Press Releases
Congressman Moran Votes in Support of Servicemembers and Key Conservative Values
Washington,
December 20, 2023
Washington, D.C. – Congressman Nathaniel Moran (TX-01) released the following statement after voting in support of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year (FY) 2024, which passed the House of Representatives by a vote of 310-118: “At every turn, our country faces threats to our freedom, security, and our very way of life: cyber-attacks, Chinese espionage and aggression, terrorist activity, and radical efforts to push social experiments on our military. Our defense programs should reflect America’s values and principles, and we must support our military during these precarious times,” said Congressman Moran. “Although the FY24 NDAA is not perfect, I voted yes today to approve it on its whole because it includes key conservative victories, including securing our servicemembers the largest pay raise in twenty years, fighting the woke ideology infiltrating our military, and equipping our nation’s military with the tools needed to face any threat and overcome any challenge.” Background The FY24 NDAA pushes back against the radical woke ideology being forced on our servicemen and women and restores the focus of our military on lethality.
Prohibits funding for the teaching, training, or promotion of CRT in the military, including at service academies and DoD schools.
Guts the Pentagon’s DEI bureaucracy by putting in place a DEI hiring freeze and cutting and capping the pay of DEI bureaucrats.
Prohibits the display of any unapproved flags, such as the LGBTQ pride flag at military installations. Eliminates funding for the DoD’s politically biased Countering Extremism Working Group. Prohibits DoD from contracting with advertising firms like NewsGuard that blacklist conservative news sources.
Requires all military promotions and accessions to be based on individual merit and demonstrated performance. Requires the Army to establish higher minimum fitness standards that are sex-neutral for all combat arms soldiers.
Does not authorize any climate change programs. Prohibits DoD from issuing costly new greenhouse gas rules on defense contractors. Prevents DoD from deploying electric vehicles at installations until it certifies that doing so will not impact installation readiness and that sufficient charging infrastructure is in place.
Permits Servicemembers to appeal verdicts of courts-martial to the Supreme Court. Requires DoD to provide Congress with legislative text and a timeline to implement unanimous jury verdicts for courts-martial. Requires DoD to review the foreign legal protections afforded U.S. Servicemembers stationed overseas and determine whether they are consistent with Servicemember rights under the Constitution.
Includes a Parents Bill of Rights to ensure parents of children in DoD schools have the right to review curriculum, books, and instructional materials; meet with teachers; and provide consent before schools conduct medical exams or screenings of students. Improves training and the capability of military criminal investigative units to prevent and combat child sexual exploitation. The FY24 NDAA boosts Servicemember pay and benefits and improves the quality of life for military families.
Supports a 5.2% increase in Servicemember basic pay, the largest pay raise in over 20 years. Authorizes the Secretary of Defense to pay junior enlisted members a monthly bonus to counteract the effects of Biden’s record-high inflation. Improves the Basic Allowance for Housing calculation to increase reimbursement for junior enlisted Servicemembers and counteract soaring rental rates. Expands Basic Needs Allowance to assist low-income Servicemembers supporting a family. Increases the monthly Family Separation Allowance. Extends military recruitment and retention bonuses and special pay authorities. Makes more Servicemembers living in high-cost areas eligible for additional cost-of-living allowances. Ensures members of the National Guard and Reserve are reimbursed for all of their housing costs during military training. Limits reductions in the cost-of-living allowance for Servicemembers assigned to foreign duty stations. Establishes the new Space Force Personnel Management Plan, easing service member transitions from active to inactive duty.
Authorizes $38 million over the budget request for new family housing. Authorizes $356 million over the budget request to renovate and build new barracks. Requires DoD to establish minimum standards for safety, security, and habitability of military barracks before assigning Servicemembers to live in such barracks. Authorizes an additional berthing barge to provide a safe and healthy housing alternative for Navy Servicemembers during dry dock availabilities. Requires the DoD to identify locations where there is known contamination of drinking water systems on military installations and develop detailed plans to remediate and cleanup these sites.
