Banks Praises House Passage of 2018 NDAA

Statement

Congressman Jim Banks (IN-03) today praised House passage of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2018. The bill would restore military readiness, address threats and promote effective investments to rebuild the military. During debate on the legislation, Banks spoke in support of the bill. The legislation passed the House 344 to 81.

"The core of the federal government's job is to protect American citizens, and our armed forces are currently facing a serious readiness crisis," said Banks. "Only one-third of our army brigades are ready to deploy, our Navy is the smallest it's been in 99 years and the Air Force is the smallest we've ever had. In order to be able to deter our enemies, and if necessary, defeat them, we need to have ready, trained, modernized forces, and this bill sets us on a path to accomplish that goal."

The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) authorizes $631.5 billion in spending for defense needs and a $28.5 billion increase for essential readiness recovery above the President's budget request.

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