Readiness Chairman Garamendi Votes to Pass FY 2023 National Defense Authorization Act

WASHINGTON, DC—Today, Congressman John Garamendi (D-CA), Chair of the Subcommittee on Readiness, voted to pass the "National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2023" (H. RES. 1512) in the U.S. House of Representatives. The annual legislation provides the legal authority for all aspects of the United States military, including all personnel, installations, and equipment used in our national defense. The U.S. House of Representatives passed the legislation by a bipartisan vote of 350 to 80, and the bill now heads to the U.S. Senate before going to President Biden's desk to be signed into law.

As Chair of the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Readiness, Garamendi formally added the Readiness Subcommittee's NDAA provisions to the full legislation. Garamendi also secured funding in the legislation for several key projects at Travis Air Force Base in his Congressional District. Specifically, the legislation includes $7.5 million for a KC-46 Simulator Facility at Travis. Additionally, Garamendi secured $4 million to support bioindustrial research and training at schools and businesses throughout his Congressional District. This is an addition to the $300 million authorized for bioindustrial manufacturing across the country. Garamendi's effort supports the burgeoning Interstate 80 (I-80) bioindustrial manufacturing and research corridor transecting his Congressional District.

"I am pleased the House Armed Services Committees has once again come together to address critical issues facing our service members, military families, and the more than 1,000 military installations worldwide," Garamendi said. "As Chairman of the Readiness Subcommittee, I built upon my previous efforts as Chair to require the military to do its part in the fight against the climate crisis. Requiring that the military's non-tactical vehicle fleet become zero-emission by 2035 is a huge win. I also worked to improve pay and housing for servicemembers, secured additional funding to support Travis and Beale Air Force Bases in my district, and increased the Department of Defense's support in combatting wildfires in California and beyond," Garamendi continued.

"I look forward to seeing President Biden sign this strong, bipartisan legislation into law," Garamendi concluded.

Garamendi helped add the following provisions to this year's NDAA:

New Resources for Travis Air Force Base

• Authorizes $7.5 million to develop a KC-46 Simulator Facility at Travis Air Force Base to help the airmen prepare for the arrival of the KC-46 Pegasus aircraft at the base.

Supporting Mare Island Shipyard

• Directs the Secretary of the Navy to submit a report on the potential certification of additional U.S. private shipyards for Navy maintenance. This could benefit U.S. shipyards like Mare Island.

Addressing the Climate Crisis

• Requires the transition of Department of Defense non-tactical vehicle fleets to electric or zero-emission vehicles by 2035. The U.S. military is the largest fuel consumer in the government, so this will help combat the climate crisis.
• Establishes a program that designates military installations as "Energy Resilience Testbeds" to spur innovation in energy resilience technologies that lower the military's carbon footprint.
• Establishes a pilot program to promote the usage of sustainable aviation fuel within the Department of Defense
• Establishes a pilot program to develop innovative electric vehicle charging infrastructure.
• Requires the Department of Defense to develop a policy for the recycling of advanced batteries.
• Requires the Department of Defense to develop a plan for minimizing the impacts of the increased levels of heat generated by military installations.
• Requires the Department of Defense to amend its building codes to consider the use of solar roofing in a building's planning and design.

Increase Oversight of Privatized Military Family Housing Projects and Additional Housing-related provisions

• Increases Congressional oversight of the privatized military family housing program by requiring an annual briefing on the health and status of military housing privatization projects enterprise-wide.
• Requires mold inspections before new tenants move into vacant privatized housing units, while also requiring that these new tenants receive the inspection results.

Continued Efforts to Address Contamination Associated Around Military Installations

• Implements a phase-out of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) containing Fire Fighter Turn-out gear.
• Modifies a prize program created in the FY21 NDAA to incentivize private sector development of firefighting chemical alternatives to include research on PFAS-free personal protective firefighting equipment.
• Clarifies that Defense Environmental Restoration funds may be used to clean up state-owned National Guard facilities with proven exposures to hazardous substances and wastes.

