{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.warner.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=1D9E0914-D5F0-425A-88CC-2CAE63835AB2", "Statement of U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner on Congressional Passage of the Nation's Annual Defense Bill", "2023-12-14", "2023", "2023-12", "Democrat", "Senate", "VA", "Mark R. Warner", "W000805", "www.warner.senate.gov", "warner", "https://www.warner.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON \u2013 Today, U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA), applauded congressional passage of the nation\u2019s annual defense bill, which includes key priorities for Virginia and a series of measures championed and backed by Sen. Warner.\n\n\u201cDespite all the current chaos in Congress, I\u2019m encouraged that we were finally able to pass this annual defense spending bill that strengthens our military, provides support for our troops, bolsters our nation\u2019s defense capabilities, and delivers for Virginia. Once signed by the president, this legislation will ensure that our military and Department of Defense have what they need to safeguard our national security interests and continue to keep Americans safe. I hope that my colleagues in both the House and the Senate will look to this deal, realize that bipartisan agreement is within reach, and reach the consensus needed to fund the government and fulfill our commitment to Ukraine, Taiwan, and Israel.\u201d\n\nThe legislation supports $886.3 billion in funding for our nation\u2019s defense, and includes crucial measures supported by Sen. Warner.\n\nServicemembers and the civilian defense workforce:\n\nAuthorizes a 5.2 percent pay raise for military servicemembers and Department of Defense (DoD) civilian workforce \u2013 the largest raise in two decades.\n\nImproves living conditions for enlisted servicemembers by greenlighting improvements to the quality and oversight of barracks. This provision specifically authorizes the replacement of substandard barracks and establishes new requirements that enlisted housing meet the same basic standards as all other military housing.\n\nImproves living conditions for junior Navy Sailors whose vessels are undergoing an extended maintenance overhaul. This legislation authorizes basic allowance for housing (BAH) payments that allow these servicemembers to live in commercial housing, rather than aboard the ship.\n\nSupports more equitable housing rates in markets with limited housing inventory by modifying the calculation of basic allowance for housing (BAH) rates.\n\nAllows for additional financial support for servicemembers, by reducing the threshold used to determine high cost-of-living areas for the purpose of providing a cost-of-living allowance to servicemembers assigned to locations in the continental United States.\n\nTakes a number of steps to address critical childcare shortages and improve availability for military families. To help address the overwhelming demand for childcare, last year Sen. Warner was able to secure $3.5 million in planning & design funding to support two new child development centers at Hampton Roads installations. This bill authorizes $104 million to fund two Child Development Centers, one at Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Fort Story and one at Naval Station Norfolk.\n\nStrengthening our nation\u2019s defense and cyber defense capabilities:\n\nAuthorizes funding, provides legal authorities, and enhances congressional oversight for the U.S. Intelligence Community (IC) through inclusion of the Intelligence Authorization Act (IAA) for Fiscal Year 2024 \u2013 legislation authored by Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Warner.\n\nAuthorizes $16.7 billion for military construction projects, including $570 million for 20 military construction projects in Virginia. This includes $104 million to fund two Child Development Centers, one at Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Fort Story and one at Naval Station Norfolk. It also includes authorization for $20 million for a replacement hanger and additional airfield infrastructure in Sandston for the Virginia National Guard, and $4 million in planning and design funding for a new Army Reserve training center in Richmond.\n\nAuthorizes the Navy to enter into one or more contracts for the multiyear procurement of the next block of 13 Virginia-class submarines.\n\nRequires the development of a regional cybersecurity strategy to support the operations of each geographic combatant command.\n\nRequires the establishment of a dedicated cyber intelligence capability to support information-sharing on technology developments, capabilities, operations, and intentions of actors who pose cyber threats.\n\nDirects DoD to support institutions of higher education on cyber workforce education and development efforts in the fields of cybersecurity, intelligence, data science, information security management, and quantum information science.\n\nIncreases transparency surrounding the DoD\u2019s investments in Artificial Intelligence by requiring DoD to provide information to Congress by mid-June of 2024 detailing the applications of AI technologies and their respective investment amounts, and an analysis of how these investments align with the Department\u2019s stated objectives regarding AI. This provision stems from an amendment led by Sen. Warner.\n\nTakes steps towards securing the nation\u2019s supply of domestic energy by establishing a Nuclear Fuel Security Program to boost domestic uranium mining, production, and enrichment for the types of nuclear fuel used in commercial reactors and anticipated for next-generation reactors, including small modular reactors (SMRs). Sen. Warner was an original cosponsor of this legislation.\n\nCountering aggression by adversaries like Russia and China:\n\nProhibits the purchase of drones from countries like China that pose a national security concern. This provision, championed in part by Warner, prohibits federal dollars from being used to procure or operate drones from countries or companies identified as posing a national security threat.\n\nAuthorizes the full budget request for the European Deterrence Initiative (EDI) and the Pacific Deterrence Initiative (PDI).\n\nUnderscores the United States\u2019 commitment to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and emphasizes the importance of maintaining a unified response to the Russian Federation\u2019s unjust war in Ukraine. Sen. Warner has been a strong supporter of NATO, which conducts crucial work in Virginia at NATO Allied Command Transformation in Hampton Roads.\n\nSupports Ukraine in its fight against Russian attacks and aggression by extending the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI) through 2026 and authorizing $300 million in fiscal years 2024 and 2025. The USAI is one of the main tools used by the U.S. in support of Ukraine\u2019s defensive needs. This legislation also extends waivers for the streamlined acquisition of defense stocks related to Ukraine and authorizes additional munitions eligible for multiyear procurement contracts.\n\nSupports advancement of the AUKUS Partnership between the U.S., Australia, and the UK, including through additional funding and authorizations to operationalize the agreement, and support close engagement between these three nations \u2013 which has a particular relevance to Virginia\u2019s naval and industrial base infrastructure.\n\nProvides support to Taiwan by establishing a comprehensive training, advising, and institutional capacity-building program for the military forces of Taiwan.\n\nNow that it\u2019s been passed by the Senate and House of Representatives, this legislation will head to President Biden\u2019s desk for his signature.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:56:20Z"]], "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://www.warner.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=1D9E0914-D5F0-425A-88CC-2CAE63835AB2"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.5106170903891325, "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"}