Rep. Delgado Votes to Support Service Members and Military Families, Strengthen National Security

Press Release

Today, a broad bipartisan coalition in the U.S. House of Representatives voted to pass the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2022. This legislation honors our values, supports our service members and their families, and strengthens our security. Representative Antonio Delgado (NY-19) successfully advocated for the inclusion of four amendments critical to the health and safety of upstate.

"We must support our troops not just in words but in actions. Tonight, I proudly voted to give our service members a pay raise, protect our national security and the security of our allies, and expand military mental health care services," said Rep. Delgado. "This legislation also includes four of my bipartisan amendments which safeguard our drinking water from toxic forever PFAS chemicals, fight Lyme disease, support military families, and require transparency for chemical manufacturers. I'll keep fighting to make sure these critical priorities become law."

Rep. Delgado's Amendments:

Establishing a National Drinking Water Standard

Establishes a national drinking water standard for PFOA and PFOS within two years that protects public health.

Disclosing PFAS Discharges

Requires manufacturers to disclose all Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) discharges over 100 lbs.

Fighting Lyme Disease

Establishes a Centers for Disease Control (CDC) pilot program, allowing states to apply for grants to establish
tick identification programs.

Fixing TRICARE Discrepancies

Requires the Department of Defense (DoD) to report to Congress on any discrepancies in coverage standards for in-home care/nursing between DoD's TRICARE program and the Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Department of Veterans Affairs (CHAMPVA) program.

This legislation includes a number of important priorities, including:

Vital benefits for service members and their families, including a 2.7 percent pay increase, expanded parental leave, improved mental health care services and a new basic needs allowance for lower-income service members.

Combating sexual assault in the military by creating an Office of Special Victim Prosecutor to prosecute these crimes, removing the commanding officer from these decisions and finally criminalizing sexual harassment under the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

Significant investments in emerging technologies to modernize institutions of national security, including a 36 percent increase in defense-wide research and development, as well as new funding to improve DOD research labs.

Action on the climate crisis by removing barriers to improving the extreme weather resilience of critical defense infrastructure and requiring the DOD to consider climate risks in its strategic planning.

Addressing strategic and security challenges, ranging from competition with China, to the risks posed by violent extremism and white nationalism, to strengthening our cybersecurity infrastructure, to strengthening the provisions providing for the needs of our Afghan partners with Special Immigrant Visas.

Recruiting a stronger, fairer, more diverse Armed Services by promoting academic partnerships with minority-serving colleges and universities, rooting out extremism among service members and establishing a $15 minimum wage for covered DOD service and construction contracts.

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