Congressman Jason Crow Secures National & Local NDAA Wins

Press Release

Congressman Jason Crow (CO-06) late last night helped pass the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2023 out of the House Armed Services Committee. The bill will authorize Department of Defense spending for the coming fiscal year and it includes twenty-one Crow-led priorities that will help the United States confront unprecedented challenges at home and abroad.

"When I was Private Crow I had to live with decisions made in Washington. I'll never forget what that felt like. That's why I take the responsibility of helping make defense policy very seriously," said Congressman Jason Crow.

"I'm proud to have secured important wins for our servicemembers and our state -- providing a well-deserved pay raise for our troops, ensuring Coloradans remain on the frontier of technology and research, advancing US climate leadership, and increasing accountability in the military. This defense bill will make us safer, stronger, and ensure we are doing right by our men and women in uniform," he continued.

With the aftermath of Vladimir Putin's unlawful invasion of Ukraine and the growing strategic challenge posed by China, this NDAA equips the Department of Defense (DoD) and US military with the right resources and authorities to meet the greatest threats to the United States and our common defense. It also supports our servicemembers and their families with a 4.6% pay raise for our troops.

The NDAA will proceed to a vote on the House floor with numerous Crow-led priorities, including:

Appointing an Inspector General (IG) to Oversee US Aid to Ukraine: ensures comprehensive oversight through reviews, audits, investigations, and inspections of activities conducted by DoD in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, including military assistance provided to Ukraine by DoD.
Improving transparency, accountability and oversight of DoD military activities that resulted in civilian harm during overseas military operations. Significant portions of two Crow-led bills were included in the Chairman's mark:
DoD Civilian Harm Transparency Actand
Protection of Civilians in Military Operation Act.
Establishing a Space Force National Guard: with Reps. Crow & Lamborn's Space National Guard Establishment Act.

Creating a Database of Local Nationals Working for the US Government:requires the Secretary of Defense to establish and maintain a database listing all local nationals working for the United States within a theater of combat operations, which builds on lessons learned from the 20 years of conflict in Iraq and Afghanistan so we can better support our partners who risk their lives to work for the United States.

Advancing US Climate Goals:
By clarifying DoD's authority to assist in funding measures to preserve and enhance the resilience of NATO infrastructure.
Allows US contributions for NATO investment to include climate resilience of military facilities and installations.
Climate Security Assistance, Train and Equip Amendment: includes assistance on climate resilience and certain ecological security issues to the scope of the DoD Security Cooperation Program.
Creating an Optimization Plan to Identify and Mitigate Cyber Vulnerabilities to US weapons systems.

Expanding Clearances for STEM students: Requires DoD to report on potential benefits of students working in defense related STEM fields to be granted interim clearance prior to graduating and entering the job market. This will ease the issues that stem from the 18-24 month clearance backlog and strengthen the defense STEM workforce.

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