Media Center
(WASHINGTON, DC)– Last night, Congressman Scott DesJarlais (R-TN-04) voted in support of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for fiscal year 2022.
“I am glad to see that the House and Senate could come together in a bipartisan fashion to put forth a budget that adequately funds our military and will help advance our capabilities to properly protect our citizens against our adversaries.”
DesJarlais secured over $175 million for Tennessee based projects during the House Armed Services Committee NDAA markup in September 2021.
“I am incredibly proud to announce that over $175 million of the fiscal year 2022 NDAA will go towards funding critical military operations carried out by Tennesseans.
Funding for projects include:
- $120.6 MILLION for Arnold Air Force Base construction projects.
- $25 MILLION for partnership programs the UT Space Institute participates in.
- $10 MILLION for UT Space Institute, Fort Campbell and Vanderbilt partnership program to create new military technology.
- $20 MILLION for IAMCI machine and advanced manufacturing projects at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
“We have attracted the best and the brightest in our state and it is necessary that we continue to expand on the advances AEDC, UTSI, Vanderbilt, Fort Campbell, ORNL and other entities in our great state have made,” said Rep. DesJarlais.
Through countless negotiations, DesJarlais worked behind the scenes with his fellow Republican colleagues to remove a Red Flag Law provision in the bill that limited the Second Amendment rights of many gun-owning veterans.
“The far-left liberals have been trying to add their anti-2nd Amendment agenda to this important legislation for several years, and I am pleased to work behind the scenes with reasonable-minded colleagues to remove these provisions in the past two years.”
Some other highlights of the Fiscal Year 2022 National Defense Authorization Act include:
- Authorization of a 2.7% pay increase for service members.
- Focuses investment on new and emerging weapon systems capable of penetrating denied operating environments such as China.
- Requires DoD to report to Congress on the costs and time wasted on training on topics like diversity, inclusion, and equity.
- Gets China out of DoD supply chains.
- Seeks answers on the origins of COVID-19.
Congressman DesJarlais voted, yes, on the final version of the bill, S. 1605 - [National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2022] on the House floor last night.
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