Washington, D.C. – Congresswoman Elise Stefanik, a senior member of the House Armed Services Committee, voted to advance the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year (FY) 2023. Over the past year, Stefanik has worked to secure several provisions for the Fort Drum community, the Tenth Mountain Division, and our servicemembers.
“As the leading advocate for Fort Drum and the 10th Mountain Division, I voted to secure initiatives to protect and strengthen the Fort Drum community, fully equip our troops, increase our military readiness, and support the families of servicemembers in our district. Over the past year, I have worked in a bipartisan manner to give Upstate New York and the North Country a seat at the highest levels throughout this entire process,” Stefanik said. “Our country must never fall behind in providing for a strong national defense. The provisions in this NDAA invest in emerging technologies, secure supply chains of critical components for our military platforms, and ensure our military readiness to meet the United States’ national security needs. This is critical to promoting peace through strength in the face of the rapidly evolving military threats posed by China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea. For these reasons, I am proud to have advanced a defense bill that puts taxpayer dollars to good use by strengthening our military and providing a well-deserved pay raise to our brave men and women in uniform as they work to keep us safe.”
This NDAA provides for $850 billion in total defense spending for FY 2023, surpassing President Biden’s inadequate proposal of $813 billion. Stefanik secured a number of provisions to support Fort Drum, the 10th Mountain Division, and military families, including the following highlights:
Supporting Our Servicemembers and Their Families
- Authorizes a 4.6% pay raise for servicemembers, plus an additional $800 million for a 2.4% inflationary pay bonus for junior, enlisted personnel
- Establishes more child care options by directing the Department of Defense (DoD) to develop a program to provide credits for child care providers, including at Fort Drum
- Expands in-home child care fee assistance pilot program
Strengthening Fort Drum and the 10th Mountain Division
- $10 million for short rage reconnaissance drone procurement
- Requires a report on how Fort Drum, as the designated site for a third continental missile interceptor site could be leveraged for countering advanced missile threats to the homeland
- Requires an updated assessment for an East Coast Missile Defense site at Fort Drum and a funding profile for its establishment
- Prioritizes the 10th Mountain Division for the latest arctic gear
- $197 million the procurement of additional CH-47 helicopters
- $65.05 million for arctic organizational clothing and individual equipment (OCIE) gear for the 10th Mountain Division
- Withholds operating funds for the Office of Space Policy until delinquent missile defense reporting related to Fort Drum is delivered to Congress
Fighting for Wins for Upstate New York and the North Country
- Funds the procurement of advanced bomb suits made in NY-21
- Encourages DoD to utilize additive manufacturing for titanium forgings to mitigate risk to the titanium supply chain
- Requires a report on DoD efforts to utilize new facilities, like those in Upstate New York, for Super Hard and Deeply Buried Facilities testing and resource development
- $25 million for military munitions cleanup at formerly used defense sites
Stefanik has been a leading advocate for keeping pace with emerging technologies and the modernization of our strategic capabilities that can defend our homeland and deter our foreign adversaries.
Keeping Pace with Emerging Technologies in the 21st Century
- $10 million for Quantum Cloud Computing testbed at Air Force Research Lab (AFRL) in Rome, New York
- $10 million for artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML) testbed for Joint All-Domain Command and Control (JADC2)
- $5 million to build an Ion Trap Quantum Computer at AFRL Rome
- Funding for a Trusted DoD/Federal UAS Traffic Management system at AFRL Rome
Strengthening National Defense and Deterring Foreign Adversaries
- Requires a technical fielding plan for extending Shared Early Warning information regarding missile threats to allies and partners
- Requires a briefing on DoD intelligence sharing to support atrocity prevention, which Stefanik has promoted through her Geospatial Support for Atrocity Accountability Act
- Extends the authority for US-Israel cooperation on countering unmanned aerial systems until 2026
Confronting our Foreign Adversaries
- Prohibits DoD research, development, testing, and evaluation funding to entities that maintain contracts or agreements with Chinese and Russian that operate under the direction of those countries’ militaries or intelligence services
- Permanently authorizes Special Operations Command’s Irregular Warfare authorities to ensure our partners and allies can resist aggression by adversaries like Russia and China
Next, the House version of the NDAA will be reconciled with the Senate-passed version in a Conference Committee. This final version will be voted on by both chambers of Congress before it is sent to the President to be signed into law.
