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U.S. Senate Advances Vasquez’s Priorities for New Mexico in National Defense Bill, including $2.25 Billion for New Mexico

July 28, 2023

Following Vasquez’s petition, the Senate has passed a bill that excludes harmful anti-choice and discriminatory provisions and includes a historic pay raise for service members, addresses PFAS contamination, expands child care programs, provides critical funding for New Mexico's military installations, service members and their families.

WASHINGTON, D.C. –  On July 27, 2023, Representative Gabe Vasquez’s (NM-02) priorities for New Mexico in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2024 (FY24) were passed by the U.S. Senate. Vasquez, who serves on the House Armed Services Committee, has been working to craft a bill that brings direct results to New Mexico since the start of this Congress. 

Following the passage of the House version of the NDAA, Vasquez led a letter to the Senate urging Senators to remove the hateful, anti-choice and discriminatory amendments that were included by House Republicans in the final hour. In concurrence with Vasquez’s letter, the Senate version of the NDAA now excludes the hateful, discriminatory amendments.

“After calling on the Senate to exclude House Republicans’ toxic, anti-choice and discriminatory provisions, I am proud to see that the Senate’s NDAA bill does not include those provisions. As a freshman member of Congress, my top priority is delivering for the second district, standing up for New Mexico’s values, while at the same time delivering on legislation like the NDAA that brings good-paying jobs to New Mexico,” said Vasquez. “I’m committed to working through this process, all the way through to the President’s desk so that the wins I secured for New Mexico remain intact, while also ensuring access to reproductive health care and supporting our LGBTQ+ service members.”

Following the passage of bills from both the House and Senate, the NDAA will now be negotiated between the House and Senate to produce a final bill. Vasquez will continue to work with House and Senate leadership to ensure the House Republicans’ egregious provisions are not included in the final defense bill.

Vasquez secured many provisions in the House version of the bipartisan FY24 NDAA, including the largest pay raise for service members in the last decade, addressing per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contamination in drinking water around military installations, expanding military base’s child care programs, improving housing for service members and more.  

Vasquez helped deliver investments in innovation, security, research and quality-of-life improvements for servicemen and women that will support New Mexican communities. The NDAA authorizes over $2.25 billion for New Mexican laboratories and military installations, including:

  • Holloman Air Force Base’s MQ-9 Flight Training Unit
  • White Sands Missile Range’s High Energy Laser Systems Test Facility
  • White Sands Missile Range’s hypersonic target development
  • Los Alamos National Laboratory’s Protective Force Facility
  • Los Alamos National Laboratory’s Plutonium Protection Building
  • Los Alamos National Laboratory Research and Development 
  • Sandia and Los Alamos National Laboratory’s environmental cleanup
  • Army National Guard Rio Rancho Training Site
  • Cannon Air Force Base’s new satellite fire station
  • Kirtland Air Force Base’s Wyoming Gate Upgrade for Anti-Terrorism Compliance
  • Department of Defense’s Readiness and Environmental Protection Integration Program, for installations such as White Sands Missile Range and Cannon Air Force Base.

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BACKGROUND

As a Member of the House Armed Services Committee, Vasquez played a key role in drafting the bipartisan FY24 NDAA. Vasquez not only represents the military installations in his district, but as the only delegation member serving on an armed services committee, he also represents the military interests of New Mexico at large. The committee held a comprehensive debate before moving the bill to the House floor for consideration. The final House bill included provisions Vasquez authored, such as quality-of-life improvements for service members, clean water, energy resiliency on military installations, and support for missions that provide quality jobs for New Mexicans. 

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