Walz Provisions Included in House Defense Bill

Press Release

Last night, important provisions from Rep. Tim Walz were included in the House's yearly defense legislation. The legislation passed the House Armed Services Committee early this morning and will move to the full House of Representatives for consideration.

"I appreciate the work of my colleagues to find compromise and common ground. This legislation contains many necessary provisions for our men and women in uniform stationed around the world. I was proud to champion several measures in the bill that will help ensure our and women have the resources they need to do their job in our communities and abroad."

Below is a list and description of some of the Walz provisions included in the bill:

Readiness:

Walz /Gibson Posture Act ensures Army readiness to keep America safe at home and abroad by freezing the drawdown of Army and Marine Corps.
Honors the service of military technicians and expresses that further cuts to those techs would have adverse impacts on readiness.

Energy Independence:

Blocked a proposal to prohibit DoD from buying biofuels in a USDA program.

Military Training:

Ensures that Army Special Forces soldiers get military free fall training to improve safety and effectiveness as they access remote area.
Army report on how to optimize training to address real situations soldiers may face in combat, as well as additional funding for combat training centers

National Guard and Reserves:

Adds additional transparency requirements regarding deploying National Guard and Reservists to active duty for real world missions.
Grants approval authority for flyovers of community events to state Adjutants General as a way to ensure effective use of resources.
Ensures that commissions appointed by the White House or Congress to review benefits and entitlements for servicemembers include representation from senior enlisted service members.
Eliminates barriers facing members of the National Guard and Reserves living in rural areas of the country by removing cost-prohibitive factors in the National Guard and Reserves by reforming an arbitrary $300 reimbursement cap for members traveling to training exercises and activities.

Mental Health:

Requests that Congress require TRICARE to comply with the Paul Wellstone Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008.

National Security Strategy:

Further improves the formulation of our national security strategy, by factoring in information about the workforce and resources devoted to strategic planning, as well as Congress's role.

Special Operations Warriors and Families

Full funding for Special Operations Preservation of the Force and Family aimed at addressing the pressures put on our Special Operations Forces warriors and their families and how we can improve their lives.

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