Key priorities for the Hampton Roads region were included in this year’s National Defense Authorization Act, following nearly 20 hours of debate in the House Armed Services Committee and advocacy by Seapower and Projection Forces Subcommittee Vice Chair Congresswoman Elaine Luria (VA-02).
“It was a privilege to fight for Hampton Roads and utilize my 20 years of service in the Navy to ensure passage of a defense authorization bill that keeps Americans safe, gives our troops the resources they need to succeed, and best positions Hampton Roads to continue our critical role in defending America,” Congresswoman Luria said. “I fought for provisions that will bring a 3.1% pay raise to our troops, improve coastal resiliency of defense installations in Hampton Roads, provide a tenant bill of rights to protect families in military housing, and allocate desperately needed public education funding to local school districts through DoD Impact Aid.”
In addition to provisions included in the NDAA base text, three regional priorities authored and introduced by Congresswoman Luria during markup were voted on by the Committee and were included in the final bill. The final bill passed Committee by a bipartisan vote of 33-24.
Congresswoman Luria’s amendments would:
- Assess ways the Department of Defense (DoD) can assist military families with special needs children during permanent change of station moves to ensure appropriate education and services are available and ready
- Order an independent report assessing the effectiveness of the Navy’s Optimized Fleet Response Plan (OFRP) in areas including maintenance completion and timeliness, training certifications, and operational availability
- Redirect $20 million in funding to support the delayed overhaul of USS BOISE
The entire NDAA includes:
- 3.1% pay raise for servicemembers
- Tenant bill of rights to protect families in military housing
- $11.5 billion for military construction and family housing
- $121 million to clean up chemicals in drinking water on or near bases
- $17 million for advance planning efforts in support of refueling USS HARRY S TRUMAN
- $48.9 million for construction improvements at Norfolk Naval Shipyard in support of the Secretary of the Navy’s Public Shipyard revitalization plan
- $10 million in DoD supplemental Impact Aid to reimburse local school districts for costs incurred in providing public education to military children with severe disabilities
- Requirement for the DoD to develop expanded standards for the Defense Access Roads Program and to direct DoD to use its authority to initiate construction, repair, and mitigation projects related to sea-level rise and recurrent flooding
- Accelerates DoD’s implementation of the Defense Community Infrastructure Pilot Program (DCIP) to improve the long-term sustainment and resiliency of defense installations
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