Dear John,
We recently passed H.R. 7900, the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) in the House which is the annual defense policy bill. This year, I submitted more than 100 legislative proposals and amendments and had 70 legislative “pre mark” items that were sent to the House Armed Services Committee, 44 of which were included in the Committee’s final version of the bill, also known as the “mark.” I also put forth 32 “markup” amendments, 27 of which were adopted by the Committee.
Finally, I offered four floor amendments, two of which were adopted by the House. Among these were 11 stand-alone bills that I introduced. Below is a select summary of defense legislative provisions that I authored and passed in this bill.
Funding proposals included in the House-passed NDAA for FY 2023
- Section 4601 authorizes $360 million “cost to complete” towards Offutt AFB flood reconstruction.
- Section 4101 authorizes $978 million to procure four EC-37B Compass Call replacement aircraft and spare engines.
- Funds the next four aircraft to replace the 55th Wing aging’s EC-130H electronic warfare aircraft fleet.
- Section 4201 authorizes $20 million for the NC3 Rapid Engineering Architecture Collaboration Hub (REACH).
- Funding the NC3 program is vital to our nation’s security and is critical to our ongoing nuclear deterrence strategy. NC3 cuts down the “stove piping” that too often occurs within the Department of Defense (DoD). This will ensure that the U.S. nuclear command, control, and communication capabilities are unmatched.
- Section 4501 authorizes $20 million for implementation of a military medical surge pilot program in partnership with UNMC.
- Omaha is a premier city for cutting-edge medical care. UNMC has a long history of demonstrating their world class capabilities through their work in managing past crises and global health catastrophes. This new program will continue to build on the strong relationship between the U.S. military and UNMC.
Policy proposals included in the House-passed NDAA for FY 2023
- Section 2855 authorizes land exchange for Marine Reserve Training Center in Omaha.
- This provision allows discussions to proceed between the Department of the Navy and Metropolitan Community College (MCC) regarding potential relocation of the existing Marine Corps Reserve Training Center.
- HR 8141 Warrior Brain Health Act (adopted as Section 770)
- This provision of the NDAA establishes a program to monitor the cognitive brain health across DoD. It is very comprehensive and includes the modification of high-risk training to mitigate the negative effects of repetitive blast exposure, establishes a program for the standardized monitoring of blast exposure impact on service members and develops research opportunities to study brain injuries of those in the Armed Forces.
- HR 8240 Military Energy Security Act (adopted as Section 1083)
- This would encourage DoD to eliminate reliance on Russian energy for all the main operating bases in the United States European Command. Congress has established the use of Russian energy poses a critical challenge to national security, and this provision would create a process to phase out Russian energy entirely.
- HR 8347 Overseas Military Pay Protection Act (adopted as Section 609D)
- This provision would prevent DoD from lowering OCUNUS cost of living allowance for service members. Periodically, DoD will conduct as cost-of-living assessment to establish the cost-of-living rate for a servicemember living overseas. This provision would protect the servicemember from having their allowance lowered and lessens the burden the service member.
- HR 8744 Military Bonus and Special Pay Increase Act (adopted as Section 612)
- This allows the U.S. Armed Forces to authorize more bonuses and incentives for recruitment and retention purposes.
A strong military benefits each of us by ensuring our national safety, economic prosperity, and way of life. I am grateful for the opportunity to protect the freedoms and opportunities Nebraskans and all Americans.
As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to our office at (402) 938-0300. You can also visit my Congressional website at https://bacon.house.gov.
Sincerely,
Don Bacon
