December 18, 2024

Duckworth Statement on Senate Passage of Bipartisan NDAA That Provides Pay Raise to Our Troops, Bolsters Readiness and Supports Servicemembers and Their Families at Home and Abroad

Among her priorities, the Senator successfully included a provision that would improve access to high-quality medical care for servicemembers and their families in the Indo-Pacific region

 

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] – Combat Veteran and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL)—who served in the Reserve Forces for 23 years and is a member of the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC)—secured several important provisions in the Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that passed the Senate today to support our servicemembers and their families, enhance strategic partnerships in the Indo-Pacific region, improve logistics to bolster readiness and energy resiliency as well as continue to restore American competitiveness. The legislation, which now heads to the President’s desk, also includes an historic pay raise of 14.5% for junior enlisted servicemembers and 4.5% for all servicemembers.

“The brave men and women in uniform who serve our nation at home and abroad deserve to know that our country fully supports them as they and their families sacrifice to defend our country,” said Senator Duckworth. “While I do not support every provision in this bipartisan compromise—including MAGA Republicans’ abysmal prohibition of gender-affirming care coverage for our military families—this bill includes a well-deserved and substantial pay raise for our troops and several of my provisions to support our troops and military families, improve readiness and enhance strategic partnerships. I voted to pass this legislation because our troops deserve each of those improvements and because it’s the right thing to do for our national security and I hope the President signs it as soon as possible.”

Despite being included in the SASC committee-passed version, an historic provision led by Senator Duckworth that would have expanded IVF coverage for servicemembers and military families was ultimately stripped from the final version of this year’s NDAA during conference negotiations.

In reaction to this omission at the eleventh hour, Duckworth said: “While I’m glad many provisions I led were successfully included in this year’s defense bill, I’m disappointed that my IVF provision—which would have simply ensured that our servicemembers and their families have access to the same level of coverage as Members of Congress—was removed from the final version behind closed doors, even after so many of my Republican colleagues very loudly and publicly claimed to support IVF this year. But let’s be clear: we got closer to providing IVF access this year than ever before, and my work on this is far from over. After everything they sacrifice, I’ll never stop working to expand access to IVF for our servicemembers who rely on this treatment to start or grow their families, including those whose struggle with infertility is linked to their service.”

Each year, the NDAA authorizes funding for the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), sets our nation’s defense policy and ensures that our servicemembers have the tools they need to defend our nation.

Additional key Duckworth provisions included in this year’s NDAA would:

Support a Strong and Ready Total Force by:

  • Increasing Playground Inclusivity for Exceptional Family Member Program (EFMP) Families by authorizing a pilot program to build or upgrade inclusive playgrounds at one military installation within each of the military departments to directly support EFMP families.
  • Ensuring Lovell FHCC’s Continued Success by extending the authority of the Joint Medical Facility Demonstration Fund U.S. Treasury account by one year, which serves as the operating account for the North Chicago-based Lovell FHCC. Senator Duckworth worked with U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) to secure this provision.
  • Supporting Community Schools and Kids by authorizing an additional $50 million for school districts to receive critical Impact Aid from the DoD, rectifying state and local tax base funding shortfalls due to the presence of federal property in their districts. For Illinois school districts with large populations of students living on military bases, this funding will be critical in ensuring our schools, teachers and students have the resources needed and budget shortfalls are addressed.

Lead in the Indo-Pacific Region by:

  • Improving Medical Readiness in the Indo-Pacific by establishing a program in the Indo-Pacific to accredit foreign medical facilities to allow DoD-affiliated personnel to access those facilities for patient care where appropriate to do so and creating a medical readiness strategy in the region. This provision is a modified version of Senator Duckworth’s Access to Care for Overseas Troops Act.
    • Duckworth said of the bill: “We owe it to the troops we send overseas—and their families—to ensure they have access to the high-quality medical care their sacrifices deserve, both during periods of conflict and in peacetime, whether that means getting injured servicemembers to medical facilities within the ‘golden hour’ wherein lives can still be saved or simply ensuring military families are able to deliver their babies safely. The unfortunate reality is that we are falling short of that obligation in certain regions, including the Indo-Pacific, and far too many servicemembers, dependents and DoD-affiliated civilians find it difficult to access care overseas. That harms our military readiness, and I’m pleased my provision to help do more to fix this was successfully included in this year’s final defense bill.”
  • Reinforcing the U.S.-Vietnam Relationship by extending the duration of the Vietnam Wartime Accounting Initiative and clarifying the purpose of the cooperative program to expand its activities.

Build the Logistics Enterprise for a Combat-Credible Deterrent by:

  • Sustaining the Army’s Real Estate Management Cost Savings Tools by authorizing a one-year extension of the Army’s Real Property Management program, which aims to use taxpayer dollars efficiently and identify opportunities for installations like Rock Island Arsenal.
  • Resourcing a Vital USTRANSCOM Requirement by increasing the cap on the DoD's authority to buy used sealift vessels, a major priority for U.S TRANSCOM.

Tackle Climate Change and Defend the Environment by:

  • Enabling the Military’s Use of Sustainable Fuel by an existing prohibition on the bulk purchase of renewable fuels to allow the Department to take advantage of advancing fuel technology to make logistical, environmental and health gains for servicemembers.

Restore American Competitiveness by:

  • Building Stronger Local Communities by allowing the Department to make grants to local communities to improve infrastructure around military bases to the benefit of local communities and the Department. This could assist communities that surround military installations, like the Quad Cities.

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