U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander voted Tuesday in favor of the fiscal year 2016 Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill, saying, “As the nation commemorates our veterans and their service tomorrow, I am pleased we were able to work together in a bipartisan way to pass this bill to provide funding for important veterans programs, including veterans medical services and military construction.”
The fiscal year 2016 Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill provides funding for military construction, the Department of Veterans Affairs, programs to help veterans and military families, and the U.S. Special Operations Forces Company Headquarters and new classrooms at Fort Campbell.
“Passage of this important appropriations bill is good start, but is only the first of 12 funding bills the Senate is responsible for debating, passing and sending to the president, and Senate Democrats should have allowed the Senate to debate all 12 of them this past summer. I hope this is the start of a trend where they start working with Republicans on setting spending priorities for the benefit of the country,” Senator Alexander said.
Senator Alexander on Tuesday urged President Obama to sign the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2016 into law, saying Congress and the president must give service members “the support and resources they need.”
“The National Defense Authorization Act will help ensure that our service men and women in uniform receive the support and resources they need," said Senator Alexander. "We must support our military service members who sacrifice so much to protect and defend the United States, and this legislation allows commanders to arm service members at facilities such as the Chattanooga recruiting center that was attacked in July. This bipartisan bill not only gives raises to troops at Ft. Campbell and the Naval Support Activity Mid-South in Millington, but it also authorizes construction of a new Special Operations Headquarters and classrooms at Ft. Campbell.”
The Senate passed the fiscal year 2016 National Defense Authorization Act conference report Tuesday by a vote of 91 to 3. The legislation authorizes $607 billion for the following energy, military and national defense programs:
The bill authorizes a 1.3 percent pay increase for members of the military, including troops at Ft. Campbell and the Naval Support Activity Mid-South in Millington, and authorized more than 30 bonuses and special payments for service men and women.
The bill requires the Secretary of Defense to establish and implement a process by which military commanders in the U.S. can authorize certain personnel to carry a firearm. This new process is being adopted in response to the tragic shooting in Chattanooga on July 16, 2015 as well as the 2009 shootings in Little Rock and Ft. Hood.
The bill implements a new retirement compensation system for service members who join the military after Jan. 1, 2018, and will provide for government matching contributions for service members who contribute to a Thrift Savings Plan.
The bill prohibits detainees at Guantanamo Bay from being transferred to the United States.
The bill authorizes construction of a new Special Operations Headquarters and classrooms at Ft. Campbell.
The bill authorizes funding for our nation’s nuclear stockpile, a replacement strategic missile submarine, defense-related environmental cleanup, and nuclear energy programs at the Dept. of Energy.
Earlier this year, the National Defense Authorization Act passed the Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives, but was vetoed by President Obama. Last week, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a revised version of the fiscal year 2016 Defense Authorization Bill on Nov. 5, by a vote of 370-58.