Rep. Cisneros Secures Major Wins in NDAA, Stands Up For Servicemembers and their Families

WASHINGTON — Late last night, Congressman Gil Cisneros (CA-31), former Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness, Naval officer, and member of the House Armed Services Committee (HASC), secured 22 legislative priorities in a mark-up of the bipartisan, National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).

"As a Navy Veteran and the former Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness, I fought today to secure 22 legislative priorities—totaling over $478.4 million in authorization—for national security and our country’s most important asset, our servicemembers," said Rep. Cisneros. “This bipartisan markup process is a crucial step towards getting our servicemembers the resources they deserve. Our military continues to be the strongest, because we continue to invest in our servicemembers. I’m proud to champion amendments that will increase military readiness, increase servicemember access to mental health, create avenues to make off-base housing more affordable, require steps to make tuition more affordable for junior enlisted, and increase funding for active-duty education assistance." 

Rep. Cisneros offered and successfully secured inclusion of 22 legislative priorities in the NDAA, including:

• Requiring the Department of Defense (DoD) to report to Congress on how military installations and local municipalities can work together to address off-base housing costs in high cost-of-living areas for servicemembers and their families.
• Requiring DoD to report to Congress on promotion opportunities for enlisted military within occupational specialties, ensuring they have the ability to stay in high demand positions and continue to promote.
• Requiring the Government Accountability Office to determine whether a 1-year active-duty service program will improve recruitment and retention, following an international model that encourages high school students to serve in the military while they take a gap year before college.
• Require service branches to create a plan to promote available mental health support to servicemembers, including resources enacted through the Brandon Act, named in honor of Brandon Caserta, a sailor who lost his life due to mental health struggles.
• Requiring a report to Congress on the effectiveness of moving all preventative services – including suicide prevention, sexual assault prevention, mental health support, and additional services – into a single organization or facility, ensuring service members and their families have access to all available resources
• $3 million to help small businesses more successfully contribute to defense innovation.
• Requiring military dining facilities to purchase disposable materials made in America that do not contain forever chemicals or PFAS.
• Requesting additional funding for critical programs including:
  • $211 million for the National Guard Youth Challenge Program.
  • $124 million for the Minority Serving Institution Research Program.
  • $70 million to broaden cooperation with Israel to include unmanned systems in all warfighting domains.
  • $50 million for U.S.-Israel Emerging Technologies Cooperation.

Rep. Cisneros is a Navy Veteran and the former Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness. He currently serves on the House Armed Services Committee, Subcommittee on Military Personnel, Subcommittee on Intelligence and Special Operations, and Appropriations Defense Subcommittee. Rep. Cisneros is a member of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and serves on its leadership team as the Freshman Representative.

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