Annual defense bill would honor America’s service members and strengthen national security

Washington, D.C. — Today, U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell voted for H.R. 7776, the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2023. This legislation will strengthen America’s national security, honor the heroism of Alabama service members, and make critical investments in research capabilities at HBCUs and minority-serving institutions (MSI). Notably, the package authorizes $15 million for a commercial vehicle inspection gate at Maxwell Air Force Base and $9.2 million for a F-35 weapons load crew training facility at Montgomery Regional Airport Base. Funding must still be appropriated in the end-of-year omnibus funding bill.

“The responsibility to ensure that our service members can keep our nation safe and free is one that I will never take lightly,” said Rep. Sewell. “I’m thrilled that this year’s defense bill includes a hard-earned raise for our service members and authorizes millions of dollars for Maxwell Air Force Base and Montgomery Regional Airport Base. This NDAA will bolster America’s national security and advance our leadership on the world stage, and I was proud to vote for it.”

Passed annually by Congress since 1961, the NDAA authorizes funding levels for the Department of Defense. This legislation allows the Armed Forces to pay, train and equip U.S. service members, support America’s allies around the world, and carry out essential national security operations.  

With this year’s NDAA, House Democrats have advanced a range of key priorities:

• Honoring America’s service members with a hard-earned 4.6 percent pay raise, child care support and commissary funding to help bring down military families’ kitchen table costs. 
• Combating sexual harassment in the military by requiring independently-trained investigators – outside the immediate chain of command – to investigate sexual harassment, as well as placing cases under the jurisdiction of the Special Trial counsel.
• Supporting first responders by enacting the Federal Firefighters Fairness Act to ease firefighters’ access to workers’ compensation. 
• Investing in diversity and inclusion, including support for defense research activities at HBCUs and MSIs, as well as a new fellowship program expanding opportunities to serve at the Department of Defense.
• Securing significant investments in clean energy and energy efficiency at the Department of Defense, harnessing solar and electric technologies to ensure that our defense facilities and vehicle fleets are resilient to climate disaster and energy disruptions.
• Advancing the most consequential Oceans package in generations, focusing on conserving oceans, coasts and Great Lakes in order to protect jobs and businesses, ensure resilient access to clean water and preserve invaluable aquatic life and their natural habitat.  At the same time, this package modernizes the NOAA Corps and secures more hurricane hunter aircraft to protect communities from extreme weather and climate disaster.