{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://womack.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=410828", "House Appropriators Approve FY27 Defense Bill, Advancing All Twelve Funding Measures", "2026-06-24", "2026", "2026-06", "Republican", "House", "AR", "Steve Womack", "W000809", "womack.house.gov", "womack", "https://womack.house.gov/news", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2014 June 24, 2026\u2026Congressman Steve Womack (AR-3) today voted in support of the Fiscal Year (FY) 2027 Defense Appropriations bill that advanced out of the House Appropriations Committee. This bill allocates $1.072 trillion in discretionary spending to fund Department of War operations.\n\nCongressman Womack said, \u201cMaintaining our military dominance is not an inexpensive endeavor, but it is an investment worth making to protect our homeland and preserve our way of life. This defense bill provides the resources needed to begin replenishing our munitions stockpile, invest in cutting-edge technologies, and support our military personnel\u2014who remain our nation\u2019s greatest strategic asset. I thank Defense Subcommittee Chairman Calvert for his leadership in advancing this legislation, and I look forward to continuing our work to ensure our common defense remains well-equipped to respond to emerging threats.\u201d\n\nCongressman Womack continued, \u201cThis Committee, under the leadership of Chairman Cole, has worked tirelessly to move all twelve appropriations bills out of committee and provide ample time to negotiate with the Senate and refine our work. This gives Congress a real opportunity to fund the government on time and in full\u2014an opportunity that should not be squandered. I am encouraged that our chamber is bringing these bills to the floor and encourage my colleagues to continue this work so we can do the job the American people sent us here to do. We have made meaningful progress\u2014let\u2019s not stop here.\u201d\n\nBill highlights:\n\nEnhances America\u2019s strategic military advantage and preparedness by:\n\nProviding $836 million to procure, for the first time, new-entrant low-cost munition systems and providing multiyear procurement authority.\n\nProviding over $7.5 billion for hypersonic weapons and test infrastructure.\n\nIncreasing funding for research and development of state-of-the-art defense capabilities, including funding for research into contested logistics, advanced materials, and next-generation power electronics at the University of Arkansas.\n\nIncreasing funding for facilities at the United States Military Academy, where Congressman Womack serves as Chairman of the Board of Visitors.\n\nProviding funding for the National Guard and Reserve Equipment Account (NGREA), which supports the Arkansas National Guard\u2019s efforts as they protect and support our community in times of need.\n\nStrengthens support for service members and military families by:\n\nImplementing a military pay raise of 7 percent for all military personnel ranked E-5 and below, 6 percent for E-6 to O-4, and 5 percent for O-4 and above.\n\nProviding an additional $15 million for the Military and Family Life Counseling Program, which provides counseling services to service members and their families to support operational readiness and resilience.\n\nOptimizes the Department of War and improves transparency by:\n\nSupporting business modernization efforts, including $250 million to accelerate the transition to a modern, secure, and audit-ready financial management environment.\n\nDigitizing acquisition processes through $72.5 million for Acquisition Visibility\n\nProtecting and preserving competition and readiness by mandating a Modular Open Systems Approach (MOSA).\n\nModernizing requirements and resourcing by including $140.1 million for the Mission Engineering and Integration Activity and $92.7 million for Acquisition Integration and Interoperability.\n\nDisrupts transnational drug trafficking by:\n\nProviding $1.2 billion for counter-drug programs.\n\nIncreasing funding for the National Guard Counter-Drug Program.\n\nProviding $464.8 million for United States Southern Command, which supports enhanced detection and monitoring, theater-wide operations, improved command and control, and increased force protection to pursue drug cartels and terrorist networks.\n\nTransferring Mexico from United States Northern Command\u2019s jurisdiction to United States Southern Command for better coordination and prioritization.\n\nA summary of the bill is available HERE.\n\nThe bill text, before adoption of amendments, is available HERE.\n\nCongressman Steve Womack (AR-3) has represented Arkansas\u2019s Third Congressional District since 2011. He is a member of the House Appropriations Committee.\n\nwomack.house.gov\n\n###", 1, "2026-06-25T06:30:03Z", "2026-06-25T06:31:21Z"]], "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://womack.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=410828"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.2349248863756657, "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"}