In The News

Recently, the House passed H.R. 8070, the Servicemember Quality of Life Improvement and National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2025 by a vote of 217-209. This legislation is designed to enhance our national security and military readiness with a special focus on quality of life for our military community.

Importantly, this legislation takes steps to root out waste, saving taxpayers $30 billion by cutting inefficient programs, obsolete weapons systems, and unnecessary Pentagon bureaucracy. In addition, this bill blocks the Biden Administration’s reduction in U.S. Special Forces while stopping the Biden Administration from transferring terrorists currently housed in Guantanamo Bay to prisons in the United States.

In addition to strengthening our military readiness and capabilities, H.R. 8070 also improves housing, childcare, and the overall quality of life for the men and women serving in our Armed Forces. One of the key provisions in this area is a 19.5% pay raise for junior enlisted service members and a 4.5% pay raise for other service members.

Additionally, this bill includes three amendments I authored to enhance our national security and counter aggressive actions taken by Russia and China.

The first expresses the sense of Congress that each NATO member state should commit a minimum of 2% of its GDP to defense spending to ensure NATO’s military readiness. There are currently 8 countries that have no plan to reach the threshold, some of which have the highest GDPs in the world.

The second requires the Department of Defense to report its plans to mitigate American military data from being siphoned, exposed, or shared with Communist China.

The third requires a report on the military activities of Russia and China in the Arctic Region and how the US is utilizing engagement with the Arctic Council to develop and implement regional security strategies while combatting Russian and Chinese expansion.

I will continue to back policies that protect our national security interests while also supporting our service members and their families. If you need assistance navigating a federal agency, please contact my office in Holland at (616) 251-6741 or in Portage at (269) 569-8595.