Bacon’s Statement on 2019 NDAA

Today, Congressman Don Bacon (NE-02) and his colleagues in the House adopted the conference report to accompany the 2019 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) by a vote of 359 to 54. The report is the result of the NDAA Conference, which is a group of House Members and Senators who meet to reconcile the defense bills passed by each house of Congress. He is the only freshmen member of the House named to the NDAA conference committee two years in a row.”

“For the second consecutive year, Congress has sent a strong bi-partisan message that our military readiness is a national priority,” said Rep. Bacon. “This legislation builds on the progress we made last year to reverse the dangerous decline in our military readiness over the last decade.  I am thankful a strong consensus of Republicans and Democrats in Congress have again shown we can work closely with the Administration to ensure our military has what it needs to keep our nation secure and prosperous.”

The 2019 NDAA:

- Authorizes $716 billion for national defense, supporting the budget agreement in FY 2019 for national defense.

- Increases end strength for the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps and expands Department of Defense authority to execute programs to recruit and retain the best and the brightest in our military.

- Authorizes a 2.6% pay increase, the highest increase in nine years and also extends special pay and bonuses for those in high demand.

- Includes more than $600 million to modernize aircraft based at Offutt AFB and authorizes funding to replace the WC-135 and OC-135 observation aircraft.

- Authorizes $17.7 billion to begin to rehabilitate and replace worn out Army equipment; $40.8 billion to begin to overcome the crisis in military aviation by getting more aircraft in the air; $36.3 billion to restore America’s strength as sea and $23.5 billion to sustain, repair and rebuild crumbling military buildings and other structures.

- Includes legislation introduced by Rep. Bacon to enhance electronic warfare capabilities, limit use of Russian fuel in military installations in Europe, mandate improvements to the military transition assistance program (TAP), support the defense of Taiwan, provide access to military installations for families of servicemembers killed in the operational line of duty and requires federal agencies to provide prospective contractors with information about the agency’s policy to comply with the Federal Acquisition Register and information related to performance in dealing with requests for equitable adjustments.

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