Dear Senators Reed and Wicker and Representatives Rogers and Smith,
With Honor Action appreciates your leadership as we work to fight polarization by supporting principled veterans in Congress who have taken our pledge to serve with integrity, civility, and courage. You all are role models for how to work together to get hard things done for our country. Thank you!
Working alongside the 30 bipartisan veterans in the For Country Caucus in the House over the last six years, we have helped pass over 100 laws focused on national security and national service. As you know, each year, we flag our top bipartisan priorities for your consideration as you negotiate the final version of the NDAA. We are aware that each of these four items are challenging, and we are here to support you with our substantial communications, convening, and advocacy resources on any of them if you wish.
- The Fulfilling Promises to Afghan Allies amendment offered to the Senate’s NDAA. This will strengthen vetting for ~30,000 Afghan refugees and create a path to conditional permanent residency. It is an evolution of the Afghan Adjustment Act we helped initiate and have worked aggressively for two and a half years. (S.A. 2682 to S. 4638)
- A major pay increase of 15% for junior enlisted service members to eliminate military food insecurity, which the Department of Agriculture estimated impacts an astonishing 325,000 active duty servicemen and women. This is also an important item for recruitment and retention. The pay increase is currently marked at 15% in the House, 1% in the Senate, and 5.5% in Senate Appropriations. (H.R. 8070, Sec. 1801)
- The Stand with Ukraine Act to establish a better framework for transfers of defense equipment to Ukraine to combat Russian aggression, and six other provisions, including one that reauthorizes the Ukraine Democracy Defense Lend-Lease Program that is currently in the Senate Manager’s Package. (S.A. 3290 to S. 4638, Sec. 6231)
- The United States Foundation for International Conservation Act to secure our world’s endangered ecosystems from adversarial parties including Russia and the Chinese Communist Party, through an innovative public-private partnership. Led in the Senate by Senators Chris Coons and Lindsay Graham and Representatives Michael McCaul and Gregory Meeks, this legislation has more than 100 bipartisan co-sponsors from both chambers and is backed by an initial $100 M private commitment. (S.A. 3290 to S. 4638, Subtitle I)
Present in both the House and Senate NDAAs
- Certain provisions of the Blast Overpressure Safety Act, which was endorsed by the For Country Caucus, including provisions to clarify the roles and responsibilities of DOD officials relating to brain injuries from concussive and sub-concussive blasts (H.R. 8070, Sec. 1643; S. 4638, Sec. 1081) and the implementation of recommendations made by the Inspector General on the DOD’s management of traumatic brain injuries (H.R. 8070, Sec. 731(d))
- An independent evaluation regarding the potential establishment of a United States Cyber Force (H.R. 8070, Sec. 1536; S. 4638, Sec. 1606)
- The establishment of a Multilateral Artificial Intelligence Working Group in the Department of Defense. The For Country Caucus endorsed a previous version of this legislation, called the Five AIs Act (H.R. 8070, Sec. 1090; S. 4638, Sec. 1283)
- A provision to automatically register all eligible males for the Selective Service, lessening the administrative burden on individuals to register and eliminating the penalties for failing to register (H.R. 8070, Sec. 531; S. 4638, Sec. 598A)
Present only in the House-passed NDAA
- The recommendations of the House Armed Services Committee’s Military Quality of Life Panel written into the Servicemember Quality of Life Improvement and National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2025, especially the 15% targeted pay raise for junior enlisted service members and the 4.5% across-the-board pay raise for all service members.
- The Military Food Security Act, which expands service member eligibility for the Basic Needs Allowance by excluding the housing allowance from calculations of gross income (H.R. 8070, Sec. 621)
- The Maintaining our Obligation to Moms who Serve (MOMS) Act, which was endorsed by the For Country Caucus, establishes a pilot program to prevent perinatal mental health conditions in pregnant and postpartum members of the Armed Forces (H.R. 8070, Sec. 709)
- The Resilient Employment and Authorization Determination to Increase National Employment of Serving Spouses (READINESS) Act, which grants more job flexibility to federally employed military spouses (H.R. 8070, Sec. 1113)
- The Creating Legal Accountability for Rogue Innovators and Technology (CLARITY) Act, which prohibits the Department of Defense from acquiring blockchain technology developed by the People’s Republic of China and other foreign adversaries (H.R. 8070, Sec. 883)
- A provision clarifying military education institutions’ ability to accept certain gifts, standardizing practice across all service branches to accept “gifts of service” from non-profit entities established for the purposes of supporting military schools (H.R. 8070, Sec. 546)
Only in the Senate Armed Services Committee’s NDAA or Manager’s Amendment
- The U.S. Foundation for International Conservation Act, which establishes a public-private partnership to address gaps in international conservation efforts and counteract Chinese and Russian exploitation of natural resources in Africa (S.A. 3290 to S. 4638, Sec. 6231)
- The establishment of the National Commission on Quality of Life for the All-Volunteer Armed Force (S. 4638, Sec. 596)
- The establishment of a pilot program to develop near-term use cases of artificial intelligence toward biotechnology applications for national security (S. 4638, Sec. 236)
- The establishment of a preservation process of the service records of recognized “Afghan allies” in the Department of Defense (S.A. 3290 to S. 4638, Sec. 6073)
- An extension to the Ukraine Democracy Defense Lend-Lease Act (S.A. 3290 to S. 4638, Sec. 6231)
- An increase in the minimum number of authorized Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (JROTC) units (S. 4638, Sec. 584)
Offered to the Senate’s NDAA
- The Fulfilling Promises to Afghan Allies amendment offered to the Senate’s NDAA, which would strengthen vetting for Afghans seeking conditional permanent residency and expand opportunities for allies still abroad to apply for Special Immigrant Visas (S.A. 2682 to S. 4638)
Standalone legislation