WASHINGTON – Congresswoman Madeleine Dean voted to pass the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2023 (FY23), which will strengthen U.S. national security by funding development of new technologies, coordination with America’s global network of allies and partners, and support for service members and their families.
Congresswoman Dean co-led five NDAA amendments that passed:
Fair Debt Collection Practices for Service Members: Prohibits a debt collector from representing to service members that failure to cooperate with a debt collector will result in a reduction of rank, a revocation of security clearance, or military prosecution. The Government Accountability Office must report on the impact of this prohibition.
Sense of Congress on Trade-Based Money Laundering: Expresses the sense of Congress that the activities of transnational criminal organizations, including the use of illicit economies, illicit trade, and trade-based money laundering, pose a threat to the national interests and national security of the United States, allies, and partners around the world.
Military Best Practices for Women Service Members: States that the Secretaries of the military departments shall share and implement best practices (including use of civilian industry best practices) regarding the use of retention and exit survey data to identify barriers and lessons learned to improve the retention of female members of the Armed Forces under the jurisdiction of such Secretaries.
Recruitment of Women Service Members: Requires the Secretary of Defense to submit a report to Congress evaluating programs aimed at increasing the recruitment of women for military service and provide recommendations to increase the recruitment of women in the armed services.
Support for Pregnant Service Members: Requires the Secretary of Defense to report to Congress a summary of efforts to support pregnant service members and recommendations to improve support for pregnant service members.
“House Democrats are committed to supporting our brave service members and their families, and the passage of this year’s NDAA reflects that,” Rep. Dean said. “Our defense bill will grow a diverse and talented military and civilian workforce, while keeping all Americans safe and strengthening security alliances during a critical moment for democracies worldwide. I’m grateful five amendments that I co-led passed, including three amendments that support women during recruitment and while serving our nation.”
The House’s version of FY23 NDAA includes a range of key national security priorities for House Democrats:
Vital benefits for service members and their families, including a 4.6% pay raise for service members and civilian personnel, 2.4% inflation bonuses for service members earning less than $45,000/year and a $15/hour minimum wage for workers on federal service and construction contracts.
New investments in science and technology competitiveness, including $275 million in additional funding for next-generation capabilities in hypersonics, electronic warfare, directed energy, artificial intelligence, and software.
Supply chain security, including an assessment of dual-use technology that the Chinese Communist Party might exploit and improving risk management in DoD supply chains involving pharmaceutical products.
Support for HBCUs and other minority serving institutions, allocating over $111 million for research activities at HBCUS and establishing a pilot program to increase research capacity at minority serving institutions.
Civilian harm mitigation measures, including the establishment of a Commission on Civilian Harm and a Center for Excellence in Civilian Harm Mitigation at the Department of Defense.
Resources for U.S. allies and partners, including $1 billion for the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI) and funding for the European Deterrence Initiative (EDI) and Pacific Deterrence Initiative (PDI).
A summary of the provisions in the FY23 NDAA is available here.
Rep. Madeleine Dean is a mother, grandmother, attorney, professor, former four-term member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, and U.S. Representative for the Fourth District of Pennsylvania.
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