Rep. Wild Votes to Pass Annual Defense Bill Supporting Servicemembers and America’s National Security

Washington, D.C. – Today, Representative Susan Wild joined a bipartisan majority in the House to pass H.R. 7900, the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2023, which included several amendments she successfully fought to include in the finalized package. This reauthorization, along with Rep. Wild’s amendments, strengthens U.S. national security through development of new technologies, improves coordination with America’s global partners, holds true to our nation’s democratic values, and delivers significant increases in support for servicemembers.

“Today, my colleagues and I came together in bipartisanship to pass the FY 2023 NDAA to honor our responsibilities to servicemembers and families with a pay raise of 4.6% for our troops, expansion of mental health services, and the establishment of a more transparent, fairer, and more flexible housing allowance,” said Rep. Wild. “This NDAA also builds on America’s commitment to human rights and democracy across the globe, strengthens supply chain security, and invests in our own national security.”

Rep. Wild secured the passage of five amendments in the FY 2023 NDAA—focusing on addressing the concerning rates of servicemember deaths during training accidents and operations, as well as strengthening our commitment to human rights across the globe by expanding human rights reporting on the Philippines and making Department of State funding to that country’s national police forces contingent on meeting requirements outlined in Rep. Wild’s Philippines Human Rights Act.

Respectively, Rep. Wild’s amendments would:

• Require the Department of Defense to develop a strategy in coordination with the State Department to improve security partner cooperation, increase the safety of United States personnel in partner countries, and increase the safety of the personnel of such countries, by working to improve partner military operations and reduce harm done to innocent civilians
• Require transparency for and accountability to the families of servicemembers who have lost their lives or suffered serious injuries in operational or training accidents by requiring that the Department of Defense provide briefings on the status of the implementation of recommendations relating to improving safety for servicemembers and the prevention of accidents.
• Require the Joint Safety Council, which was created in last year's NDAA, to create and maintain a public website with information for the families of deceased members of the armed forces who died in a fatal operational or training accident, information on the findings of each review or assessment conducted by the Council, identification of any recommendation of the Council relating to the prevention of fatal accidents among members of the Armed Forces, and information on the progress of the implementation of any such recommendation.
• Require a report from the Secretary of State focusing on human rights violations committed by Philippines police, military, and paramilitary forces—including against U.S. citizens—and assessing these forces' role in the current Philippines human rights climate.
• Ensure that no funding to the Department of State can be made available to the Philippines National Police until the Administration has certified that the Philippines government is meeting basic human rights standards—including protecting the ability of labor organizers, journalists, human rights defenders, critics of the government, faith and religious leaders, and other civil society activists to operate freely and without violence or intimidation.

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