Congresswoman Elaine Luria (VA-02) today praised House passage of the Fiscal Year 2020 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), keeping her promise to fight for servicemembers and military families in Hampton Roads and beyond.
The 20-year Navy veteran urged both houses of Congress and the President to come together on defense spending and other fiscal issues to avoid continuing resolutions and other stopgaps that could impede future projects and negatively impact military readiness.
“This defense authorization bill keeps Americans safe, gives our troops the resources they need to succeed, helps military families, and best positions Hampton Roads to continue our critical role in securing America,” Congresswoman Luria said. “I hope the House, Senate, and President can quickly come together to provide the best bill for defending our nation.”
The House 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
The House NDAA also would:
- Permit the surviving spouses of deceased veterans who are eligible for Survivors Benefit Plan (SBP) annuities and Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC) to receive the full amount of both of those benefits that have been paid for and earned by the veteran
- Eliminate the need for Special Survivor Indemnity Allowance that is available to surviving spouses who have SBP annuities reduced by the amount of their DIC
- Eliminate the refund of SBP premiums that are paid to surviving spouses whose SBP payments are reduced
- Eliminate the optional SBP annuities paid to dependent children of service members who died on active duty and restore the SBP annuities to the surviving spouses of those service members
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