House Passes FY14 NDAA

Congresswoman Madeleine Z. Bordallo today announced that the House passed H.R. 1960, the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2014, by a vote of 315 yeas to 108 noes. The Senate Armed Services Committee is expected to begin consideration of their version of the defense bill next week. Both bills will be reconciled in Conference Committee later this year.

H.R. 1960 authorizes spending and sets policy for the Department of Defense for fiscal year 2014.  The House-passed FY14 NDAA leaves intact approximately $494.6 million in military construction projects for Guam. It also authorizes $119.4 million for civilian infrastructure needs on Guam, including initial improvements at the Northern District Wastewater Treatment Plant and the Hagatna Wastewater Treatment Plant.

Additionally, the bill includes provisions to address the crisis of sexual assaults in the military and provides resources to bring the war in Afghanistan to a successful close. 

For more information on provisions relevant to Guam, please refer to Congresswoman Bordallo’s recent press release on the FY14 NDAA.

“The House today passed the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2014,” said Congresswoman Bordallo. “This bill works to ensure that our men and women in uniform are well trained and equipped to defend our Nation and its allies. It also provides significant support for the realignment on Guam and rolls back restrictive language that hampers the obligation and expenditure of Government of Japan funds. This defense bill continues the House’s consistent position of supporting the realignment of forces in the Asia-Pacific region.

Notably, the bill provides our servicemembers with a 1.8 percent increase in pay and rejects the President’s proposal to increase TRICARE enrollment fees. Overall, H.R. 1960 includes many important provisions that will strengthen our nation’s defense and support our servicemembers and their families. Unfortunately, the bill ignores the impact of sequestration and does nothing to end sequestration which has detrimental effects on the readiness of our military.  Despite this fact, I thank Chairman McKeon and Ranking Member Smith for their efforts in working to develop this important legislation.”