The Senate Must Support Our Military By Passing The 60th Annual NDAA

The Final FY 2021 National Defense Authorization Act Puts American Servicemembers First, Authorizing A Pay Raise, Increasing Support For Their Families, And Assistance For COVID Challenges

The Bill Features A 3% Pay Raise For Servicemembers And A 10% Increase In Hazardous Duty Pay

“The FY21 NDAA Conference Report prioritizes the nation’s 2.15 million uniformed service members who, along with their families and the civilian workforce, serve as the backbone of America’s national security. It supports the requested 3 percent pay raise for the military, increases hazardous duty pay by 10 percent, and reauthorizes more than 30 other types of bonuses and special pay. The Conference Report also adds pay incentives to recruit and retain critically needed military personnel, including pilots, submariners, health care professionals, and those with other critical skills.” (“William M. ‘Mac’ Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021,” U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee, 12/03/2020)

It Also Provides Critical Support To Military Families With Measures To Help Spouses Find Good Jobs, Provide Affordable Childcare, And Oversee And Improve The Military Housing System

“The FY21 NDAA continues efforts to help military spouses find and keep good jobs, including expanding the My Career Advancement Account Program, improving the Military Spouse Employment Partnership Program, and allowing for the reimbursement of costs incurred to maintain professional licenses and credentials when permanently changing station, including an additional $2.5 million for re-licensing.” (“William M. ‘Mac’ Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021,” U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee, 12/03/2020)

“The FY21 NDAA continues efforts to provide military families with flexible, affordable child care and access to quality education. The agreement authorizes a family discount for families with two or more children attending a Child Development Center and improves the availability of child care on military installations. In addition, the Conference Report authorizes additional funding to maintain the student-teacher ratios at DOD schools and increases funding for Impact Aid by a total of $70 million to support school districts educating military children, which includes $20 million for Impact Aid for children with severe disabilities. The Conference Agreement includes numerous other reforms to support military families with children with special needs, including standardizing and improving the Exceptional Family Member Program and establishing requirements for the Office of Special Needs to develop and update individualized service plans.” (“William M. ‘Mac’ Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021,” U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee, 12/03/2020)

“The FY 2020 NDAA initiated the most comprehensive overhaul of the privatized military housing system since its creation over two decades ago. To follow up on its implementation and ensure our service members and their families are living in high-quality, healthy, and safe housing during their service, the FY21 NDAA Conference Report contains numerous oversight and assessment measures, including: [s]triking section 2830 of title 10, United States Code, which allows the Secretaries of the military departments to maintain substandard military family housing; [r]equiring DOD to implement the recommendations of the DOD Inspector General Report ‘Evaluation of the DOD's Management of Health and Safety Hazards in Government-Owned and Government-Controlled Military Family Housing’ within 90 days of enactment; [r]equiring the DOD Inspector General to audit the medical conditions of service members and their families who have resided in unsafe or unhealthy military housing; [i]mproving the identification and remediation of severe environmental hazards; [p]roviding support for families who have been displaced from their privatized military housing and establishing best practices for mold mitigation in emergency situations; [h]olding housing companies accountable, including by requiring the inclusion of assessment of performance metrics in the annual publication on use of incentive fees for privatized military housing projects; [a]pplying the uniform code of basic housing standards for safety, comfort, and habitability for privatized military housing to all government-owned and government-controlled military family housing; and [p]roviding authorities to ensure timely hiring of military housing office officials responsible for supervising privatized military housing projects.” (“William M. ‘Mac’ Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021,” U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee, 12/03/2020)

Further, This Year’s NDAA Provides Crucial Resources For Military And National Guard Personnel To Address Coronavirus Challenges

“This year’s NDAA has been crafted in the midst of an unprecedented national pandemic. Over the past nine months, the U.S. military has assisted in numerous ways to support communities across the nation, while at the same time facing the dual challenges of protecting the health of service members and maintaining military preparedness. The Conference Report responds to these challenges by ensuring service members have adequate diagnostic equipment, testing capabilities, and personal protective equipment, along with resources and authorities to support overall readiness.” (“William M. ‘Mac’ Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021,” U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee, 12/03/2020)

