Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (D-Maine) today voted for the House passage of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The final conference report included initiatives for climate change resilience, mitigation of PFAS chemicals, and removal of racist Confederate names and monuments at military installations. Text of the final FY 2021 NDAA can be found here.
“The annual NDAA is a true compromise bill, and it isn’t perfect, but this year it includes several priorities that will benefit our state and nation. In Maine, passage of the NDAA authorizes the shipbuilding work at BIW and ensures our naval fleet is strong,” said Pingree. “This important bill elevates American values and will help the military prepare against the threat of climate change. I’m proud that several provisions I’ve advocated for, including better services for survivors of sexual trauma, are included in the final bill.”
The NDAA is the annual bill which authorizes expenditures for the U.S. Department of Defense, while funding is provided through the Defense Appropriations bill. The FY 2021 NDAA:
- Provides Long-Overdue Benefits for Veterans Exposed to Agent Orange: Requires the VA to provides benefits to veterans who were exposed to Agent Orange and later diagnosed with bladder cancer, Parkinsonism or hypothyroidism. Pingree has supported this effort and urged conferees to include this provision.
- Raises Pay for Troops: Authorizes a 3.0 percent increase in basic pay for service members.
- Ensures Parental Leave for Federal Employees: Ensures that employees of the FAA, VA and certain other civilian federal are eligible for the parental leave benefit enacted in last year’s NDAA.
- Protects federal employees. Strengthens equal employment opportunity protections for federal employees and strengthens prohibitions against discrimination and retaliation against whistleblowers.
- Provides Child Care for Military Families and DOD Employees. Mandates child care for each child of a member of the Armed Forces or civilian employee of the DOD while that member or employee works on rotating shifts at military installations.
- Authorizes a Maternity Uniform Pilot Program: 5-year funded pilot program for the temporary issuance of maternity uniforms to pregnant military servicemembers, and at no cost to the servicemember.
- Removes Confederate Monument Removal from DoD property: Establishes an independent commission to make binding recommendations to the Secretary of Defense for the modification or removal of all names, symbols, displays, monuments, and paraphernalia that honor or commemorate the Confederacy from all assets of the Department of Defense. Pingree called for the removal of Confederate names at military bases in June 2020.
- Gives Gold Star Families National Parks Pass: This provision makes the National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands Pass available, at no cost, to members of Gold Star Families.
- Takes Steps to Further Protect Military Communities from PFAS: Authorizes $1.4 billion for environmental remediation and BRAC accounts which support a range of remediation activities, including those related to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), at current military installations, formerly utilized defense sites, and installations closed by BRAC.
- Protects Survivors of Military Sexual Trauma: Requires the Secretary of Defense to implement a Safe to Report Policy across the Services, enabling victims to report sexual assaults without fear of punishment for certain minor collateral misconduct, among other provisions.
- Supports BIW: Authorizes the Navy to procure two DDG 51 Arleigh Burke destroyers.
- Promotes Military’s Resilience to Climate Change: Requires a report on the implementation of provisions from the FY2020 NDAA related to installation master planning, updates to the Unified Facilities Criteria (building codes), sea-level rise modeling, and climate assessment tools.
- Pivots Military to Hybrid and Electric Vehicles: Includes an alternative fuel vehicle pilot program that will require the military departments to expand their use of alternative fuel non-tactical vehicles to increase the use of hybrid and EV vehicles.
- Ensures Transparency of Greenhouse Gas Emissions in the Military: Requires DOD to submit a report on its greenhouse gas emissions for the last 10 years within 180 days of enactment.
- Includes Climate Oversight: Requires the Comptroller General to assess DOD’s progress towards meeting net-zero goals for installations and to include an assessment of the cultural and legislative barriers to meeting these goals.
Pingree has advocated for the military to tackle climate change. In June 2020, a Government Accountability Office (GAO) climate resilience report found more than 30 percent of military installations did not have a plan to deal with extreme weather or climate change. The Department of Defense’s domestic real estate is worth $1.2 trillion, which, the GAO report states, poses a major economic imperative for climate readiness. Pingree championed an amendment in the 2020 NDAA which would require the military to incorporate flooding and sea level rise projections into their plans for building new military installations and fortifying current ones.
Pingree has led her Congressional colleagues in supporting survivors of sexual assault in the military. She is the author of the Servicemember and Veterans’ Empowerment and Support Act, which would ensure that more mental health diagnoses related to military sexual trauma qualify for VA service-connected benefits.
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