WASHINGTON, D.C. – Representative Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA) celebrated the dozens of her legislative efforts in H.R. 2670, the bipartisan, bicameral FY24 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that will be signed into law before the New Year. As a returning member of the House Armed Services Committee, the ranking member of the committee’s Quality of Life Panel, and a member of the bipartisan, bicameral NDAA Conference Committee that negotiated the final version of the bill, Houlahan has been working for months to advance efforts to support military personnel and strengthen the U.S.’ national security. Those efforts include expanding paid leave for veterans, growing the nation’s cybersecurity workforce, increasing opportunities for small business contracts with the Department of Defense (DoD), cracking down on fentanyl, and more. 

The bill passed the House 310-118. 

“As should be the case with legislation involving our national security, this year’s annual defense bill defied the narrative of our otherwise fractured Congress and passed with broad bipartisan support,” said Houlahan. “For 63 consecutive years, Congress has come together to pass the National Defense Authorization Act – the only bill to have such a record.” 

Houlahan championed 36 bills/provisions in the NDAA, including the following highlights that will: 

·         Expand paid leave eligibility to veterans in the federal workforce by counting their service in uniform towards the Family and Medical Leave Act’s (FMLA) 12-month work requirement 

·         Grow the current DoD cyber and digital scholarship program to include career opportunities in all parts of the intelligence community 

·         Increase funding for Army Humanitarian Demining program by $2 million to help affected nations around the world recover from conflict 

·         Protect military personnel’s access to life-saving medicines by identifying pharmaceutical and medical device supply chain vulnerabilities, developing a strategy for increased domestic production, and executing a plan for a 180-day stockpile program 

·         Support service-disabled veteran owned small businesses (SDVOSB) by increasing the federal government’s procurement goal for SDOSB program participants from 3% to 5% 

·         Improve maternity care for service women and military dependents by increasing access to doula and lactation certifications 

·         Increase retention by clarifying remote work eligibility for military spouses and requiring further reporting on the effects of remote work in federal spaces 

·         Require reporting on dozens of issues including access to critical minerals, prevention and treatment of perinatal health conditions, our security clearance screening process, improved access to fertility treatments for servicemembers, and more. 

Houlahan added: “I’m extremely proud to play such an integral role in this legislation and secure dozens of priorities on behalf of my community, Commonwealth, and country. I want to show service members, military dependents, veterans, and all Americans that I will always place their best interests above partisan politics, and I hope the accomplishments our office secured this year does exactly that.” 

Included in the annual defense bill was a four-month extension of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). This bipartisan extension enables the U.S. intelligence community to continue collecting online communications on non-U.S. persons abroad to protect American lives. As a member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, Houlahan authored a provision to combat the fentanyl crisis by requiring detailed explanations of counternarcotic efforts in the Director of National Intelligence’s annual budget request. 

Additional provisions in the expansive bill that Houlahan supported will: 

·         Provide a 5.2% pay raise for servicemembers, the largest in two decades 

·         Improve military families’ quality of living with funding for housing and child care 

·         Fund energy conservation projects and research  

·         Invest $150 million in Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUS) 

The bill also includes provisions to support our allies, authorizing $300 million for the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative and affirming Congress’s commitment to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). 

An executive summary of the FY24 NDAA can be found here. 

Houlahan is an Air Force veteran, an engineer, a serial entrepreneur, an educator, and a nonprofit leader. She represents Pennsylvania’s 6th Congressional District, which encompasses Chester County and southern Berks County. She serves on the House Armed Services Committee and the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. She is the recipient of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Abraham Lincoln Leadership for America Award which “recognizes members who demonstrate the bipartisan leadership and constructive governing necessary to move our country forward” and the Congressional Management Foundation’s 2022 Democracy Award for best Constituent Services in Congress. 

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