{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://salazar.house.gov/media/press-releases/salazar-provisions-pass-national-defense-bill-ndaa", "SALAZAR PROVISIONS PASS IN NATIONAL DEFENSE BILL (NDAA)", "2025-12-12", "2025", "2025-12", "Republican", "House", "FL", "Maria Elvira Salazar", "S000168", "salazar.house.gov", "salazar", "https://salazar.house.gov/media/press-releases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2014 This week, Rep. Mar\u00eda Elvira Salazar\u2019s (FL-27) Western Hemisphere and State Department Political Affairs Authorization Act passed the House of Representatives as part of S.1071, the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2026.\n\nEarlier this year, Rep. Salazar introduced H.R. 5246, a bill to codify, for the first time ever, the authorities of State Department\u2019s Political Affairs Bureaus in the Western Hemisphere and other regions, including European and Eurasian Affairs, African Affairs, and East Asian and Pacific Affairs.\n\nThe bill also:\n\n\u2022 Creates an Office of Haitian Affairs,\n\n\u2022 Appoints new Ambassadors-at-Large for the strategically important Indian Ocean and Arctic regions, and\n\n\u2022 Establishes a new unit to counter the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)\n\nAuthorizing these capabilities will ensure our State Department has the full mandate to achieve America\u2019s foreign policy goals.\n\n\u201cI\u2019m thankful that these critical State Department authorities to strengthen the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, combat Chinese and Russian influence, and appoint new Ambassadors to strategic regions, such as the Arctic, were included in our National Defense Policy,\u201d said Chairwoman Salazar. \u201cWe are finally prioritizing our Hemisphere, and security in other strategic regions across the globe, which will help us fight tyranny across the world.\u201d\n\nIn September 2025, Chairwoman Salazar led the effort to pass an amended version of H.R. 5246 out of the House Foreign Affairs Committee with unanimous support and ensure it was included in the broader State Department Reauthorization bill, H.R. 5300. Recognizing the importance of these provisions, House Leadership and the Armed Services Committee included them directly in Division E (Sections 5141-5162) of S.1071, the National Defense Authorization Act of 2026.\n\nThe National Defense Authorization Act authorizes $900 billion for U.S. national defense, includes a 3.8% pay raise for Miami\u2019s service members, and improves housing, education, and access to childcare for military families.\n\nWith Rep. Salazar\u2019s provisions included, S.1071 passed the House with strong bipartisan support on December 10, 2025, and was sent to the Senate for consideration.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:09:11Z"]], "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://salazar.house.gov/media/press-releases/salazar-provisions-pass-national-defense-bill-ndaa"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.989789143204689, "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"}