{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://comstock.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/house-passes-defense-bill-comstock-heller-service-member-job-training", "House Passes Defense Bill with ComstockHeller Service Member Job Training Amendment", "2016-12-02", "2016", "2016-12", "Republican", "House", "VA", "Barbara Comstock", "C001105", "comstock.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Washington, DC \u2013 Congresswoman Barbara Comstock (R-VA) and Senator Dean Heller (R-NV) released the below statement after the House passed a conference report to accompany S. 2943, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017 by a bipartisan vote of 375-34.\u00a0 The legislation included two of the Congresswoman\u2019s amendments including one that she worked on with Senator Heller.\n\u201cThis bipartisan NDAA includes an amendment that I worked on with Nevada Senator Dean Heller to support service members who are transitioning out of the military by providing better access to job training programs. \u00a0These initiatives foster a smoother transition for outgoing members of our military as they look to build a new career,\u201d said Congresswoman Barbara Comstock.\u00a0 \u201cOur men and women in uniform have sacrificed much for us, and this is just one of the ways we can repay them for their service to our country.\u00a0 I look forward to seeing this provision go to work for our veterans.\u00a0 I have numerous businesses and groups in my district, including the Northern Virginia Technology Council\u2019s Veteran Employment Initiative and this provision can assist them.\u201d\u00a0\n\u201cAs a member of the Senate Veterans\u2019 Affairs Committee, I remain focused on ensuring our nation\u2019s members of the military returning from duty receive the access to resources they need to transition smoothly into civilian life. This means allowing service members to participate in civilian job and employment training, including apprenticeships and internships. These important opportunities can be seized before members leave the military so they are able to be fully-trained and equipped with skillsets employers are seeking,\u201d said Senator Dean Heller.\nCongresswoman Comstock went on to say:\n\u201cOur troops make sacrifices daily so that we may remain safe, and this legislation gives them more certainty with the largest boost in pay in six years at 2.1 percent.\u00a0 For over 50 years, Congress has worked across the aisle to annually reauthorize this important legislation, ensuring a strong national security apparatus is ready to protect the homeland.\u00a0 A strong national defense is essential to preserving the freedoms that are the bedrock of our nation and this legislation actually goes above the administration\u2019s request by $9 billion to provide critical funding to support those in our military as they fight for us and our freedoms.\u00a0\n\u201cThis important legislation also included another amendment I worked on that seeks to enhance protections for our children from increasingly easy to access opioids.\u00a0 This is a valuable tool in our ongoing battle against the opioid epidemic that is sweeping our nation and the numerous overdoses that have resulted from this scourge.\u00a0 The language directs the Department of Defense to analyze the feasibility of new prescription bottle lock mechanisms for opioid medications.\u00a0 Addiction often starts early in life with an adolescent taking a pill from medicine that was not prescribed for them, and this is designed to limit illicit access to prescribed medications.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0\nBackground on NDAA:\n Boosts base funding by $9 billion over the administration\u2019s request to\u00a0close the readiness gap, rebuild our military, and ensure our troops have the tools necessary to carry out their missions.\n\tProvides our troops with the\u00a0largest pay raise\u00a0they\u2019ve seen in six years at 2.1 percent.\n\tReforms our acquisition process\u00a0to spend taxpayer dollars more wisely and get our troops cutting-edge technology quickly and efficiently.\n\tMaintains longstanding provisions to\u00a0prohibit transferring Guantanamo Bay detainees\u00a0to American soil.\n\tHelps\u00a0combat sexual assault\u00a0in the military by building upon past efforts with an improved reporting process and mandatory sentences for certain offenses.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://comstock.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/house-passes-defense-bill-comstock-heller-service-member-job-training"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.660932157188654, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}