The Final FY2021 NDAA Contains Multiple Provisions ‘To Deter China’s Malign Behavior’ And ‘To Strengthen The United States’ Posture And Alliances In The Indo-Pacific Region’

“The annual defense bill, which lawmakers are expected to vote on starting Tuesday, establishes a program to strengthen the United States’ posture and alliances in the Indo-Pacific region and funding for additional attack submarines that senior Pentagon officials have said are vital for countering China’s powerful maritime forces. The legislation also creates a new director of cybersecurity position to coordinate such activities government-wide, and establishes a plan to make the Defense Department less dependent on Chinese manufacturing, from microelectronics to face masks.” (The Washington Post, 12/06/2020)

‘The Flagship China-Focused Program In The Defense Bill Is The New Pacific Deterrence Initiative, Which Aims To Establish A Regionwide Approach To Countering China In Its Immediate Area Of Influence’

“The flagship China-focused program in the defense bill is the new Pacific Deterrence Initiative, which aims to establish a regionwide approach to countering China in its immediate area of influence. The program’s inspiration comes from the European Deterrence Initiative, launched in 2014 to bolster the presence of U.S. forces to help defend NATO allies against Russian aggression. The new initiative is funded at $2.2 billion for the first… and charged, generally, with enhancing the United States’ defensive posture, capabilities and alliances in the region.” (The Washington Post, 12/06/2020)

• “For Congress, however, the new initiatives are driven not only by the pressure to bolster the country’s posture against China, but also the desire to give lawmakers more control over how the coordinated competition with Beijing is staged. The bill orders the defense secretary to tell Congress by February exactly what resources the Pentagon will need to achieve the goals of the deterrence initiative, and to follow up with periodic status reports. The bill also orders the Pentagon to give Congress at least 90 days’ notice before attempting to reduce U.S. troop levels in South Korea below 28,500. Compliance with the reporting requirements is expected to influence not only the debate on Capitol Hill, where there is proven bipartisan interest in measures to constrain China’s influence, but also the way that defense funds to address the region are apportioned in the future.” (The Washington Post, 12/06/2020)

“[T]he FY21 NDAA Conference Report establishes the Pacific Deterrence Initiative (PDI). The PDI will send a strong signal to China and any potential adversaries, as well as to our allies and partners, that America is deeply committed to defending our interests in the region. The PDI will focus on the following activities: 1. Enhancing the United States’ deterrence and defense posture; 2. Increasing readiness and capability in the Indo-Pacific region; and 3. Deepening cooperation with allies and partners. In total, the provision authorizes $2.2 billion to be invested for these purposes, the bulk of which was identified through budget reviews of existing programs and captured in a new budget display created by the Armed Services Committees.” (“William M. ‘Mac’ Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021,” U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee, 12/03/2020)

‘In Addition To Establishing The PDI, The Conference Report Also Includes Numerous Provisions To Deter China’s Malign Behavior, Position The United States For Strategic Competition, And Protect Our Assets From Infiltration’

“In addition to establishing the PDI, the Conference Report also includes numerous provisions to deter China’s malign behavior, position the United States for strategic competition, and protect our assets from infiltration, including: Protecting federal investments in defense-sensitive intellectual property, technology, and data from acquisition by China, including by: [c]reating mechanisms to restrict employees or former employees of the defense industrial base from working directly for companies wholly owned by, or under the direction of, the Government of the People's Republic of China (PRC), [r]equiring universities to share information on defense-funded research, [l]imiting funding for universities with Confucius Institutes, and [r]equiring the disclosure of external funding for federal grant recipients; [d]irecting the President to create a whole-of-government strategy to impose costs on the PRC to deter industrial espionage and the large-scale theft of personal information by the PRC; [e]stablishing a continuous assessment activity for industrial bases of foreign adversaries, beginning with China; [r]equiring the public reporting in the Federal Register of Chinese military companies operating in the United States; [p]rohibiting the commercial exports of covered defense articles and services and covered munitions items to the Hong Kong Police…”  (“William M. ‘Mac’ Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021,” U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee, 12/03/2020)

The FY 2021 Defense authorization bill also reaffirms U.S. commitments to and support for  Indo-Pacific region allies and partners including India, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and Vietnam. (“William M. ‘Mac’ Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021,” U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee, 12/03/2020)

