Washington– Congressman Bill Shuster has been named as a conferee to the NationalDefense Authorization Act for FY2013 by Speaker John Boehner.

“I am honored that Speaker Boehner has selected me to serve as a conferee for a piece of legislation so critical to our national security and defense,” Shuster said. “I look forward to working with my House and Senate colleagues to produce a strong bill that will ensure fiscal sanity while maintaining a strong and capable military.”

In his capacity as a conferee, Shuster will represent the House Armed Services Committee during negotiations with the Senate in order to reconcile legislative differences between the two chambers. Shuster will play an active role in crafting the final combined bill that will authorize funding for the Department of Defense in FY2013.

Shuster is a member of the House Armed Services Committee and chaired the Panel on Business Challenges in the Defense Industry. This panel examined the difficulties small and medium sized businesses face when working with the Department of Defense and provided numerous ideas to cut red tape and fight bureaucracy.

“The primary constitutional responsibility of Congress is to provide for the common defense of United States citizens. We must not forget that we are still at war in Afghanistan and that our nation continues to have threats to her national security every day,” said Shuster. “This critical legislation will support our men and women in uniform.”

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