WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA), Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, applauded congressional passage of the nation’s annual defense bill, which includes key priorities for Virginia, as well as a number of Warner-championed measures. The legislation now heads to the president to be signed into law.

“I’m glad to see the Senate vote to pass our nation’s annual defense bill, which delivers critical funding to equip our nation’s military, provide for our veterans, and strengthen our national security amid a complicated landscape of emerging threats,” said Sen. Warner. “I look forward to seeing the president sign this legislation. In the meantime, I will continue to deliver for Virginia by working prevent a costly government shutdown ahead of the holiday.”

The legislation supports $895.2 billion in funding for our nation’s defense and a number of other measures supported by thesenator, including – 

Servicemembers and the civilian defense workforce: 

• Authorizes a 14.5 percent pay raise for junior enlisted servicemembers and a 4.5 percent pay raise for all other servicemembers, a move that will dramatically improve quality of life for the men and women of our armed forces and their families.

• Contributes to better living conditions for servicemembers by broadening eligibility for the Basic Needs Allowance (BNA) – a supplemental monthly payment for qualifying service members on active duty – to 200% of federal poverty guidelines.
• Improves investment in military facilities by setting a statutory minimum level of investment for each military department. This will ensure adequate maintenance, sustainment, restoration, and modernization.
• Invests in unaccompanied military housing by adding $177 million in military construction design funds to accelerate replacement of poor and failing barracks.
• Provides better recourse for servicemembers facing maintenance issues in barracks by requiring the Department of Defense (DoD) to provide a digital maintenance system to residents that allows them to submit maintenance work orders, similar to what is required of military family housing. It also requires DoD to develop and implement standard criteria for a digital facilities management system that will track individual facility maintenance conditions as well as required and planned maintenance actions at the individual building level.
• Bridges the digital divide for servicemembers by requiring the Secretary of Defense to develop a policy for the military services to provide free internet to those living in barracks.
• Fully funds childcare fee assistance programs, a move that will address wait lists for eligible families in need of fee assistance.
• Improves access to childcare for servicemembers by authorizing $29.7 million to fund various Child Development Centers – including several across Virginia.
• Provides additional support for the children of servicemembers in the exceptional family member program by requiring DoD to initiate a pilot program to establish inclusive playgrounds at military installations for children with special needs.

Strengthening our military:

• Authorizes 14 military construction projects in Virginia, totaling more than $500 million. In Hampton Roads, that includes projects for the Navy at Little Creek, Oceana, Naval Station Norfolk, Yorktown, and Norfolk Naval Shipyard. It also includes a project for the Air Force at Langley-Eustis.

• Authorizes five dedicated spending requests personally championed by Sen. Warner, which will help accelerate the construction timeline of the following projects, by moving them forward in the Navy’s annual construction plan:
  • $2.75 million for design of a Child Development Center (CDC) at JEB Little Creek-Ft Story
  • $5.68 million for design of a CDC at MCB Quantico
  • $4.08 million for design of a CDC at NAS Oceana
  • $1.2 million for design of a CDC at NS Norfolk
  • $16 million for design of unaccompanied housing at NAS Oceana.
• Authorizes $33.5 billion in shipbuilding funding for the procurement of seven battle force ships, including one Virginia-class submarine, with incremental funding authority for a second ship and funding for additional material and support; and full funding of the Columbia class ballistic missile submarine program.

Strengthening our nation’s defense and cyber defense capabilities:

• Requires the NSA Director to establish an Artificial Intelligence Security Center within the National Security Agency,which would promote secure artificial intelligence adoption practices for managers of national security systems and elements of the defense industrial base. It would also develop guidance to prevent or mitigate counter-artificial intelligence techniques.
• Provides $17.5 billion for science and technology programs, including $100 million for research at HBCU and Minority Serving Institutions.
• Requires measures to improve the cybersecurity of mobile devices used by DoD in order to mitigate cyberattack risks against mobile devices and other threats that could undermine national security and defense operations.
• The bill includes a Warner-authored provision to require a pilot program proposal for a small modular reactor (SMR) on an installation of at least 60 megawatts of power. That proposal would be due to Congress by next June. 

Countering aggression by adversaries like Russia and China and strengthening democratic influence across the world:

• Includes language require a multi-agency analysis of national security risks posed by CCP-linked drone companies. This language was based on legislation authored by Sen. Warner that he has pushed to restore American leadership in the drone industry and ensure that China can’t spy on Americans or otherwise disrupt key functions of drone technology.
• Provides funding for the FCC’s Supply Chain Reimbursement Program. This program, based on Senator Warner’s United States 5G Leadership Act of 2019, provides important funding for telecommunications carriers, especially those carriers serving rural areas, to remove and replace dangerous PRC-sourced telecommunications network equipment. Sen. Warner has been a leading voice in Congress about the national security risks posed by PRC-controlled telecommunication companies. This  provision is estimated to deliver over $2.5 million in needed funding for local providers  in Virginia.
• Authorizes a Taiwan Security Cooperation Initiative, modeled after the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, to enable Taiwan to maintain sufficient self-defense capabilities consistent with the Taiwan Relations Act.
• Requires the Director of National Intelligence (DNI), within 90 days of this bill’s enactment, to provide Congress with an assessment of the likely course of the war in Ukraine through December 31, 2025. The report must include information on the ability of Ukraine’s military to defend against Russian aggression if the United States continues or discontinues military and economic assistance; the ability and willingness of other countries to continue or discontinue military and economic assistance to Ukraine; and the impacts of Russia’s potential defeat of Ukraine on United States national security and foreign policy interests, including the potential for further aggression from Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea.
• Establishes a DNI and Secretary of Defense Working Group to identify and share lessons that the United States intelligence community has learned from the Ukraine conflict.
• Includes a Warner and Kaine-led provision to codify the Sudan Special Envoy role for two years, and to provide additional support and resourcing for that office.

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