House passes National Defense bill

Thompson-proposed Department of Defense tool will help military families find safe, affordable housing

WASHINGTON, D.C.— On Thursday, U.S. Representative Glenn “GT” Thompson voted in favor of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year (FY) 2023, which increases pay for our service members, ensures military readiness, supports our allies, and improves transparency for military housing.

Too often, service members experience poor living conditions or hazardous situations. The NDAA includes Rep. Thompson's bill, H.R. 7144, the Military Housing Transparency and Accountability Act, which directs the Secretary of Defense to develop a centralized Military Housing Feedback Tool for members of the U.S. Armed Forces and their families to identify, rate, and compare housing options. This tool will enable service members to report issues in realtime and find swift resolutions to inadequate conditions.

“Safe, affordable, and functional housing should be the standard for our service members and their families,” said Rep. Thompson. “I am thankful the Armed Services Committee agrees and added my Military Housing Transparency and Accountability Act to the Defense Authorization Act.

The NDAA authorizes annual funding for the Department of Defense (DOD) and defense-related programs at other federal agencies.

“The NDAA provides our armed services with the resources they need to keep America safe at home and abroad. With increased threats from Russia and China, it is important that our military remains in a position of strength. This bill prioritizes the needs of our troops and the security of our nation,” Thompson added.

The bill authorizes $850 billion for military activities, a nine percent increase from FY2022.

In addition to H.R. 7144 being added to the NDAA, Rep. Thompson successfully secured the following provisions:

• DOD report on the total dollar amount the department has spent on fuel from non-domestic sources.

• DOD report on the current operations from low recruitment and retention and the resulting effect on the physical and mental health of members.

• DOD report on the effect of economic inflation on military families.

• Reaffirming additive manufacturing and machine learning initiative of the Army has the potential to accelerate the ability to deploy additive manufacturing capabilities in expeditionary settings and strengthen the United States defense industrial supply chain.