Senator Blunt Praises Committee Passage Of FY15 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA)

Press Release

U.S. Senator Roy Blunt (Mo.) praised the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee's bipartisan passage of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2015 (FY15), which includes all of the amendments Blunt introduced and co-sponsored during the committee mark-up.

"As people in Missouri and across America honor our fallen military heroes this Memorial Day weekend, I am glad the Armed Services Committee approved this bipartisan bill, including all of the amendments that I introduced. This is a step in the right direction as we work to ensure our service members and their families have the resources they need and the care they deserve," Blunt said.

Missouri is home to more than 17,000 active duty servicemen and women, more than 8,000 civilian Department of Defense employees, and more than 20,000 reservists and members of the National Guard. Blunt serves as a member of both the defense appropriations and authorizing committees.

Blunt introduced and co-sponsored a number of key provisions that were included in the base bill or passed during the committee mark-up, including:

Military Mental Health Amendment: As part of his continued efforts to improve access to quality behavioral health treatment for all Americans, Blunt worked with committee leaders to include a provision in the bill that directs the Department of Defense (DoD) to provide its plan to implement recommendations that were included in studies by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) on the mental health treatment of service members deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan and their families. Specifically, the amendment calls on DoD to provide its views and a feasibility assessment based on IOM findings and recommendations for improving current DoD treatment and prevention programs for mental, physical, emotional, and behavioral abilities associated with managing adversity, adapting to change, recovering, and learning in connection to service in the Armed Forces. The DoD report is due to the congressional defense committees no later than 180 days after enactment of the FY15 NDAA. Earlier this week, Blunt led a letter co-signed by U.S. Senators Debbie Stabenow (Mich.) and Jerry Moran (Kan.) calling on DoD and the VA to explain their findings on the IOM mental health studies.

Caring For America's Heroes Amendment: Blunt worked with committee leaders to include a provision in the bill that mirrors language from the "Caring For America's Heroes Act" to bring mental health treatment in line with the way physical injuries are treated under TRICARE. Earlier this month, Blunt introduced it as a stand-alone bill.

E/A-18G Growler Aircraft Amendment: Blunt and U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill (Mo.) offered an amendment that authorizes $100 million for the Navy to keep the Growler production line open and directs the Navy to take steps to ensure the Navy retains the option of buying more EA-18G aircraft if further analysis of airborne electronic attack (AEA) force structure indicates the Navy should buy more EA-18G aircraft. The amendment also directs the Navy to brief the defense congressional committees by September, 2014 on options available to the Navy for ensuring that the Navy will not be precluded from buying more EA-18G aircraft if that is what the Navy analysis concludes should be done. An estimated 15,000 people work at the plant that manufactures Growler and Super Hornet aircraft in St. Louis, Mo.

Air Force C-130 Aircraft Modernization and Recapitalization Plan: Blunt and McCaskill offered an amendment directing the Secretary of the Air Force to provide the congressional defense committees a report 180 days after enactment, including: (1) a full fielding plan for the C-130J aircraft; (2) specific details of the Air Force's plan to maintain airlift capability through modernization and recapitalization efforts; and (3) an explanation and justification of Air Force views regarding the "proportional and concurrent" fielding of C-130J model aircraft among the Air National Guard, Reserve, and active components. In March 2014, Blunt and McCaskill visited Rosecrans Air National Guard Base in St. Joseph, Mo., which is home of the 139th Airlift Wing. Blunt led a letter with McCaskill and 17 other Senators encouraging Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin (Mich.) and Ranking Member Jim Inhofe (Okla.) to address the C-130 issue during the committee's mark-up of the NDAA.

Praising the History and Service of Military Chaplains Amendment: Blunt offered an amendment expressing strong and continuing support of chaplains and their mission, and commending the spiritual guidance that chaplains provide to our servicemen and women and their families. The amendment refers to the core purposes of the chaplaincies, which "are established to advise and assist commanders in the discharge of their responsibilities to provide for the free exercise of religion in the context of military service as guaranteed by the Constitution, to assist commanders in managing Religious Affairs, and to serve as the principal advisors to commanders for all issues regarding the impact of religion on military operations."

Army Emergency Management Training Center at Fort Leonard Wood: Blunt offered an amendment directing the Secretary of the Army to brief the congressional defense committees regarding the Army's plan for consolidating homeland defense functions across military installations to better support consequence management and homeland defense missions. Fort Leonard Wood's Maneuver Support Center of Excellence possesses the core capabilities for such a training center, which is required for Emergency Management and Defense Support to Civil Authorities functions.

Rare Earth and U.S. Military Capability Amendment: Blunt offered an amendment directing the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to complete a study relating to the current state of domestic capacity for extracting, processing, and refining rare earth materials in support of DoD requirements. The GAO study would build on the language included in the Blunt/Brown manufacturing bill, which was reported out of the Senate Commerce Committee in April 2014.

Military Voting Amendment:Blunt and U.S. Senator Angus King (Maine) offered an amendment to develop a comprehensive voter assistance program for service members. Specifically, the amendment would:
Require DoD to implement a new online voter registration system and require voter assistance as a routine part of service members' annual training;
Ensure requests for absentee ballots are valid for one full federal election cycle;
Strengthen protection of voting rights of military and overseas voters;
Require reporting on implementation and effectiveness of new voter assistance obligations.

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