{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://houlahan.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=4359", "Houlahan Supports 2025 National Defense Bill", "2024-12-11", "2024", "2024-12", "Democrat", "House", "PA", "Chrissy Houlahan", "H001085", "houlahan.house.gov", "houlahan", "https://houlahan.house.gov/press/documentquery.aspx", "page_html", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, Representative Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA), shared the following statement on her vote on the Fiscal Year 2025 National Defense Authorization Act:\n\n\u201cI voted YES on the FY25 NDAA, officially named the Servicemember Quality of Life Improvement and National Defense Authorization Act, to reflect the major gains for our servicemembers. As Ranking Member of the Bipartisan Quality of Life Panel on the House Armed Services Committee, I am immeasurably proud that the bill contains more than twenty of the provisions we recommended. While this bill isn't perfect, it is a good bill for our servicemembers and their families who will benefit from:\n\na 14.5% pay raise for junior enlisted servicemen and woman\n\na 4.5% pay raise for all others\n\nlocation-specific cost of living allowances\n\nimproved access to specialty medical providers\n\nrepairs to dilapidated and unsafe barracks and dorms and new housing\n\nemployment support for military spouses\n\neasier transfer of professional licenses between states for military spouses\n\nfully funded childcare fee assistance programs for eligible families\n\nmore mental healthcare and easier access to medical services\n\nI was proud to champion some other key provisions included in the final bill, such as:\n\nPerinatal Mental Health Pilot: With my bill Maintaining Our Obligation to Moms (MOMS) Who Serve Act, I secured funding for a pilot program designed to assess how effective our military\u2019s mental health programs are in treating maternal mental health conditions such as post-partum depression. It is the largest investment in perinatal mental health in the history of the Department of Defense.\n\nExpanded Leave for Federal Employees also serving in the National Guard: Since 1966 federal employees who also serve in the National Guard have been allowed only 15 days to conduct their training yet training requirements have more than doubled. My provision expands the available leave from 15 to 20 days.\n\nStrengthening Our Military Infrastructure: I established new reporting requirements to improve the reliability of our military\u2019s electrical infrastructure and make it more resistant to attack, restore the eligibility of electrical co-ops to receive defense investment in order to help the Department of Defense save on its power bills in rural areas, and prioritize new \u201cblack start\u201d exercises to ensure our troops can respond to threats to our grid.\n\nMilitary Service to Public Service Pipeline: I authored a new requirement that when our armed forces turn away a recruit for medical reasons, they are provided with information on other opportunities to serve the nation, such as AmeriCorps.\n\nBiotechnology and Intelligence Community Integration: I authored a requirement for the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) to submit a strategy on addressing biotechnology threats, expanding a biotechnology workforce, and efforts to secure supply chains of critical biotechnologies for national security.\n\nCritical Mineral Intelligence Sharing: I authored a requirement for the DNI to develop a strategy for sharing information between the intelligence community and private sector about foreign threats that could hurt their ability to compete on energy and critical mineral projects overseas.\n\nCounternarcotics Oversight: I authored a requirement for the DNI to appoint a National Intelligence Manager that is dedicated to the counternarcotics mission; resulting in more resources and collaboration focused on the serious drug threat for communities and national security.\n\nIn addition to the many provisions recommended by the bipartisan Quality of Life Panel and those I also championed, the FY25 NDAA also makes necessary investments in military construction, shipbuilding, aircraft and vehicle procurement and munitions. Investments in science and technology are prioritized along with our domestic industrial base and military readiness, to include the creation of a DoD biotechnology roadmap, the acceleration of quantum capabilities available to DoD and cyber risk mitigation.\n\nThis bill protects the interests of our nation and improves the quality of life for the men, women and families who dedicate themselves to it through their service. While it doesn't address everything we asked for and consider important, including the full ability of parents to make their own decisions about healthcare for their children, it marks a rare moment of productive bipartisan agreement on what is arguably the most crucial legislation we take up as a body each year.\u201d\n\nHoulahan also spoke on this bill on the House Floor today, you can watch those remarks here or read them below.\n\n\u201cThank you, Ranking Member Smith.\n\nAnd to Chairman Rogers and Ranking Member Smith, thank you both for your leadership and clear vision for our committee which has guided our national security and collective defense.\n\nThis Congress, I had the privilege of serving as the Ranking Member of our military Quality of Life Panel alongside my dear friend and Republican colleague Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska.\n\nThe bill before us today \u2014 including more than twenty provisions from that Quality of Life panel \u2014 is truly a testament to what this body can accomplish when we come together and do hard work together.\n\nFrom inadequate pay and substandard housing conditions to food insecurity and long wait times for essential services, our panel\u2019s findings make clear we still have a lot of work to do to ensure that our military families survive and thrive.\n\nI\u2019m pleased that the Fiscal Year NDAA includes a 14.5% pay raise for most junior enlisted and a 4.5% pay raise for all service members. This increase is critical for us to retain our all-volunteer enlisted forces and maximize the investments we\u2019ve already made in them.\n\nIt also includes key health care provisions like no-cost contraception and my bill, the MOMS Who Serve Act, which is the largest investment in maternal mental health in the DoD\u2019s history.\n\nIt requires the DoD to fully fund overdue maintenance for housing and fee assistance for child care so that no family is turned away.\n\nIt ensures our spouses have the support they need to ensure pathways to employment and transfer licenses for careers when they move.\n\nThis is the most consequential and important piece of legislation of the entire 118th Congress, and with this bill in law, our nation will be more secure, and our servicemen and women more resolved to face the global challenges of tomorrow.\n\nBut I would be remiss if I closed without noting my severe disappointment in those colleagues who chose to sully this bill with political culture wars that will impact the health care of minors. This is not what we were tasked to do, and I urge us to remain focused and of service.", 1, "2026-04-08T14:14:11Z", "2026-04-08T14:23:06Z"]], "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://houlahan.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=4359"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.700598280876875, "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"}