Senate Passes Bipartisan Defense Bill, Including Key Provisions Introduced By Senator Hassan to Protect National Security

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Maggie Hassan (D-NH) voted today to pass the bipartisan National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021, which included key priorities that Senator Hassan introduced and championed to protect the national security of Granite Staters and all Americans.

“Keeping Granite Staters and all Americans safe, secure, and free is the most important responsibility that we have – and I’m pleased that this year’s national defense bill includes key provisions to support our service members and our state,” said Senator Hassan. “This bipartisan legislation secures a pay raise for our men and women in uniform, directs critical funding for New Hampshire, including at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, and includes important, bipartisan provisions that I authored to protect our military serving abroad from small drones and address cybersecurity threats here at home.”

New Hampshire Priorities Included in the FY21 National Defense Authorization Act:

Support for Service Members & Military Projects

• Three percent pay raise for all U.S. military personnel
• $160 million for the first phase of construction for a new Portsmouth Naval Shipyard dry dock
• Senator Hassan’s bipartisan provision to better protect service members abroad by improving the Defense Department’s response to threats from small drones, a concern that U.S. military leaders raised with the Senator during her visit to Afghanistan
• Amendment cosponsored by Senator Hassan to ensure that Vietnam War veterans can more easily access care for additional diseases associated with Agent Orange exposure; the measure is based on a bill that Senator Hassan is an original cosponsor of
• Increased funding for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) PFAS study at Pease
• A provision based on a bill that Senator Hassan cosponsored to report on and assess the implementation of military personal protective gear that is better adapted for female service members
• The establishment of a commission to study and remove all Confederate names, symbols, displays, monuments, and paraphernalia from Defense Department bases and other assets; this is related to a bill that Senator Hassan previously cosponsored

Cybersecurity & Technology Provisions

• Senator Hassan’s bipartisan provision to establish a cybersecurity state coordinator in New Hampshire and every state
• Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI) and Senator Hassan’s bipartisan provision to help shore up cybersecurity vulnerabilities in critical infrastructure systems
• A provision based on a bill Senator Hassan cosponsored to assess and address the rising threat of deepfakes, which are hyper-realistic, digital manipulations of real content that depict events that did not actually occur
• An amendment that Senator Hassan cosponsored to require a report on the Defense Department’s strategy on Artificial Intelligence standards

Provisions to Address Rise of China

• An amendment cosponsored by Senator Hassan based on a bipartisan bill she helped introduce that would encourage the U.S. to partner with allies in the Indo-Pacific region, Europe, and elsewhere to develop a unified approach to address the rise of China
• An amendment cosponsored by Senator Hassan based on a bill she cosponsored that helps spur American-based manufacturing of semiconductors, in order to increase competitiveness and decrease reliance on China, which has invested significantly in semiconductor manufacturing

###