MOSCOW. Jan 22 (Interfax-AVN) - The role and importance of the defense committee have increased considerably in the 4th State Duma, committee chairman Viktor Zavarzin said on Thursday.
"There are only three committees in the parliament that are personally supervised by the speaker, these being the international affairs committee, security committee, and defense committee," Zavarzin told the first session of the committee.
The tentative plan of the committee's legislative work contains 31 bills, including seven of top priority. The president and the national government submitted two top-priority bills each, and the other three were worked out by lawmakers. Among them are bills on the status of servicemen, on their pension support, on the status of participants in armed conflicts and military operations, and on the Armed Forces, Zavarzin said.
Speaking about the committee's main objective in solving a broad range of problems related to the Armed Forces, defense industry and strengthening of national defense capability, Zavarzin said, "We will solve the problems regardless of our political convictions. National defense issues are always of top priority."