Moulton Votes to Pass FY2023 National Defense Authorization Act

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Congressman Seth Moulton has voted with the U.S. House of Representatives to pass the FY2023 National Defense Authorization Act, which sets the funding levels, expenditures and authorizations for the Department of Defense. 

The FY2023 NDAA includes a pay increase for all military personnel and civilians and makes historic military justice reforms.

It also extends the Pacific Deterrence Initiative—a $6.1 billion fund to counter China– and authorizes the Taiwan Enhanced Resilience Act of 2022, which includes provisions that aim to increase U.S.-Taiwan security cooperation.

“I voted to pass the National Defense Authorization Act because it is the patriotic thing to do and the men and women of America’s armed forces deserve nothing less. While I am disappointed that a number of important provisions did not make it into the final bill, I am glad to see pay raises and family support initiatives for our service members, heavier investments in science and technology, and a commitment to security in the Indo-Pacific.”

As a member of the House Armed Services Committee, Congressman Moulton’s priorities for the NDAA were focused on providing better mental health resources for our armed forces, environmental sustainability and resilience, increasing technology adoption like AI, and on improving information operations.  

The final bill includes a number of initiatives he authored including: 

• Establishing a Joint Information Operations Course
  Establishes a joint information operations course to standardize training in information operations across the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and Space Force, and to prepare service members to plan and conduct information operations in an integrated manner across the services.
  
• Energy Resilience Testing on Military Installations:
  Requires the Secretaries of the military departments to designate installations as energy resilience testbeds for the purpose of demonstrating innovative energy resilience technologies. 
  
  
• Mental Health Initiatives, including:
  Adverse Childhood Events Screening Report Language: This amendment requires a report to better understand the prevalence of Adverse Childhood Events among servicemembers and the correlation with these events on both being a victim of trauma and perpetrating trauma onto others. 
  
  
• Civilian Mental Health Providers Training:
  Directs the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of Veterans’ Affairs, and the Department of Defense’s Uniformed Services University to develop a certification program for students to gain the knowledge and the clinical expertise necessary to develop mental health treatment plans catered to the unique challenges faced by Veterans, service members, military retirees, and families. 

Yesterday, Congressman Moulton released a statement in response to Special Immigrant Visa provisions being stripped out of the final NDAA. 

“It is beyond me why some of my colleagues would deliberately strip reauthorization for this program.  This is deeply wrong. I will be working hard with many other colleagues who do support our allies to find a workable resolution”

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