Combatting Wildfires

• Extends the National Guard support for the Fireguard program until 2029.
• Allows the Department of Defense to transfer aircraft to other departments for the purposes of aiding search and rescue operations or emergency operations related to wildfires.
• Adds the "National Interagency Fire Center" to the list of agencies that the National Guard may consult with during wildfire training.
• Includes provisions from Garamendi's "Military Support for Fighting Wildfires Act" (H.R.5560) to improve the military's support for emergency response.

Addressing Preventable Training Accidents and Building a Culture of Safety in the Military

• Requires the Deputy Secretary of Defense to provide annual reports on the activities of the Joint Safety Council—which Garamendi helped establish through a previous NDAA.
• Creates a pilot program for the installation of tactical vehicle safety data recorders to monitor, assess, and improve readiness and safe operation of military tactical vehicles.

Supporting the Department of Defense Civilian Workforce

• Requires the Department of Defense to develop standardized credentials for law enforcement officers across the Department of Defense.
• Extends the Department's authority to grant allowances, benefits, and gratuities to Department of Defense civilian personnel on official duty in a combat zone
• Requires a Comptroller General review of the Administration's implementation of the paid parental leave benefit for federal civilians.
• Requires the Department of Defense to ensure national standards for Federal fire protection at military installations, ensuring the safety of firefighters and military service members.

Advancing Research and Development of Bioindustrial Manufacturing Processes

• Authorizes $300 million to create a network of bioindustrial manufacturing facilities around the country to scale the development of bioproducts. These facilities will be geographically distributed to maximize access to biological material needed for the bioindustrial manufacturing processes. This provision can help support the I-80 biomanufacturing corridor in Northern California.
• Creates $4 million in workforce development initiatives in bioindustrial manufacturing.

Pushing Back on Price Gouging

• Includes portions of Garamendi's "Stop Price Gouging the Military Act" (H.R.8007) as introduced with Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA). This would strengthen acquisition laws to help prevent price gouging by military contractors.

Eradicating an Invasive Species in Lake County

• Includes the "Stop the Spread of Invasive Mussels Act" (H.R.5692), which Garamendi introduced with Rep. Mark Amodei (R-NV) to authorize federal land management agencies to take proven, commonsense measures to prevent the proliferation of invasive species in our nation's waterways, lakes, reservoirs, and aqueducts. Garamendi represents Lake County, California, which has seen its critically important tourist economy centered around Clear Lake threatened by invasive Quagga Mussels and other aquatic invasive species exacerbating the Lake's harmful algal blooms. Garamendi has secured federal resources in recent years to help curb the presence of invasive species in Clear Lake, and the "Stop the Spread of Invasive Mussels Act" can provide key support in this ongoing effort.

Prioritizing Nuclear Arms Control and Nonproliferation

• Requires Congress to be notified of activities related to the development of a new or modified nuclear weapon for which a specific line item budget request is not required.
• Directs the Chairman of the Nuclear Weapons Council and the Administrator for Nuclear Security to jointly conduct a review of plutonium pit production and submit a plan to Congress.
• Directs the Comptroller General of the United States to conduct a review of the offensive hypersonic weapons programs of the Department of Defense, including the Navy Conventional Prompt Strike Program, the Army Long-Range Hypersonic Weapon, and the Air Force Air-Launched Rapid Response Weapons.

Improving Costa Guard Safety

• Includes the "Coast Guard Safety and Accountability Act" (H.R.509), which Garamendi introduced with Rep. Julia Brownley (D-CA) to require the U.S. Coast Guard to promptly respond to recommendations from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) following the investigation of the tragic Conception boat fire in September 2019, where 34 individuals died in an avoidable electrical fire off California's Central Coast.

Addressing Sexual Harassment

• Includes the "Safer Seas Act" (H.R.6866), which Garamendi introduced with Rep. Peter A. DeFazio (D-OR) to address the problem of sexual assault and harassment in the American maritime industry.

Stopping Oil Spills

• Includes the "Oil Spill Response Enhancement Act" (H.R.5634), which Garamendi introduced with the late Rep. Don Young (R-AK) to provide a limited indemnification so that oil spill response contractors are not inadvertently held legally liable for the total costs of responding to the oil spill disasters to which they are contracted by the U.S. Coast Guard to respond.