This Year’s Defense Authorization Bill Also Has A Number Of Key Provisions To Counter Aggression And Malign Influence From Russia

This year’s defense authorization bill reaffirms U.S. commitments to and support for various Eastern European allies and partners including Ukraine, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania and others. (“William M. ‘Mac’ Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021,” U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee, 12/03/2020)

The FY 2021 NDAA Conference Report also “[e]xtends restrictions on funds for military-to-military cooperation with Russia and any activities that would recognize Russian sovereignty over Crimea, [a]uthorizes $250 million for the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, including $75 million for lethal assistance, and extends the authority to support Ukraine in deterring Russia … [e]xtends the authority for training of Eastern European national security forces in multilateral exercises … [a]uthorizes full funding for the European Deterrence Initiative, [e]xpands sanctions related to the construction of Russia’s Nord Stream 2 pipeline projects … [r]equires the establishment of a coordinated and integrated program to train DOD personnel regarding the threat of foreign malign influence campaigns targeting them on social media; and [a]uthorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to take special measures to combat Russian money laundering.” (“William M. ‘Mac’ Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021,” U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee, 12/03/2020)

In addition, the NDAA “[e]xpresses support for the continued presence of U.S. forces in Germany and limits DOD’s ability to reduce the number active-duty service members in Germany below 34,500 until an assessment on its impact has been completed … Provides new authorities for training and assistance to foreign partners to build capabilities for cyberspace security, defensive cyberspace operations, and air domain awareness operations, and expands eligibility for training at the Inter-European Air Forces Academy …” (“William M. ‘Mac’ Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021,” U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee, 12/03/2020)

The FY 2021 NDAA Strengthens American Cybersecurity And Enhances Cyber Warfare Capabilities

“The FY21 NDAA Conference Report ensures that the United States protects its dominance in cyber space. To this end, the Report adopts 23 recommendations from the Cyberspace Solarium Commission, which was established in the FY19 NDAA. These include provisions to: [e]stablish the National Cyber Director position within the Executive Office of the President; [s]trengthen the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) at the Department of Homeland Security; [c]odify the importance of critical infrastructure to domestic cybersecurity; [e]mpower the government to better protect against cyber attacks; [a]ssess the establishment of a defense industrial base threat information sharing program and defense industrial base threat hunting program; [a]dd a force structure assessment in the quadrennial cyber position review; and [c]onduct a review of existing statutes, rules, and regulations that govern the use of the National Guard in response to significant cyber incidents.” (“William M. ‘Mac’ Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021,” U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee, 12/03/2020)

• “Other provisions related to enhancing our nation’s cybersecurity strategy and cyber warfare capabilities include: [u]pdating the responsibilities of the Principal Cyber Advisor to lead coordination of all policies and programs related to defense industrial base cybersecurity; [e]valuating options for establishing a cyber reserve force; [r]equiring the Secretary of Defense to develop a framework for cyber hunt forward operations that will improve effectiveness and consistency in efforts coordinated with foreign partners; and [s]etting up a pilot program on the use of speed-based metrics to evaluate the effectiveness of cybersecurity providers, products and technologies.” (“William M. ‘Mac’ Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021,” U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee, 12/03/2020)

This Year’s NDAA Continues Efforts To Modernize America’s Strategic Nuclear Deterrent And Strengthens The Nuclear Triad It Relies On

“The conference agreement authorizes funds for the sustainment and modernization of our nuclear deterrent, including Nuclear National Security Administration (NNSA) weapons programs and infrastructure recapitalization; Department of Defense submarines, ballistic and cruise missiles, aircraft, and command and control systems; as well as nuclear non-proliferation activities to meet critical national defense requirements in support of the National Defense Strategy.” (“William M. ‘Mac’ Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021,” U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee, 12/03/2020)

“The Conference Report encourages the NNSA to continue modernizing our nation’s nuclear stockpile, including the development of the W93 warhead, while strengthening governance and management of the joint nuclear weapons life cycle process. It also continues to support the maintenance of an appropriately-sized intercontinental ballistic missile force to deter large-scale strategic attacks, and does not place any additional limitations on the testing capabilities needed to ensure a safe, secure, and effective nuclear weapons stockpile.” (“William M. ‘Mac’ Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021,” U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee, 12/03/2020)

