On Thursday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 7900, the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2023 with bipartisan support. The NDAA has been passed annually by Congress since 1961. It authorizes funding levels for the Department of Defense. This legislation allows the Armed Forces to pay, train, and equip U.S. service members, support America’s allies around the world, and carry out essential national security operations.
U.S. Representative Mike Rogers is the Lead Republican on the House Armed Services Committee (HASC) and is expected to chair the HASC Committee next month when the next Congress begins. HASC is the committee that prepares the NDAA each year in the House of Representatives.
“The U.S. Constitution tasked Congress with our nation’s most important responsibility – to provide for our national defense – the National Defense Authorization Act is a vital part of this responsibility,” Rogers said in a statement. “This year’s NDAA makes critical investments in our military to maintain overmatch with China – from boosting deterrence to securing our supply chain this legislation demonstrates strength in the face of China’s threats. I am also proud that this year’s NDAA supports our servicemembers by repealing the COVID-19 vaccine mandate as well as providing a boost in servicemember pay and allowances to counteract the effects of Biden’s inflation.”
“The responsibility to ensure that our service members can keep our nation safe and free is one that I will never take lightly,” said Rep. Terri Sewel in a statement. “I’m thrilled that this year’s defense bill includes a hard-earned raise for our service members and authorizes millions of dollars for Maxwell Air Force Base and Montgomery Regional Airport Base. This NDAA will bolster America’s national security and advance our leadership on the world stage, and I was proud to vote for it.”
“It is critical that we continue to fund and strengthen our military, especially at this crucial time when China, in particular, is an ever-growing threat,” said Rep. Gary Palmer. “This legislation repeals the unnecessary COVID vaccine mandate on our military which will help mitigate the slump in our recruitment and retention levels. The bill provides funding stability badly needed for our armed forces to prepare for future threats to our country. It also provides a nearly 5% pay raise for our soldiers, some of whom have been forced to use food stamps to make ends meet for their families during this record level of inflation. Additionally, this bill includes a provision which I authored that authorizes funding for the National Computer Forensics Institute (NCFI) based in Hoover for another five years. With an increasing number of state-sponsored attacks occurring online, NCFI will play a role in training those combating these actions. I am proud to see Alabama’s 6th District continuing to play an important role in our protecting our nation.”
“I was proud to vote yes on the National Defense Authorization Act, NDAA, which authorizes funds for our military,” said Congressman Robert Aderholt. Even though Republicans are not yet in the majority in the House, we were able to strip the leftist, woke elements Democrats wanted to include. We were also able to put guardrails in to make sure the money Congress authorized for Ukraine is not wasted. But on top of all of that, we have increased funding for our military, we’ve continued our support for hypersonics, and we started the process of weaning our nation off of critical minerals that come from China and other unfriendly nations. This is crucial as China continues to strengthen its own military in the attempt to surpass us in strength and technology. I will continue to push for more spending on our military, because truly the most important vote members of Congress make is one to defend our nation.”
“I’m thrilled the National Defense Authorization Act has passed the House,” said Rep. Jerry Carl (R-AL01) in a statement on Facebook. “My colleagues and I successfully fought back against President Biden’s reckless cuts to our national security and put an end to the COVID-19 vaccine mandate on all active and reserve servicemembers. This bill ensures our armed forces are fully funded to combat growing threats around the world, gives our servicemembers a much-needed pay raise to combat inflation, and modernizes our military, all while cutting waste to save taxpayers billions of dollars. This is a win for Alabama and the United States!”
“This year’s NDAA also continues to bolster the crucial role that Alabama plays in our national defense by reversing President Biden’s dangerous cuts to our missile defense, supporting the work done at the Anniston Army Depot and expanding and modernizing our shipbuilding, among other initiatives,” Rogers added.
“I also want to thank my Alabama colleague, Rep. Mike Rogers, the incoming Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, for his leadership in shepherding this bill through the House,” Aderholt said. “I look forward to working with him in the new Congress to continue to build and strengthen our nation’s defenses.”
“I’m proud of the many provisions in this legislation that will fortify our national security and keep our nation safe,” Rogers said.
Rogers listed several FY23 NDAA provisions that support Alabama’s defense industrial base. These include:
· Community Funded Project for Anniston Army Depot DLA Warehouse.
· Community Funded Project for Auburn University Battery Research Program.
· Increase in authorized funds for AMPV procurement.
· Increase in authorized funds for Stryker Upgrades.
· Includes historic levels of investment to accelerate depot and shipyard maintenance projects and expedite facility improvements across all services.
· Reverses President Joe Biden’s cuts to the procurement of new aircraft, combat vehicles, autonomous systems, missiles, and ammunition.
· Authorizes $15.5 billion for military construction and military family housing projects throughout the United States and around the world.
· Includes $1.03 billion to support expansion and modernization of the shipyard industrial base.
· Improves the test and evaluation enterprise to expedite the fielding of advanced capabilities.
· Establishes a National Hypersonic Initiative, to accelerate the development of hypersonic missiles and catch-up to Chinese and Russian programs.
· Reverses President Biden’s cuts to missile defense.
· Extension of a DoDEA pilot program at Maxwell AFB.
· Vehicle Inspection Station Community Funded Project for Maxwell AFB.
· Community Funded Project for Montgomery Regional Airport Base F-35 Load Crew Training Facility.
Sewell said that House Democrats were able to advance a range of their key priorities in this year’s NDAA. These include:
· A 4.6 percent pay raise, child care support, and commissary funding to help bring down military families’ kitchen table costs.
· Combating sexual harassment in the military by requiring independently-trained investigators – outside the immediate chain of command – to investigate sexual harassment, as well as placing cases under the jurisdiction of the Special Trial counsel.
· Supporting first responders by enacting the Federal Firefighters Fairness Act to ease firefighters’ access to workers’ compensation.
· Investing in diversity and inclusion, including support for defense research activities at HBCUs and MSIs, as well as a new fellowship program expanding opportunities to serve at the Department of Defense.
· Securing significant investments in clean energy and energy efficiency at the Department of Defense, harnessing solar and electric technologies to ensure that our defense facilities and vehicle fleets are resilient to climate disaster and energy disruptions.
· Advancing the most consequential Oceans package in generations, focusing on conserving oceans, coasts, and Great Lakes in order to protect jobs and businesses, ensure resilient access to clean water, and preserve invaluable aquatic life and their natural habitat. At the same time, this package modernizes the NOAA Corps and secures more hurricane hunter aircraft to protect communities from extreme weather and climate disaster.
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