Reschenthaler Applauds House Passage of the National Defense Authorization Act
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Chief Deputy Whip Guy Reschenthaler (R-PA) released the following statement after the House passed H.R. 8070, the Servicemember Quality of Life Improvement and National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2025:
“Providing our Armed Forces with the resources they need to defend our nation is vital as we face threats from across the globe. Under the Biden administration, the United States is no longer feared by our foreign adversaries, and our democratic allies, such as Israel, are being attacked relentlessly by terrorist organizations.
This year’s defense bill will ensure our servicemembers receive a pay raise, our military combats Communist China, our academies eliminate racist DEI policies from their curriculum, our border security efforts are bolstered, and our nation stands with Israel. I’m also proud to see several of my initiatives be included, including my effort to defund EcoHealth Alliance, which used taxpayer funds to perform dangerous gain-of-function experiments in Wuhan, China — the likely epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic.
A strong military equals a strong America. As a Navy veteran, I am proud to support the NDAA and urge the Senate to pass this critical legislation.”
Specifically, the FY25 NDAA:
- Gives junior enlisted servicemembers a 19.5% pay raise, expands allowances for housing and food, and improves the cost-of-living calculation.
- Boosts funding for housing maintenance accounts, strengthens oversight of military housing programs, and pursues public-private partnerships to upgrade unaccompanied housing.
- Reduces dangerous healthcare wait times by expanding access to medical providers, especially mental health providers, and increases oversight of healthcare accessibility for servicemembers.
- Prevents Communist China’s espionage in our military, supply chain, and research institutions.
- Bolsters Taiwan’s defense, supports Indo-Pacific allies, and increases funding for U.S. defense initiatives in the Indo-Pacific.
- Requires promotions to be based on merit, ends affirmative action at service academies, and abolishes DEI bureaucracy at DoD schools.
- Expands U.S.-Israel military exercises and fully funds cooperative missile defense programs.
- Fully funds the deployment of National Guard troops at the southwest border.
Initiatives led by Reschenthaler were included in the bill, including:
- Prohibiting funds to support the Wuhan Institute of Virology, EcoHealth Alliance, any laboratory owned or controlled by adversarial nations, or gain of-function research of concern.
- Prohibiting funds to require travel or transportation under the Joint Travel Regulations for Uniformed Services to be in a zero-emission vehicle.
- Requiring a report on the treatment of and human rights abuses committed against U.S. citizens by the government of Turks and Caicos Islands.
- Prohibiting the Secretary of Defense from knowingly permitting the sale, at a commissary store or military exchange, of any good, ware, article, or merchandise from any company that has engaged in or engages in a boycott of the State of Israel.
- Requiring a report on the TRICARE program’s copays related to outpatient visits for mental health or behavioral health care.
Read the full bill here.