Expands reimbursements available to military spouses for relicensing or business costs when Servicemembers transfer locations. Helps military spouses keep their federal government jobs by authorizing telework when they move because of a military change of station. Allows temporary deferment of student loans for military spouses who lose their job as the result of a military change of station. Requires the Defense Health Agency to examine the feasibility of hiring qualified spouses while they await the transfer of professional licenses. Opens commissary and recreational facility access to remarried Gold Star Spouses.
Authorizes DoD to reduce out of pocket childcare expenses for military families. Authorizes $153 million over the budget request for the construction of new childcare centers. Requires DoD to develop an outreach campaign relating to waiting lists for Military Child Development. Authorizes over $280 million to build new schools for military children. Authorizes $50 million in Impact Aid assistance to public schools with military dependent students and an additional $10 million in assistance to local schools teaching children with severe disabilities. Requires a review of the availability of mental health services in military schools.
Authorizes the DoD to fund, and members of the Armed Services to participate in, clinical trials using psychedelic substances and cannabis to treat post-traumatic stress and traumatic brain injuries. Waives cost-sharing for three mental health outpatient visits each year for active duty family members and children. Expands mental health counseling services for Servicemembers transitioning to the private sector. Authorizes license portability for mental health professionals who provide non-medical counseling services. Requires DoD to examine ways to reduce time to credential providers and reimburse providers. Requires a study of the role of non-clinical behavioral health services to expand mental health services.
Waives fees and copays on the TRICARE Dental Program for all members of the Selected Reserve. Expands access to dental care for military families at remote or isolated duty locations. Strengthens oversight of TRICARE pharmacy program. Expands cardiac care pilot program to provide electrocardiograms to all individuals entering military service. Requires DoD to determine ways of enhancing medical resources for Servicemembers conducting missions in Japan and Guam. Requires DoD to study and report on health conditions of members of the Armed Forces on active duty developed after administration of COVID-19 vaccine. Expands eligibility for hearing aids under TRICARE.
Expands counseling services for Servicemembers transitioning to the private sector. Requires DoD to meet minimum staffing and funding levels for the SkillBridge program. Increases to 5 percent the Government-wide goal for participation in Federal contracts by small business concerns owned and controlled by service-disabled veterans. Improves, expands, and extends the Troops to Teachers program.
Extends military recruitment bonuses. Cracks down on colleges and universities that deny access to military recruiters. Increases the number of JROTC programs and instructors at U.S. high schools. Requires high schools to allow military recruiters to participate in career fairs. Establishes an enlisted training pilot program at community colleges. Increases the health professions scholarship program from $30,000 to $50,000, ensuring DoD can compete with civilian medical schools for talent. The FY24 NDAA builds and maintains the overmatch we need to counter Communist China’s aggression.
Authorizes the call up of the Selected Reserve to respond to cyber attacks that harm national security. Limits the ability of the Biden Administration to reduce the number of U.S. Special Forces. Prohibits the decommissioning of 4 battle force ships with years of service life remaining. Rejects the Biden Administration’s request to divest certain aircraft, including the F-22, KC-135, E-3, and C-130 to ensure continued air superiority in the near-term. Prohibits the DoD from reducing the number of Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles below 400 or reducing the responsiveness or alert status of the arsenal. Limits the ability of the Biden Administration to retire certain nuclear weapons or nuclear capable B-1 bombers. Increases funding for military exercises. Prohibits DoD from sourcing operational energy from Russia or China or any entity controlled by Russia or China. Requires the Air Force to maintain sufficient capability, capacity, and proficient aircrews to support geographical combatant commanders' requirements. Permanently increases the minor military construction threshold to give the services greater flexibility to build out necessary infrastructure. Requires MARAD to establish a working group to assess the size and readiness of the U.S. flag fleet to meet national defense and commercial requirements. Extends direct hire authority for military ranges and organic industrial base facilities to quickly fill critical vacancies with qualified civilians.
