WASHINGTON – Idaho’s two U.S. Senators, Mike Crapo and Jim Risch, voted in support of the Fiscal Year (FY) 2021 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) Conference Report. This is the 60th consecutive year Congress has fulfilled its constitutional duty to “provide for the common defense.”
“As the United States’ foreign adversaries engage in increasingly aggressive posturing, military readiness is key. The FY 2021 NDAA strengthens our national security, provides U.S. troops with a well-deserved pay raise, and secures significant wins for Idaho,” said Risch. “I am proud to join my colleagues in passing this legislation to protect our servicemen and women just as they protect us.”
“For the 60th consecutive year, Congress has passed the NDAA to provide the heroes of our Armed Forces the tools necessary to defend our country from authoritarian regimes across the globe,” said Crapo. “The bipartisan NDAA contains a number of provisions to strengthen our military readiness, and a pay raise for the women and men in uniform who put their lives on the line to protect and preserve our republic. I am grateful for their service and the work they do to keep us safe.”
The FY 2021 NDAA provides U.S. troops with three percent pay raise, and prioritizes military family readiness by including spouse employment opportunities and child care. It also prioritizes suicide prevention by making suicide prevention programs for reserve components permanent and requiring additional reporting to evaluate military suicides and prevention efforts. The NDAA also focuses on countering mounting threats from hostile adversaries like China and Russia by establishing the Pacific Deterrence Initiative in the Indo-Pacific, sending a signal to the Chinese Communist Party that the U.S. remains committed to protecting its interests and allies in the region.
Senators Crapo and Risch secured a number of provisions important to the state of Idaho in final passage of the NDAA, including:
- Site-wide security, cleanup and waste disposal at the Idaho National Laboratory;
- A “sense of Congress” amendment that expresses that the U.S. should compensate individuals suffering from the effects of uranium mining and above ground nuclear testing during the Cold War; and
- The Spent Fuel Handling Recapitalization Project at the Naval Reactor Facility.
As Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Senator Risch secured the following provisions in the FY2021 NDAA:
- S-400 Clarification (Section 1241): This provision clarifies that Turkey’s purchase of the S-400 system is a sanctionable activity under the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act. It also mandates the imposition of sanctions on Turkey for this purchase within 30 days of the enactment of the FY2021 NDAA.
- Expanded NS2 Sanctions (Section 1242): This title expands the scope of sanctionable activities to include insurance and reinsurance of the vessels laying the pipe for the NS2 project and testing and certification of the pipeline.
- United States-Israel Security Assistance Authorization Act (Title XII Subsection H): This legislation authorizes at least $3.3 billion annually in security assistance through FY2028, and authorizes US-Israel cooperative assistance projects in developing countries, health cooperation to combat COVID, the transfer of precision guided munitions, and the development of directed energy capabilities, among others.
The NDAA now heads to the White House.
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