Washington, DC—June 14, 2024…Today, Congressman Steve Womack (AR-3) voted to pass the H.R. 8070, the Servicemember Quality of Life Improvement and National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2025. The annual legislation authorizes $895.2 billion for our national security, including resources to enhance military preparedness, improve quality of life for our troops and their families, deter foreign adversaries, and focus the Department of Defense on its core mission.
Congressman Womack said, “Providing for the common defense of our nation is a constitutional imperative, and supporting our troops is our moral and strategic obligation. This year’s NDAA secures Arkansas priorities, improves the quality of life for our servicemembers and their families, and makes it abundantly clear that America will stand by our allies and defend against adversarial aggression both at home and abroad. House passage of the NDAA is a step forward, but we must quickly pass full-year appropriations for the Department of Defense and fund the government to complete the mission.”
Provisions in the bill Womack strongly supports:
- Encourages Department of Defense (DOD) to continue investing in expanding Iron Dome system production capacity in the United States, namely at the Camden, Arkansas facility.
- Authorizes funding for Ebbing Air National Guard Base Academic Training Center in support of the F-35 FMS mission.
- Authorizes a 19.5% pay raise for junior enlisted servicemembers, along with a 4.5% pay increase for all other servicemembers.
- Expands access to childcare and employment opportunities for military families.
- Refocuses the DOD on military readiness instead of domestic social policy by gutting DEI programs, prohibiting CRT, and ending affirmative action at service academies.
- Extends the Pacific Deterrence Initiative (PDI) and increases a funding authorization for new military technology to deter Chinese aggression in the Indo-Pacific region.
- Reaffirms U.S. support to Israel against Iran, Hamas, and Hezbollah.
- Reaffirms U.S. support to the defense of Taiwan against CCP threats.
- Authorizes full funding for the deployment of National Guard troops at the southwest border and increases authorized funding by $20 million for DOD counternarcotics activities.
- Blocks the Biden Administration’s plan to reduce the number of U.S. Special Forces, warfighting aircraft, and defense missiles.
Cosponsored Amendments:
- Hot Springs, AR Army-Navy Hospital: Provides the state of Arkansas three years to request permanent ownership of the former Army-Navy Hospital in Hot Springs, AR, and in the event of this request, would extinguish any reversionary interest in the property by the United States.
- National Digital Reserve Corps: Creates a National Digital Reserve Corps to help federal agencies address cyber-attacks and critical workforce gaps as needed.
- Expansion of National Guard State Partnership Program: Directs the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, in consultation with the Secretary of State and the Chief of the National Guard Bureau, to assess and report on the feasibility and benefits of expanding the National Guard State Partnership Program in the Pacific Islands.
- Assessment of U.S. Coast Guard Involvement in State Partnership Program: Directs the DOD to conduct a study on how to more actively consider and support the U.S. Coast Guard’s involvement in the State Partnership Program in the Pacific.
The FY25 NDAA will now advance to the Senate before a conference committee is established to reconcile the differences between the House and Senate versions.