The Final Defense Authorization Bill Equips Our Military For The Wars Of Today And Tomorrow

The Bill Supports Development Of Advanced Weapon Systems And Technologies, Including Hypersonic Weapons

“Encourages the development of hypersonic weapons, as well as defense against the hypersonic weapons of our competitors … [i]ncludes several provisions designed to recruit and retain talent with science and technology expertise, including authorizing higher pay for the most in-demand skillsets and requiring a study comparing methods for recruiting and retaining technology researchers used by both the U.S. and Chinese governments … [and] [s]upports the development of fifth-generation (5G) wireless networks …” (“William M. ‘Mac’ Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021,” U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee, 12/03/2020)

The Legislation Also Invests In Continued American Technological And Military Superiority On Land …

“Supports critical Long-Range Precision Fires and Integrated Air and Missile Defense (IAMD) priorities of the Army including Precision Strike Missile, Hyper-Velocity Projectiles, Lower-Tier Air Missile Defense Sensor, High-Energy Lasers, Indirect Fire Protection Capability Increment 2, and the IAMD Battle Command System … [a]ccelerates joint counter unmanned aerial systems (C-UAS) capabilities by adding more than $47million for C-UAS research, experimentation, testing, operational demonstration, and the newly established Joint C-UAS Office … [s]upports the [helicopter] budget request for 60 UH-60L/M/V Blackhawks, 50 AH-64E Apaches, and 6 MH-47G Chinooks; [p]rovides for an additional $165 million to the CH-47 Chinook helicopter program for 5 CH-47F Block-II aircraft and advance procurement for future aircraft; [and] [s]upports the Future Vertical Lift program request, and increases investment in Future Long Range Assault Aircraft advance development.” (“William M. ‘Mac’ Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021,” U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee, 12/03/2020)

… At Sea …

“Authorizes procurement of nine total battle force ships, including one additional Virginia-class submarine, one additional Expeditionary Fast Transport … [p]rovides multi-ship contract authority for up to two Columbia-class submarines, three San Antonio-class amphibious ships, and one America-class amphibious ship … [r]equires the Navy to create a fighter aircraft force structure acquisition strategy and report on aircraft carrier air wing composition and carrier-based strike fighter squadrons to better prepare for potential conflicts envisioned by the National Defense Strategy; and [a]uthorizes an additional eight P-8 aircraft to continue modernizing our anti-submarine capability.” (“William M. ‘Mac’ Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021,” U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee, 12/03/2020)

… In The Air …

“Establishes a minimum number of combat coded aircraft for most major mission areas in the U.S. Air Force and prohibits the divestment of combat-coded aircraft until the minima are reached to ensure that the Air Force meets NDS and combatant command requirements … [r]equires the Air Force to have no fewer than 386 available operational squadrons or equivalent organizational units and 3,850 combat-coded aircraft … [p]rovides dedicated Air Superiority aircraft in the European Command theater and limits divestment of F-15C aircraft in the theater … [a]uthorizes $9.1 billion to procure 93 Joint Strike Fighter aircraft, an additional 14 aircraft above the President’s budget request, equipping our forces with the most advanced and capable fifth-generation aircraft … [i]ncreases MQ-9 [UAVs] procurement by a total of $108 million and adds 16 aircraft to prevent premature termination … Supports Air Force pilot training to protect pilots and reduce the pilot shortage … [a]uthorizes an additional seven C-130Js to further modernize our tactical airlift fleet …” (“William M. ‘Mac’ Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021,” U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee, 12/03/2020)

… And In Space

“Authorizes the voluntary transfer of personnel to the Space Force … [c]ontinues development of the space technology base, including launch vehicles and responsive launch, and recognizes the maturity of reusable space launch capability; [a]uthorizes increased funding for space domain awareness, launch development, and space-based surveillance capability; [a]ccelerates the acquisition of space systems; [d]irects the Secretary of the Air Force to provide a report on the selection process and criteria used to determine the permanent site for Space Command Headquarters; and [d]irects the National Security Space Launch (NSSL) program phase 2 to be implemented to sustain a healthy space industrial base and requires the Secretary of the Air Force to develop technologies to support NSSL in the future.” (“William M. ‘Mac’ Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021,” U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee, 12/03/2020)