Press Releases

WASHINGTON — Speaker Johnson released the following statement on H.R. 5009, the Servicemember Quality of Life Improvement and National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2025. 

“This year's Annual National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) ensures our men and women in uniform have the resources and support they need to defend our great nation. The NDAA refocuses our military on its core mission of defending America and its interests around the globe by supporting law enforcement operations and the deployment of the National Guard to the southwest border, expediting innovation and reducing the acquisition timeline for new weaponry, supporting our allies, and strengthening our nuclear posture and missile defense programs.

“We remain determined to confront increasingly hostile threats from Communist China, Russia, and Iran, and this legislation provides our military with the tools they need to deter our enemies. This legislation includes House-passed provisions to restore our focus on military lethality and to end the radical woke ideology being imposed on our military by permanently banning transgender medical treatment for minors and countering antisemitism.

“This legislation also reinforces our commitment to America’s brave men and women in uniform, and their families, by making landmark investments in their quality of life. I’m proud that we’re providing significant pay increases to our servicemembers, reducing barriers to employment for military spouses, and improving military housing and access to childcare.

“The safety and security of the American people is top priority, and this bill ensures our military has the resources and capabilities needed to remain the most powerful force in the world.” 

The FY25 NDAA will: 

• Provide junior enlisted servicemembers with a 19.5% pay raise.
• Fully support the deployment of National Guard at the southwest border to intercept illegal aliens and drugs.
• Prevent Chinese espionage in our military, supply chains, and research institutions.
• Expand U.S.-Israel military exercises and fully fund cooperative missile defense programs. 
• Increase funding for U.S. defense initiatives in the Indo-Pacific to bolster Taiwan’s defense and support Indo-Pacific allies. 
• Save $31 billion by cutting inefficient programs, obsolete weapons, and bloated Pentagon bureaucracy. 
• Cut $4 billion in programs that do not meet requirements.
• Require promotions to be based on merit.
• Prohibit contracting with advertising firms that blacklist conservative news sources. 
• Abolish the DEI bureaucracy.  
• Permanently ban transgender medical treatment for minors. 
• Counter antisemitism by prohibiting sale of goods at DOD commissaries and exchanges from any entities that have or are engaged in a boycott of Israel. 

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