AMODEI STATEMENT ON FY23 NDAA

Statement

U.S. Representative Mark Amodei (NV-02) today issued the following statement after voting for the Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA):

"The final product generated between the Senate and the House, which established the NDAA, champions many conservative wins that members of Congress in both chambers fought for and defended. The bill rescinds the COVID-19 vaccine mandate for service members, supports a 4.6% pay increase for service members, combats inflation, requires audits and reviews of aid to Ukraine, advances parental rights for military families, and reverses President Biden's cuts to shipbuilding, aircraft, and missile defense. These significant provisions will be welcome news for active-duty soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines, coast guard, and space force enlisted personnel and their families. The legislation not only addresses defense and intelligence issues generally, but also includes key provisions specific to Nevada contractors and military operations at Fallon, Creech, Nellis, and Nevada National Guard and Reserve Units. These are important items for U.S. national defense and Nevada's economy.

"Of course, House and Senate Democrats couldn't resist including some version of fantasy political agendas, which in this case is a mandate for the Department of Defense (DOD) to have a clean fleet of vehicles by 2030. Stay tuned for seven more years, because U.S. manufacturing and supply lines will render that dream and provision impossible. Of course, don't take my word for it: ask lithium producers in Nevada how it is going with the permitting process. Nevada is particularly relevant in the entire electric vehicle market because almost half of the lithium claims in this country are located in Nevada.

"However, I'm proud to report that Republicans successfully fought back and kept out the inclusion of provisions related to:

A COVID-19 vaccine mandate;
Red flag gun laws;
Spending of DOD resources on climate change; and
"Draft our Daughters," which would force women to register with the Selective Service.

"On balance, having a bill so that our defense and national security interests are not frozen and crippled due to lack of authorization, as well as advancing beneficial provisions for our active-duty military, to me, makes a "yes" vote on my part entirely appropriate."

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