The U.S. House passed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for 2024 in a 310 to 118 vote today.
The $886 billion legislation passed the U.S. Senate yesterday by an overwhelming margin.
Now the more than 3,000-page bill, which is the product of months of negotiations between Democrats and Republicans, goes to President Joe Biden‘s desk for his signature into law.
The legislation omits a list of provisions targeting Pentagon policies on abortion, diversity and LGBTQ+ rights.
The NDAA authorizes expanded military partnerships in the Indo-Pacific and Europe and structural improvements at Defense Department facilities, includes a 5.2 percent pay raise for military personnel, and directs the procurement of new weapons and missile-defense systems and outlines a host of other national security imperatives.
“There are a lot of things in this bill that I do not like,” said Rep. Adam Smith of Washington, the House Armed Services Committee’s top Democrat, The Washington Post reported. “You cannot oppose this bill and claim that you support the national security of this country.”
Smith acknowledged that the two political parties disagreed on provisions in the bill.
“I really don’t understand where people get the idea that the way the world works is you get absolutely everything you want,” Smith said, referring to Republicans who complained about the compromise. “Apparently, you don’t like democracy because that’s what democracy is. You compromise and you work with people.”
Congressman Rob Wittman of Virginia, vice chairman of the House Armed Services Committee and chairman of the Tactical Air and Land Forces Subcommittee, voted in favor of the NDAA for 2024.
“With the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Iran’s proxy conflict with Israel, North Korea’s long range ballistic missile development, and China’s belligerence in the South China Sea, an axis of evil is rising again,” Wittman said “These nations seek to challenge the world order that has provided our nation’s prosperity since World War II. But we are answering the call with this year’s NDAA. We drafted this bill to address these growing national security threats, while taking care of our servicemembers.”
The FY24 NDAA authorizes funding for the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) for the next fiscal year and serves as the primary vehicle through which defense policy is enacted. The NDAA is historically one of Congress’ most bipartisan bills as it has been passed and signed into law every year for the past six decades.
The FY24 NDAA contains many provisions that will benefit Virginia, including:
- Establishes Marine Corps Heritage Center and National Museum of the Marine Corps
- Fully or incrementally funds $555 million in military construction funding at installations across the Commonwealth
- Rejects the Biden administration’s effort to reduce the size of the Navy by saving four ships from early retirement, including the USS Tortuga in Norfolk, preserving ships available for homeporting in Virginia
- Builds an additional ship by providing $1 billion to support a new San Antonio-class amphibious ship
- Requires the Navy to deliver a plan to maintain ships through their expected service life
- Establishes grant program expanding private shipyard construction capacity
- Unlocks $3 billion in Australian investment in the U.S. submarine industrial base by supporting the AUKUS security pact
- Prevents the early retirement of F-22s at Joint Base Langley-Eustis
- Supports a 5.2% increase in servicemember basic pay, the largest pay raise in over 20 years
- Authorizes license portability for mental health professionals who provide non-medical counseling services, increasing their capacity to support servicemembers around the country
Border Security
- Fully funds the deployment of National Guard troops in support of border patrol activities at the Southwest Border
- Requires an interagency strategy to target, disrupt, and degrade threats to national security caused by fentanyl trafficking
- Enhances support for counterdrug and counter transnational organized crime activities by adding planning services to the types of support that the DoD can provide law enforcement
Oversight for Ukraine
- Creates a Special Inspector General to oversee all U.S. security assistance to Ukraine and to thoroughly investigate any instance of waste, fraud, abuse, corruption, or diversion of weapons, in line with the congressman’s bill: The Independent and Objective Oversight of Ukrainian Assistance Act
- Provides the Special IG with direct hire authority to rapidly expand the number of auditors reviewing Ukraine security assistance
- Requires GAO to assess DoD’s end use monitoring programs and provide recommendations to Congress on ways to strengthen them
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Rebecca Barnabi
