Washington, D.C. — Rep. Barry Moore (AL-02) issued the following statement after voting in favor of the House’s version of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) of 2023. The NDAA is intended to set policy for our nation’s defense, and Moore voted against a previous version of this year’s bill that harmed our national defense by allowing the Biden Administration’s unconstitutional COVID vaccine mandate to move forward despite every branch of our military struggling to meet recruitment goals. The bill that passed today includes a provision ending the military's mandate. “Removing this unconstitutional vaccine mandate from the NDAA is a massive victory for my district and for our brave service members who do not want to be forced to take an experimental vaccine,” said Moore. “I am proud to have joined the Republicans who held the line and forced Democrats to compromise by voting against previous versions of this legislation which included the vaccine mandate and other poisonous policies that required women to register with the Selective Service and instituted red flag measures for servicemembers. "This legislation provides service members with a well-deserved 4.6% pay raise to combat Biden's inflation, authorizes eleven new battle force ships to strengthen our Navy, provides resources for defense assistance to our great ally Israel, and invests $11 billion in resources to combat Chinese aggression. I'm thankful for my colleague Mike Rogers for his tireless work on this important legislation. "Although the passage of this bill is a victory for our service members, the battle is not over. I will continue fighting for restoration with full backpay of the patriots who were purged from our military by Biden’s military vaccine mandate." BACKGROUND: The Fiscal Year 2023 National Defense Authorization Act ends the harmful DOD vaccine mandate for active duty, reserve, and national guard personnel, preserving our military’s readiness and ensuring our troops will not be discharged for refusing the COVID-19 vaccine. The bill authorizes $858 billion for national defense, $45 billion above the President’s request. It includes provisions that counter the China threat, strengthen our nuclear deterrence, invest in our brave servicemembers, and address the impact of inflation on military families. House Republicans also successfully fought to keep certain controversial legislation unrelated to national defense out of this package. - Calls for fair treatment of servicemembers who have already been discharged for failure to comply with the vaccine mandate, including thorough consideration of requests for reinstatement and correction of military records.
- Supports a 4.6% pay raise for servicemembers and expands eligibility for Basic Needs Allowance to low-income servicemembers supporting a family.
- Includes an additional $500 million for housing allowances and $250 million to reduce costs at commissaries to help military families cope with inflation.
- Requires the DOD, State, and USAID Inspectors General to regularly carry out comprehensive reviews and audits of Ukraine assistance.
- Expresses a Sense of Congress that parents of children in DOD schools have the right to know the curriculum, any changes made to standards or advanced learning programs, the qualifications of the teachers, and other essential information.
- Ensures Army fitness standards for combat duty are the same for men and women and prohibits DOD from modifying the scope of medical care provided at military medical treatment facilities without prior Congressional notification.
- Authorizes $15.5 billion for military construction and family housing, as well as $3.8 billion to cover unplanned construction costs due to inflation.
- Authorizes 11 new battle force ships, putting our Navy back on track for a 355-ship fleet, and $1 billion to expand and modernize our shipbuilding industrial base.
- Establishes a National Hypersonic Initiative to accelerate development of hypersonic missiles.
- Makes critical investments in missile defense including 2 Patriot fire units, full funding for the Guam Defense System, and moving forward planning for an East Coast Missile Defense Site.
- Funds the nuclear sea-launched cruise missile (SLCM-N) that President Biden tried to cancel, accelerates funding for nuclear triad modernization, and prohibits reduction in the number of intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) or retirement of low-yield nuclear warheads.
- Addresses the border crisis by fully funding the account supporting the National Guard’s border deployment.
- Authorizes $11 billion for the Pacific Deterrence Initiative to counter Chinese aggression.
- Authorizes increased security assistance and fast-tracks foreign military sales to Taiwan.
- Includes provisions addressing DOD’s stocks of critical munitions and the sustainability and responsiveness of the industrial base and authorizes $1 billion for acquisition of strategic and critical materials.
- Supports defense cooperation with Israel pursuant to the US-Israel Memorandum of Agreement, including the Iron Dome, David’s Sling, and Arrow 3 air defense systems.
- Contains additional authorizations, including the Water Resources Development Act of 2022, the FY23 Intelligence Authorization Act, Department of State Authorizations, and the Don Young Coast Guard Reauthorization Act of 2022.
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