The House of Representatives on July 14, 2022, approved the 2023 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), the bill which will fund the Department of Defense (DoD), including the U.S. military, for the coming fiscal year. Slotkin joined Republicans and Democrats to increase the Pentagon’s top line budget by $37 billion, higher than President Joe Biden’s proposal, to ensure the U.S. maintains its strategic edge over rivals like China.
“The budget for our national defense should always be a bipartisan effort, and the subject of vigorous debate. As a former Pentagon official and an Army wife, I have seen how funding and policy decisions in Congress directly impact those serving in uniform,” Slotkin said. “Almost 50 of my amendments have been approved and included in this year’s NDAA, touching on strengthening our critical defense supply chains and manufacturing more equipment here at home, to testing for, cleaning up and restricting the use of dangerous PFAS ‘forever chemicals,’ to increasing transparency in the Department of Defense budget. In the coming weeks, I’ll continue to work with my Senate colleagues to make sure these amendments are included in the final Pentagon budget for next year.”
Slotkin’s amendments cover a range of issues including addressing PFAS exposure and cleanup; winding down the use of toxic burn pits; and strengthening critical defense supply chains to prevent future shortages, reducing American reliance on foreign suppliers and creating American manufacturing jobs.
All 49 of Slotkin’s provisions received bipartisan support. Her amendments included:
PFAS strictest standard: Requiring DoD, when conducting PFAS remediation and removal, to adhere to the most stringent standard in that location, among a federal lifetime health advisory, an appropriately promulgated state standard, or a federal standard.
Mandatory training on health effects of PFAS: Requiring DoD medical providers to be trained to identify/treat PFAS exposure.
Expanded health testing for military firefighters: Requiring DoD to provide for medical testing of active duty and civilian firefighters for prostate, colon, and breast cancer as part of DoD annual physical screening.
Winding down use of toxic burn pits: Requiring DoD to provide budget information on incinerators and waste-to-energy waste disposal alternatives to burn pits, as well as an annual declaration of locations currently operating burn pits and strategy to wind-down the use of burn pits within 5 years.
Critical mineral stockpiles: Requiring the National Defense Stockpile to gather enough rare earth elements and critical minerals to sustain three years of major conflict, banning DoD from procuring munitions from Chinese military companies, and enhancing transparency in critical defense supply chains.
Defense supply chains: Increasing the National Defense Stockpile Manager’s authority to make purchases to address stockpile shortfalls and requiring the Secretary of Defense to report on critical minerals sourced from China and Russia.
Congressional earmarks: Directing the Secretary of Defense to report on Congressional increases to the defense budget to help ensure efficient funding of the Pentagon and prevent waste.
Slotkin, a former senior Pentagon official, has advocated strongly for PFAS remediation measures to be included in the NDAA to protect Michigan communities. Michigan has the highest number of PFAS-contaminated sites of any state in the country, in large part due to the use of PFAS-laden fire-fighting foam on military bases. In last year’s NDAA, 28 of Slotkin’s bipartisan amendments passed the House, including provisions that require DoD to offer expanded PFAS testing for service members and to disclose PFAS test results for drinking water on or near military installations.
