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Mr. HECK of Nevada. Mr. Chair, I rise in strong support of H.R. 4909, the National Defense Authorization Act of 2017.
This bill contains significant policy and funding initiatives that continue our commitment to maintain military personnel and family readiness and address important issues for our troops.
To that end, this bill:
Establishes a fully funded pay raise for all of our servicemembers. After 3 years of executive action that has provided lower-than-by-law calculated pay raises, it is time we give our troops and their families the pay increase they deserve;
Stops the reductions in the active end-strengths of the Armed Forces, thereby increasing readiness while reducing the stress and strain on the force and their families;
Reforms the Military Health System to ensure the system can sustain trained and ready healthcare providers to support the readiness of the force and provide a quality healthcare benefit valued by its beneficiaries;
It also modernizes the Uniform Code of Military Justice to improve the system's efficiency and transparency while also enhancing victims' rights. This includes establishing several new offenses, including an offense prohibiting retaliation and prohibiting inappropriate relationships between military recruits or trainees and a person in a position of special trust;
Reforms the commissary system in a way that preserves this important benefit while also improving the system so it remains an excellent value for the shoppers and a good value for the taxpayer;
Includes an increase in parental adoptive leave for dual military couples in recognition of the importance of bonding time between parents and their newly adopted children.
In conclusion, I thank the ranking member, Mrs. Davis of California, and her staff for their contributions to the mark and support in this very bipartisan process. We were joined by an active and informed and dedicated group of subcommittee members, and their recommendations and priorities are clearly reflected in this bill. Additionally, I appreciate the dedication and hard work of the subcommittee staff.
I urge my colleagues to support our military men and women and their families and to support this bill.
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