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U.S. Senator Katie Britt, R-Ala., on Friday, joined her colleagues in voting to pass the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2024 (NDAA) on a bipartisan basis. Approved annually by Congress for the last 63 years, the NDAA authorizes critical functions such as funding for the military, outlining national security priorities, and setting targets for modernizing defense technologies and munitions.
Senator Britt secured passage of a key amendment in the legislation that would require the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) to submit a report to Congress on the feasibility of allowing American servicemembers and their dependents to keep previously retained mental healthcare via telehealth services while transferring between postings.
The NDAA also authorizes a 5.2 percent military pay raise, invests in the U.S. Navy, rebuilds our nation’s arsenal by adding critical munitions to the Pentagon’s multi-year procurement (MYP) program, prioritizes individual merit in our military, helps secure the southern border by using previously procured materials to continue building the border wall, and prevents foreign adversaries from investing in, purchasing, leasing, or acquiring American farmland.
“With adversaries such as China, Russia, and Iran becoming increasingly more aggressive, there is no more important priority than our national defense. To achieve peace through strength, our warfighters must remain the best trained, best equipped, and best resourced in the world. This legislation makes great strides to ensure that we maintain a robust military through strategic investments and modernization efforts. I will always make the security of our country and the wellbeing of our servicemembers a top priority,” Senator Britt said.
The U.S. House of Representatives passed a separate version of the NDAA earlier this month. The two chambers are expected to take the bill to a Conference Committee to work out differences and agree on a final version before the end of the year.
