Congressman Bishop Applauds Robust Investment in Armed Forces, Highlights Defense Bill Support for Middle and Southwest Georgia Bases

Statement

Yesterday, Congressman Sanford D. Bishop, Jr. (GA-02) voted to adopt S.1605, Fiscal Year 2022 (FY22) National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). This bill authorizes a range of programs related to national defense each year and touches on all aspects of military life -- from service members and families to weapons, equipment, and facilities. Congressman Bishop was a strong advocate for provisions to improve the quality of life for military families and helped lead the effort to adopt the bipartisan bill by a vote of 363-70. The bill was sent to the Senate for consideration.

"The annual defense bill has once again shown that when it comes to our national security and the well-being of our military families, we can work across the aisle to find bipartisan solutions to the challenges we face," said Congressman Bishop. "This bill helps us refocus our national defense on our adversaries like Russia and China while upholding our commitment to care for our service members and their families who are the backbone of our armed forces. I encourage the Senate to quickly pass this bill and send it to President Biden for his signature."

As the country deals with supply chain challenges, the bill would require the Defense Department to identify and reduce risks from foreign interference as well as prioritize domestic production of critical minerals and pharmaceutical ingredients. To meet the challenges posed by China and Russia, the bill authorizes over $7 billion for the Pacific Deterrence Initiative -- $2 billion above the President's request -- and requires reporting on Russian influence operations and campaigns targeting U.S. military alliances and partnerships.

Closer to home, the bill includes $6 million in military construction funding for Military Housing Privatization Initiative Restructuring at Robins Air Force Base (AFB) in Warner Robins, GA. The bill makes other military construction at Fort Gordon, Fort Stewart, Fort Benning, and Kings Bay Naval Submarine Base in Georgia, including funding for a Cyber Instructional Facility at Fort Gordon and a Special Operations Battalion Headquarters at Fort Benning. The Marine Corps Logistics Base Albany will see further improvements to 5G broadband expansion, infrastructure improvements and modernization initiatives that will support Marine Corps mission readiness.

The FY22 NDAA provides a 2.7 percent pay increase for service members and establishes a $15 minimum wage for covered service and construction contracts. It also makes historic changes to the Uniform Code of Military Justice to combat sexual assault in the military, and establishes the Office of Countering Extremism.

For military families, the bill expands the pilot program providing financial assistance for in-home childcare. It also establishes an Exceptional Family Member Program Advisory Council to better support military families who have members with special needs. It authorizes $50 million to help schools in local communities that serve military family children.

The bill authorizes much-needed communication modernization upgrades to the E--8C Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System (JSTARS) aircraft. The JSTARS program is based at Robins AFB and is a joint Air Force and Army program that provides critical airborne surveillance, intelligence, and command and control to U.S. armed forces around the world.

This bill also authorizes $203 million for continued research and development of the Air Force Advanced Battle Management System (ABMS). ABMS will be hosted at Robins AFB and is a next-generation system of systems integrating battlefield surveillance information and providing commanders with better situational awareness in combat. Also included in the defense bill is $125M for Robin AFB's future squadron of E-11A Battlefield Airborne Communications Node (BACN) aircraft.

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