Golden Sponsors Amendment to Counter Growing Global Threats with $37B Increase in Defense Funding

Statement

Congressman Jared Golden (ME-02) today filed an amendment to increase the discretionary topline for the Fiscal Year 2023 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) by $37 billion. The amendment will garner bipartisan support during the NDAA markup.

The amendment is targeted to address the most pressing needs for American national security, including funding to address rising costs for all branches of the military, to increase funding for vital ships and aircraft, and to send additional military assistance to Ukraine.

"The Department of Defense today must counter growing threats the world over, and those threats are only becoming more complex," said Congressman Golden. "This amendment provides the additional resources required to confront these challenges and to address rising costs due to the inflation being felt across the armed forces. The amendment reflects responsible proposals from committee members on both sides of the aisle to ensure that the national security needs of our country are met and that our servicemembers have the support they need."

If adopted, the amendment would raise the level of defense spending in the House bill by $37 billion over the president's budget request and include proposals from members of both parties and from the service and the combatant command unfunded requirements lists.

This amendment is just the latest action in Golden's years-long work to advocate for Navy shipbuilding and a strong national defense, including leading the effort in the House to successfully push back against the Biden administration's plans to cut shipbuilding for the DDG-51 destroyer program last year.

A summary of the amendment is available here and the full text of the amendment is available here.

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