Senate Passes Annual Defense Bill with Key Hassan-Backed Provisions

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Senate passed the bipartisan National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2023, which includes key national security provisions that Senator Maggie Hassan (D-NH) secured and supported. The bill now goes to the President’s desk to become law.

“My top priority is always to keep our country safe, secure, and free – and our annual defense bill helps advance that critical goal,” said Senator Hassan. “I’m pleased that the bill includes provisions that I pushed for, including cracking down on drug traffickers, further sanctioning Putin, and improving cybersecurity. I know that this bill will make a real difference in New Hampshire by supporting our military institutions, boosting local economies, and helping address PFAS contamination, and I am looking forward to seeing the President sign it into law.”

Key measures that Senator Hassan championed that are included in the NDAA: 

• Cracking Down on Drug Traffickers: A bipartisan bill that Senator Hassan introduced which authorizes existing Transnational Criminal Investigative Units, which help identify gang members and drug dealers and collect and share intelligence on transnational criminal organizations, and enhances vetting and provides stipends for participants
• Improving Cybersecurity: The bipartisan FedRAMP Authorization Act which Senator Hassan helped lead to codify the successful government-wide program that approves cloud computing companies and products to ensure that they are secure and safe for agency use
• Strengthening Domestic Supply Chains: A bipartisan bill which Senator Shaheen introduced and Senator Hassan worked to advance, to bolster the domestic supply chain for national security-related items and increase the government’s capacity to supply these critical materials that the Department of Homeland Security needs
• Sanctioning Russia: A bipartisan bill which Senator Hassan introduced to sanction the purchase of Russian gold as part of ongoing efforts to stand up to Putin
• Bolstering Coastal Resiliency: Senator Hassan’s legislation that allows New Hampshire and other coastal states to participate in Regional Ocean Partnerships, which are new organizations that coordinate collaboration and grant funding among participating states on coastal resilience and environmental protection
• Modernizing Reports from the Inspectors General: Senator Hassan’s bipartisan Inspector General Reporting Modernization Act will make key federal spending oversight reports simpler to read, easier to compile, and require less taxpayer dollars to produce 
• Addressing the Substance Misuse Crisis: Provisions to build relationships with international partners to track and detect synthetic-controlled substances, including fentanyl
• Supporting Israel: Provisions to support U.S.-Israel Missile Defense research and development through additional funding for the Iron Dome system
• Establishing the Warfighter Brain Health Initiative: A bipartisan proposal Senator Hassan helped push which aims to improve cognitive performance and brain health of service members

Support for NH priorities that are included in the NDAA:

• Authorizing funding to procure additional Virginia-class submarines that will be maintained at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard
• Authorizing $503 million in funding to support the Multi-Mission Dry Dock project at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard
• Authorizing a record-level $20 million in funding to address PFAS contamination in military communities
• Inclusion of the Water Resource Development Act (WRDA) of 2022, which will support localities across New Hampshire by authorizing essential infrastructure projects, including the Town of Lancaster through the long-sought removal of the obsolete Israel River Dam 
• Authorizing over $900 million for Compass Call electronic attack aircraft, whose development is based in Nashua and Hudson
• Authorizing $100 million to continue the purchase of the Enhanced Night Vision Goggle-Binocular, produced by New Hampshire manufacturers, which increase the effectiveness of U.S. service members
• Banning the purchase of PFAS-laden firefighting gear after October 1, 2026 to protect the health and safety of firefighters serving in the military
• Authorizing a $20 million increase which Senator Hassan pushed for in the Defense Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (DEPSCoR) to boost research at New Hampshire Universities

Provisions to strengthen our military and national security that are included in the NDAA:

• Providing critical security assistance and support to Ukraine as it defends itself against Russia’s unconscionable invasion 
• Providing a 4.6 percent pay raise for U.S. service members
• Authorizing funding for eight additional F-35 joint strike fighters, a measure Senator Hassan helped advocate for

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