Today, the Full Committee met to consider the Fiscal Year 2024 bill for the Defense Subcommittee. The measure was approved by the Committee with a vote of 34 to 24. 

The Defense bill funds agencies and programs under the jurisdiction of the Department of Defense (DOD) and Intelligence Community, including the Military Services, Central Intelligence Agency, and the National Security Agency. For Fiscal Year 2024, the bill provides $826.45 billion in new discretionary spending, which is $285.87 million over the President’s Budget Request and $28.71 billion – or 3.6% – over the FY23 enacted level. The bill prioritizes funding to counter China, optimize DOD’s workforce, promote innovation, support servicemembers and their families, and increase DOD’s role in combatting the flow of fentanyl, synthetic opioids, and other illegal drugs into the United States. Fiscal Year 2024 Defense Bill 

• Ensures servicemembers and their families have the support they need by:
  • Funding a 5.2% pay raise for our servicemembers;
  • Including a historic pay increase for junior enlisted servicemembers of an average of 30%;
  • Directing the Department to assess on-installation childcare capacity and staff hiring challenges and to develop a plan to reduce wait time; and
  • Supporting youth-focused programs such as Impact Aid, National Guard Youth Challenge, Sea Cadets, Young Marines, and STARBASE.
• Counters China by:
  • Making a historic investment in security cooperation funding for Taiwan;
    • Supporting training programs for Taiwan, including through the National Guard State Partnership Program.
    • Prioritizing the delivery of defense articles and services to Taiwan.
  • Rejecting the Biden Administration’s inadequate shipbuilding plan by preventing 4 ships from early retirement;
  • Increasing investments in 5th and 6th generation aircraft like the F-35 and Next Generation Air Dominance; and
  • Including over $9 billion for the Pacific Deterrence Initiative, which bolsters U.S. military capabilities in the Indo-Pacific region.
• Optimizes the Pentagon’s civilian workforce by:
  • Cutting $1 billion of the President’s Budget Request to increase the size of the civilian workforce;
  • Directing the Department to reassess the number and roles of its civilian personnel needed for its core mission, tasks, and functions and ensuring the Department has an appropriate workforce for areas that directly serve the warfighter, like depots and shipyards; and
  • Providing funding to accelerate the Department’s digital transformation of business practices through the Chief Data Artificial Intelligence Office.
• Innovates and modernizes the Military by:
  • Investing in next-generation fighter aircraft, helicopters, tactical combat vehicles, and submarines;
  • Empowers combatant commanders to quickly obtain the cutting-edge technology and weapons they need and to rapidly get them to the warfighter;
  • Funding the modernization of the nuclear triad: the B-21 Raider, the Columbia Class Submarine, and Sentinel;
  • Providing significant funding for the Defense Innovation Unit and the military services to accelerate acquisition processes;
  • Fully funding the Office of Strategic Capital to maximize the use of private capital for defense emerging technologies and manufacturing; and
  • Including increased funding for the successful program to Accelerate the Procurement and Fielding of Innovative Technologies (APFIT).
• Enhances DOD’s role in countering the flow of illicit fentanyl and synthetic opioids by:
  • Providing $1.16 billion for the drug interdiction and counterdrug activities account, which is $275 million above the President’s Budget Request;
  • Increasing funding for the National Guard Counterdrug Program;
  • Increasing funding for train and equip programs to counter illicit fentanyl and synthetic opioids and the transnational criminal organizations that contribute to the fentanyl crisis, particularly the Sinaloa and Jalisco drug cartels; and
  • Transferring Mexico from U.S. Northern Command to U.S. Southern Command, which enables better coordination and prioritization.

 A summary of the bill is available here. 

During the markup, Committee Republicans rejected amendments offered by the Democrats that would have:

• Enforced unnecessary ‘green’ and climate disclosure regulations;
• Promoted or advanced Critical Race Theory;
• Funded unnecessary and polarizing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives;
• Provided funding for hormone therapies or surgeries for sex changes;
• Allowed the use of funds for events on military installations or as part of recruiting programs that bring discredit upon the military, such as a drag queen story hour for children or the use of drag queens as military recruiters;
• Exposed Americans to religious discrimination;
• Allowed the use of funds for paid leave and travel or related expenses of a federal employee or their dependents for the purposes of obtaining an abortion or abortion-related services; and
• Increased the size of the civilian workforce in a manner inconsistent with the Department’s core mission, tasks, and functions.

In addition, Republicans adopted the following amendments: 

• Calvert (Manager’s Amendment) – makes technical changes to the bill and report.
  • The amendment was adopted by voice vote. 
• Calvert (En Bloc) – increases funding for Office of Inspector General to establish a Special Inspector General for Ukraine, codifies existing DOD policy to allow only approved flags to be flown over DOD facilities, prohibits Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion implementation, eliminates funding for DOD Chief Diversity Officer in addition to the Deputy Inspector General for Diversity and Inclusion and Extremism in the Military, and adds report language on Army ultra-lightweight camouflage net systems.
  • The amendment was adopted by a vote of 33 to 25. 
• Lee (CA) – adds a provision requiring a report on excessive contractor payments.
  • The amendment was adopted by voice vote. 

Chairwoman Kay Granger’s opening remarks are available here.

Subcommittee Chairman Ken Calvert’s opening remarks are available here. 

Bill text is available here.

Bill report, before adoption of amendments in Full Committee, is available here.

Original source can be found here.