Congressman Tim Ryan Applauds Passage of National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) Bipartisan legislation includes over a dozen of Ryan's provisions to support our members of the Guard

Press Release

Congressman Tim Ryan today voted to support the FY2022 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which passed on a bipartisan vote of 363-70. The bill contains the provisions of over a dozen pieces of legislation authored or supported by Congressman Ryan, including the authorization of $8.7 million for the widening of the Youngstown Air Reserve Station's (YARS)' assault strip.

"As the Co-Chair of the National Guard and Reserve Caucus, I am extremely pleased to see the full House include so many pieces of my legislation in the National Defense Authorization Act," said Congressman Tim Ryan. "The provisions of these bills will have a real-world impact on the Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines, and Guardians of our Armed Forces, especially for our Air Force Reservists at the Youngstown Air Reserve Station. These bills will also improve readiness, retention, provide additional opportunities to serve, protect servicemembers' right to vote, and ensure our troops have the resources needed to beat China. I look forward to seeing this bill signed into law."

Additional provisions of the NDAA bill authored or supported by Congressman Ryan include:

The National Guard and Reserve Incentive Pay Parity Act, authored by Congressman Ryan, which would require the military to provide Reserve and National Guard service members incentive and special duty pays at the same rate as their active-duty counterparts. Current legislation caps the amount of pay that members of the National Guard and Reserves receive to a fraction of what those on active duty receive. For a reservist serving on a C-130J flight crew at Youngstown Air Reserve Station, this could mean nearly $3,000 of additional compensation per year.

The Reservists Opportunity Act, authored with Congressman Chris Jacobs (R-NY-27), would allow for National Guard and Reserve members to access the Army's Tour of Duty system, which serves as a military job board, from any device. Currently, this service is only accessible on devices connected to Department of Defense (DoD) networks limiting the ability for some members to easily find active-duty opportunities in a timely manner.

Congressman Ryan was a cosponsor of the 1095 Rule Amendment Act, which would provide more opportunities for full-time National Guard and active-duty reserve members by increasing the number of days they can serve. Currently, the maximum number of days full-time National Guard and active-duty Reserve members can serve before counting against active end strength is 1095 days out of 1460 days. This bill would increase that cap to 1825 days out of 2190 days. DoD views the proposed change as providing additional flexibility to employ Guard members and Reservists into critical active-duty requirements to maintain mission readiness. The National Guard Association of the United States (NGAUS) also supports this bill.

Congressman Ryan also cosponsored the Reducing Barriers for Military Voters Act, which would direct the Federal Voting Assistance Program (FVAP) to provide an end-to-end voting system to service-members with limited postal service. Following the creation of an implementation plan, the Department of Defense will demonstrate the service with a subset of voters in the 2024 federal election and expand it to the entire identified population for the 2026 federal election cycle. The service will be "opt-in" for states to ensure proper and necessary coordination with state election officials and will require a verifiable, auditable vote trail.

Finally, the NDAA authorizes $7.1 billion for the Pacific Deterrence Initiative, meant to beef up U.S. posture in the region and deter China.

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