ukraine since January 2021 and approximately $19 billion since 2014, according to the Defense Department.

The US military needs to replenish its own equipment stocks and replace old systems with new ones, Army Chief of Staff James McConville said last month, following US media reports that weapons shipments to Ukraine were depleting domestic stockpiles.