El Paso Standard

Congresswoman Veronica Escobar (TX-16) and her House Armed Services Committee (HASC) colleagues advanced out of committee H.R. 2670, the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2024. 

“This year’s National Defense Authorization Act is a bill that puts America above our adversaries around the world,” said Congresswoman Escobar. “Despite stark differences between our parties, the spirit of bipartisanship prevailed to create a final product reflective of priorities for our country’s military and its readiness. While I do not agree with everything inserted in this bill by my Republican colleagues, I can proudly say every vote was cast on behalf of El Pasoans and our servicemembers stationed at Fort Bliss, and their families.” 

Below is an overview of some of the key FY24 NDAA provisions authored and championed by Congresswoman Escobar: 

Secured Nearly $100 Million Critical Investments for Fort Bliss

The Fiscal Year 2024 NDAA includes historic investment for Fort Bliss, championed by Congresswoman Escobar. The Congresswoman has long fought for and successfully secured authorization for $74 million for the full construction of a rail yard at Fort Bliss to bolster rapid deployment capabilities, $7.2 million in funding for the planning and design of transient training barracks at Fort Bliss, $10 million to ensure that El Paso continues to leverage its exceptional additive manufacturing capabilities to support a key future defense program for the Department of the Army, and $10 million in authorized procurement funding for Predictive Maintenance for Abrams tanks to improve the readiness and sustainability of the Abrams platforms.

Strengthen Ties between the Services and UTEP

Congresswoman Escobar closely partnered with colleagues to win a $20 million increase in funding for Department of Defense Research and Development Programs that support Minority Serving Institutions – to include Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Hispanic Serving Institutions - in an effort to invest in research supportive of the military branches, STEM talent, and the future of our defense workforce. Additionally, the Congresswoman secured language to clarify to the Department of Defense that Hispanic Serving Institutions are a key block of colleges and universities to receive investment across its research programs. Finally, Congresswoman Escobar included language for a feasibility study of establishing a Center of Excellence at UTEP for digital engineering. 

Honor Our Heroes

The legislation includes a provision authored by Congresswoman Escobar to authorize President Joe Biden to posthumously award Private Marcelino Serna, El Paso native and the most decorated WWI soldier from Texas, the Congressional Medal of Honor.  

Eliminate Co-pays for Contraception

Congresswoman Escobar secured a historic amendment to ensure servicemembers and military families have access to co-pay-free contraceptives, creating parity with civilians’ access. Her amendment eliminates unnecessary barriers and alleviates costs for the health care of those who sacrifice so much for us. 

Give Peace of Mind to Families with MIA or AWOL-declared Personnel

Congresswoman Escobar secured an amendment to seek an independent study from the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) on the policies and procedures for handling and resourcing cases of personnel declared Missing-In-Action (MIA) or Absent Without Official Leave (AWOL), and how we may improve transparency and communication for families of these personnel. 

Improve the Military Spouse Employment Partnership Program

Building on her long work with the Military Spouse Entrepreneur Act, Congresswoman Escobar secured language to request improvements to the Department of Defense Military Spouse Employment Partnership Program, which works to connect military spouses with partner employers who are committed to recruiting, promoting, and retaining military spouses.  

Strengthen Supportive Community Infrastructure

Congresswoman successfully included language to make the Defense Community Infrastructure Program (DCIP) permanent. Through DCIP communities like El Paso are able to address deficiencies in community infrastructure, supportive of a military installation, in order to enhance military value, installation resilience, and military family quality of life. 

Ensure Service Members in the National Guard are Supported

Congresswoman Escobar included a request for a report to require an assessment of current National Guard protocols and practices regarding reporting and adjudication of sexual assault and harassment claims, which are inconsistent and at times difficult to navigate, for members of the Guard who respond to both state and federal command structures.  The Congresswoman also authored language directing the Department to conduct a report on suicide prevention within the Guard to safeguard the well-being and mental health of soldiers, especially those on politically motivated missions in our State through missions like Operation Lone Star (OLS). 

Support the Wellbeing of Servicemembers and their Families

Congresswoman Escobar successfully incorporated a report on the implementation of the Stayskal Act, a bill that enables service members to file claims against their service for medical malpractice or negligence. Additionally, the Congresswoman secured a request to require the DoD cover the costs of temporary lodging for 30 days for servicemembers or dependents who are victims of domestic abuse in need of transitional housing.  

Empower Commanders in the Army through the Army Vantage Program

Congresswoman Escobar fought to preserve the continuity of the Army Vantage Program, which is a key readiness program Army Secretary Wormuth and other Army Senior Leaders have endorsed. This program empowers all commanders to assess the health, manning, training, and operational readiness requirements of their units, as well as to enable them to more proactively and efficiently address unmet needs for servicemembers.  

Invest in Our Servicemembers’ Mental Health Treatments

Congresswoman Escobar will require the Comptroller General to provide a study on the advisability and feasibility of implementing comprehensive baseline mental health exams to all separating and retiring service members via a thorough exam that more closely mirrors the VA’s mental health exams. These enhanced surveys are intended to further tailor mental health treatment to the needs of service members and help set up a pathway for other wraparound services. 

Prioritize the Eradication of Sexual Assault and Harassment

Congresswoman Escobar fought to secure a briefing on number of substantiated investigations into sexual harassment and discrimination conducted over last 3 years, the average time each type of investigation takes, and reasons for delays, and recommendations to shorten these timelines for or servicemembers.  Additionally, she included language for a study to assess the resources and training provided to JROTC cadets, seeks to collect data about cadet victimization of sexual harassment and assault, seeks improvements to this set of training and resources, and successfully required the DoD to collect data across the uniformed and civilian workforce to monitor harassment, discrimination, sexual assault, and other pervasive issues to better track these problems and inform future solutions. 

Evaluate Adoption Support Services in the Department of Defense (DoD)

Congresswoman Escobar included a request for a report on DoD adoption support services for military families that assesses the current state of these services, barriers to these services as experienced by military families, current successful practices, and recommendations on how to improve access and quality of services for military families. 

Original source can be found here.