While Congress knows in early January that the fiscal year ends on Sept. 30, that date came and went.And, yet again, no appropriations bills were sent to the president nor was a defense authorization bill sent to the president.That means that federal agencies will be funded at 2014 levels through a continuing resolution until Congress finally gets off the dime (so to speak) and shows us the money!The continuing resolution will cover spending until Dec. 12, 2014.Then the "lame duck" session of Congress which will meet after the November elections will have to take action or pass another continuing resolution that kicks the can down the road into the new Congress.Then that group will have to finish the appropriations process that should be done already.Further complicating matters is the issue of sequestration – that trillion dollar-plus automatic budget cut mandated by the Budget Control Act passed by Congress in 2011.While an agreement last year mitigated its impact through this next fiscal year, the specter of its impact on the FY 16 budget looms large.As I mentioned in my last column, Gen. Gordon R. Sullivan, USA, Ret., AUSA president, wrote to all 545 members of Congress, urging them to kill sequestration; stop all downsizing in the Defense Department and security-related agencies; and make some tangible progress in building the balanced joint force with trained and ready land, maritime, air, cyber and special operations forces who can respond anywhere in the world when we need them.General Sullivan knows all too well that the use of the military is not free. According to the Pentagon, military operations in Iraq have already cost over half a billion dollars.This figure will increase dramatically as the Administration continues operations in Iraq and prepares to expand them into Syria.In testimony to Congress earlier this year, Sullivan acknowledged that AUSA is aware that they and the administration have had to make difficult choices while bolstering a weak economy and addressing budget deficits."While we recognize that debt reduction is a national priority, AUSA believes that a disproportionate share of this burden has fallen on the Defense Department," he testified.Sullivan also said, "Requiring that 50 percent of mandatory budget cuts come from defense – even though the defense budget is only 17 percent of the federal budget – is somewhat misguided. How in such a dynamic and dangerous world can we be so shortsighted?"Army leaders face a no-win situation.They must try to find a balance among readiness, training, education, operational activities, and some modernization as well as soldier and family program funding. Uncertain times demand agility and adaptability by our defense leaders, yet the funding policies in place are rigid, constraining and damaging to our long-term national security.Continuing this formula for the better part of the next decade defies logic.The "lame duck" session likely will not deal with sequestration, but AUSA will keep the issue of sequestration at the forefront until we get it repealed.Another major issue the "lame duck" Congress must deal with is the Fiscal Year 2015 Defense Authorization Bill.The House has already passed their version of the authorization bill while the Senate Armed Services Committee has advanced theirs, which has not made it to the Senate floor for a final vote.Failure to pass what used to be a routine defense policy measure before the new fiscal year begins creates havoc for the Defense Department.If conventional wisdom hold true, the final outcome of the National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2015 will mirror last year’s.Members of the House and Senate Armed Services Committees are meeting behind the scenes to see where their differences lie with the two versions of the legislation.It is expected that again this year, an informal House-Senate conference will produce a final bill that members will pass during the "lame duck" session.It looks like a tough slog from mid-November to the end of December.Rather than me continuing to beat that horse, let’s turn to a more pleasant subject.The AUSA Annual Meeting just ended and an enormous number of people interested in our Army spent three days in Washington attending professional development seminars, kicking tires on the exhibit floor, hearing inspirational and often gut-wrenching stories of war from the soldiers who lived them, and breaking bread in a reunion-like atmosphere.The AUSA Congressional Staff Breakfast broke attendance records again with more than 250 staffers and over 700 attendees who heard the secretary of the Army and the Army chief of staff discuss current Army issues.As we move toward the end of the second session of the 113th Congress, your AUSA government affairs team will continue to advocate for passage of legislation that matters to our members and our Army.