House Passes Defense Legislation with Comstock Provision

Statement

Congresswoman Barbara Comstock (R-VA) released the following statement after the House passed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2019:

"Providing for the national defense is the highest priority of Congress and I applaud the bipartisan passage of the NDAA which will rebuild our military and invest in our defense systems which are critical to the safety of our troops and accomplishment of their missions. This legislation raises the pay of our troops by 2.6% which is the largest pay raise they have received in nine years. The NDAA also strengthens our missile defense systems and other military capabilities to address threats from countries such as North Korea, Russia, China, and Iran. Funding is also provided for increased training and resources so our troops can maintain constant readiness, as well as supporting the ongoing fight against ISIS and other terrorist organizations.

"This important legislation also includes my provision on SharkSeer, a governmental cybersecurity program which delivers advanced detection and automated response action to zero in on persistent threats that have bypassed existing Department of Defense and Intelligence Community cyber defenses, including nation-state-supported cyber attacks. SharkSeer has been responsible for detecting and alerting over two billion unique cyber events across DoD classified and unclassified networks. This amendment will be a powerful tool in battling ever-increasing cyber threats against our nation. Also, the NDAA contains a provision I supported that holds accountable the Burmese military forces for the ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya in Burma. The provision mandates a report on the human rights violations and what has occurred, as well as authorizes sanctions and visa restrictions on foreign individuals who have been involved in these abuses. This abuse of human rights must be stopped and this amendment requires accountability by the Burmese government."

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