Congressman Kim Votes to Pass Final National Defense Authorization Act, Delivering Jobs and Wins for New Jersey

Press Release

Today, Congressman Andy Kim voted to pass the final National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2022. Congressman Kim worked to secure historic investments in technology and innovation that will help keep jobs in New Jersey, prepare our country for the challenges of the future, and honor the sacrifices our service members and their families make through a 2.7 percent pay raise.

The bill passed the House with bipartisan support and a vote of 363-70. This legislation represents a compromise reached by leaders from the House and Senate Armed Services committees and is expected to be passed by the Senate and signed into law by the President.

"The last place partisan politics belongs is in discussions about our national security, and I'm proud to have worked with colleagues in both parties to achieve significant wins for our service members, their families, New Jersey, and our economy," said Congressman Kim. "From providing billions of dollars to create new jobs and support small businesses in Burlington and Ocean Counties, to achieving a pay raise for all military service members, I'm proud to have worked in a bipartisan way to get these priorities passed."

Provisions championed by Congressman Kim include:

Supporting Jobs In New Jersey

$25.866 million for the Aegis Ashore system, which supports hundreds of good, high-paying engineering and manufacturing jobs at the Lockheed Martin facility in Moorestown.
Funding for the development of a digital low noise amplifier modification to the existing AN/SPY-1 radar, to be done in New Jersey.
$6.555 billion in continued support for the Virginia-Class submarine program, which supports at least nine small parts manufacturers in NJ-03, including DC Fabricators in Florence, Champion Fasteners in Lumberton, Garvey Precision Machine in Willingboro, and Sea Box in Cinnaminson among others.
Expanding opportunities for the CACI C5ISR project at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, which enhances the capability of U.S. forces to operate from environments where access to GPS is not available.
Supporting Military Families

2.7 percent increase in military pay for all military service members.
Creating a basic needs allowance to ensure all military families can put food on the table and live dignified lives. Congressman Kim is a cosponsor of the Military Hunger Prevention Act and highlighted hunger as a critical issue among military families in a recent Armed Services Committee hearing.
Requiring DoD to conduct safety inspections at all military-run childcare centers and encouraging the military to develop public-private partnerships to alleviate childcare shortages in support of military families.
Overhauling the military's response to reports of sexual harassment and sexual assault by criminalizing sexual harassment within the Uniform Code of Military Justice and moving prosecution decisions in cases of sexual assault and other serious crimes out of the military chain of command.
Supporting military families by expanding military paid parental leave up to 12 weeks and expanding allowable leave for military foster parents.
Directing DoD to create a PFAS task force to unify the response to PFAS contamination across the military departments, place a moratorium on the incineration of firefighting foam containing PFAS and materials contaminated by PFAS, and provides additional funding for the clean-up of military communities impacted by PFAS contamination.
These changes build on Congressman Kim's legislation to phase out the use of firefighting foam containing PFAS, which was passed into law as part of the Fiscal Year 2020 NDAA, to protect the health of our servicemembers, their families, and surrounding communities.
Requiring the military to invest in higher quality housing for servicemembers.
The NDAA also includes Congressman Kim's bipartisan Afghanistan War Commission Act to create a non-partisan, independent commission that will conduct a comprehensive examination of the War in Afghanistan. The commission will be required to produce a public and unclassified report with actionable recommendations, so the United States learns from our experience in Afghanistan and is prepared for future conflicts. The commission will examine all aspects of the war, including combat operations, intelligence actions, diplomatic activities, and interagency coordination. The commission's investigation will span all relevant U.S. government agencies, including the Department of Defense, Department of State, and the Intelligence Community, as well as the efforts of our NATO allies.

Investing in America's Defense, Cyber Security, and Innovation

Congressman Kim's bipartisan National Guard Cybersecurity Support Act, which will allow National Guard troops to be called up to active duty to assist in defending our critical infrastructure against cyber-attacks.
The State Department Authorization Act, which contains provisions to recruit, train, and retain a diverse workforce, improve embassy and information security, and strengthen the Department's public diplomacy and anti-corruption activities. This is the first State Department reauthorization in over a decade.
Increasing funding for the Science, Mathematics, and Research for Transformation (SMART) Scholarship-for-Service program from $77 million to $81 million so more undergraduate and graduate students in STEM fields who have already committed to working in national security can access this pipeline for training the next generation of cybersecurity experts.
Encouraging DoD to adopt new technologies by supporting emerging technology adoption training programs and requiring DoD to submit a report to Congress on plans for future training programs. Congressman Kim identified this need in consultation with defense startups and at events like the New Jersey National Security Innovation Summit.
Congressman Kim issued the following additional statement on the exclusion of his provision to make DoD construction contracts more transparent and accessible for small businesses:

"I am outraged that the Biden Administration forced the exclusion of my common-sense, bipartisan provision that would make it easier for small businesses to bid for military construction contracts. I can't fathom why the Administration would want to prioritize big corporations over small businesses and local labor organizations, or not even give them a fair shot. I will continue fighting -- with my own party if I have to -- in order to make sure small businesses in New Jersey are one of Congress' top priorities."

Source