Establishes a grant program to expand capacity at private shipyards building Navy ships. Provides for the implementation of the AUKUS agreement, unlocking over $3 billion in Australian investment in the U.S. submarine industrial base. Establishes a Joint Energetics Transition Office to improve the domestic manufacture of energetic materials critical to the production of munitions. Supports additional investments in shipyard infrastructure and recapitalization efforts. Provides multi-year procurement for domestically produced rare earth elements and requires DoD to assess ways to increase stockpiles of rare earth elements. Provides multi-year procurement authority for the APL and Virginia Class sub. Provides multi-year procurement authority for several munitions critical to conflict in the Indo-Pacific. Establishes a critical reserve of long-lead items and components to provide the capability to quickly access the required components to accelerate the delivery of munitions. Provides emergency acquisition authority for purposes of replenishing United States stockpiles. Increases investment in the Army Ammunition Plants to expand domestic munition production capacity. Increases funds for the expansion of the sonobuoy industrial base.
Prohibits DoD from contracting with any CCP owned or controlled company operating in the U.S. Requires the Space Force to implement a plan to share threats from China and other adversaries with commercial space operators. Establishes a pilot program to monitor and analyze supply chains for weapons systems critical to INDOPACOM. Requires an assessment of foreign control and influence over the supply chain for critical minerals and metals used for defense technologies. Directs GAO to review and assess DoD’s efforts to plan and execute fuel resupply needs in a contested Indo- Pacific environment. Requires DoD to report to Congress on foreign control and influence over the supply chain for critical minerals, metals, supplies, services, and materials used for defense technologies. Directs DoD to review certain biotechnology companies that could be military-civil fusion entities. Extends and expands the “Never Contract with the Enemy” law to terminate contracts with persons or companies engaging in activities that present a direct or indirect risk to U.S. or allied forces.
Extends the Pacific Deterrence Initiative to enhance U.S. deterrence and defense posture in the Indo-Pacific region. Funds the initiative at $14.7 billion, an increase of $5.6 billion over the budget request. Authorizes over $987 million in INDOPACOM Commander priorities left unfunded in the Biden budget. Provides for the implementation of the AUKUS agreement between the U.S., U.K., and Australia and authorizes the eventual sale of nuclear capable submarines to Australia. Rejects Biden administration’s effort to reduce the size of the Navy. Builds more projection forces (battle force ships and ISR aircraft) than requested to ensure overmatch in a CCP fight. Increases funding for essential military construction projects and expands logistics capabilities in the Indo-Pacific to ensure our forces can sustain the fight. Increases funding and provides multi-year procurement authority for munitions critical to the fight, including advanced autonomous drones, precision missiles, and anti-ship capabilities. Increases funding for innovative new technologies needed to deter the CCP on future battlefields, including AI, autonomous systems, cyber, mobile micronuclear reactors, and high energy lasers. Requires the DoD to undertake efforts to expand the deployable capacity of U.S. nuclear forces to counter the CCP’s unprecedented nuclear buildup.
Prohibits DoD from contracting with any CCP owned or controlled company operating in the U.S. Requires the DoD to identify and mitigate harmful encroachment near military installations, especially land purchases made by CCP-backed entities. Prohibits former members of the Armed Services from being employed by China or a CCP controlled company. Removes outdated policy limitations preventing missile defenses from being oriented against threats to the homeland from adversaries such as China. Accelerates the deployment of advanced radars to track high-altitude balloons and other CCP threats to our homeland. Assists universities engaged in DoD research to improve the security of their research operations. Closes loopholes that enable DoD funds to go to universities operating CCP fronts like Confucius Institutes. Prohibits DoD from contracting with EcoHealth Alliance for any research in China. Prohibits DoD from working with the Wuhan Institute of Virology. Limits DoD’s ability to hire consulting firms that also do business with the CCP. Prohibits DoD and U.S. seaports from contracting with any entity that uses CCP backed transportation logistics software. Prohibits DoD from procuring operational energy, certain battery technologies, and chemical munition materials from China. Requires the Space Force to implement a plan to share threats from China and other adversaries with commercial space operators. (Courtesy of the House Armed Services Committee Republicans)
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