WASHINGTON, DC — Today, Congressman August Pfluger (TX-11) announced that several of his key initiatives were included in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that passed the U.S. House of Representatives. Rep. Pfluger released a statement following the passage of the annual defense bill:

Rep. August Pfluger (TX-11): "I am proud to deliver a strong national defense bill that refocuses our military on lethality, improves the quality of life for our service members and their families, and makes critical investments to support our heroes at Fort Cavazos and Goodfellow Air Force Base. This strong package also fully funds the deployment of the National Guard to the southwest border, cuts inefficient programs to save taxpayer dollars, and abolishes DEI in our military."

The FY25 NDAA will:

·     Refocus the military and senior leaders on warfighting, lethality, and the profession of arms.

·     Provide junior enlisted servicemembers with a 19.5% pay raise.

·     Authorize 15 military construction projects in Texas, including $147 million in investments for Motor Pool #70 and #71 at Fort Cavazos.

·     Improve servicemember quality of life by improving housing, access to medical care, and childcare to address military recruitment, retention, and readiness.

·     Fully fund the deployment of the National Guard at the southwest border to intercept illegal aliens and drugs.

·     Prevent Chinese espionage in our military, supply chains, and research institutions.

·     Expand U.S.-Israel military exercises and fully fund cooperative missile defense programs.

·     Increase funding for U.S. defense initiatives in the Indo-Pacific to bolster Taiwan’s defense and support Indo-Pacific allies.

·     Save $30 billion by cutting inefficient programs, obsolete weapons, and bloated Pentagon bureaucracy.

·     Cut $4.3 billion in programs that do not meet requirements.

·     Require promotions to be based on merit.

·     End affirmative action at service academies.

Pfluger Priorities Included:

·     Revoke the security clearances to retired or separated civilian and/or military Department of Defense personnel who engage in lobbying for certain Chinese companies.

·     Require the administration to provide information on how proceeds from illicit Iranian oil exports are funding the IRGC and Iranian-backed terrorist proxies.

·     Require the Secretary of Defense to brief Congress on the possibility of opportunistic, coordinated, or combined Russian-Chinese military aggression.

·     Require DOD to submit a report on left-of-launch capabilities and strategies of the U.S. in the CENTCOM area of operations.

·     Establish a system for recruiting and retaining airplane flight instructor pilots of the Department of Defense.

·     Require the Secretary of Defense to develop an integrated space and satellite security strategy in cooperation with allies and partners in the Middle East.

·     Require Psychological Performance Training for US servicemembers to improve psychological health and overall member quality of life.

·     Require the Secretary of the Air Force, in coordination with the STRATCOM Commander, to develop and then implement a plan to restore the B-52 bombers' nuclear capacities.   

·     Require the Secretary of the Navy to submit a report to the House Committee on Armed Services on how augmented, virtual, and extended reality capabilities have been, or potentially could be, integrated into training across the Navy.

·     Allow service academy graduates to play professional sports and fulfill their service obligation through reserve duty in a recruiting position.