WASHINGTON D.C.—Today, Rep. Scott Peters (CA-52) voted to pass the National Defense Authorization Act of Fiscal Year 2023. This bipartisan bill increases pay for service members and their families and invests in the United States’ ability to confront unprecedented challenges at home and abroad. The NDAA authorizes $838.9 billion in discretionary spending for national defense for FY 2023, which includes $808.4 billion for the Department of Defense (DoD) and $30.5 billion for the Department of Energy (DoE).

“This year’s legislation continues our support of vital defense facilities in San Diego, provides critical pay raises for service members and civilians, and strengthens military and civilian infrastructure around the world to withstand the effects of climate change,” Rep. Peters said. “Our work on this bill enables the success of our military in future contingencies and keeps our nation’s promise to support servicemembers and their families.”

The FY 2023 NDAA contains various provisions that Congressman Peters fought to include, as well as funding that directly benefits San Diego’s defense sector including:

• $15.65 million for Pier 6 Replacement at Naval Base San Diego.
• $75.7 million for Special Operations Forces (SOF) Operations Support Facility in Coronado.
• Investments in the construction and procurement of 13 new battle force ships, including Two Fleet Oilers which are built in San Diego, and full funding for the Columbia-class ballistic missile submarine program.

The defense package also includes the following amendments put forth by Rep. Peters:

• Establishes the Small Business Procurement Scorecard to assesses how well federal agencies meet their small business contracting goals.
• Amends the Combatant Commander Initiative Fund to include climate resilience of military facilities and essential civilian infrastructure, and military support to relevant ally and partner authorities. (Adopted from Rep. Peters’ Resilient Defense Assistance Act of 2022)
• Requires the U.S. Government Accountability Office to conduct a study on
  • the ability of servicemembers assigned to Special Operations units to utilize DoD transition programs,
  • the challenges servicemembers face when transitioning to civilian life and the usefulness of existing DoD transition programs, and
  • the extent to which servicemembers use transition resources offered by non-governmental entities.

• Authorizes DoD to help ally and partner nations counter illegal trafficking of natural resources in their borders. (Adopted from Rep. Peters’ Resilient Defense Assistance Act of 2022)
• Authorizes DoD to invest in the climate resilience of NATO ally military facilities. (Adopted from Rep. Peters’ Resilient Defense Assistance Act of 2022)  

The House’s version of FY23 NDAA includes a range of other key national security priorities:

• Vital benefits for service members and their families, including a 4.6% pay raise for service members and civilian personnel, 2.4% inflation bonuses for service members earning less than $45,000/year and a $15/hour minimum wage for workers on federal service and construction contracts.

• New investments in science and technology competitiveness, including $275 million in additional funding for next-generation capabilities in hypersonics, electronic warfare, directed energy, artificial intelligence, and software.

• Supply chain security, including an assessment of dual-use technology the Chinese Communist Party might exploit and improving risk management in DoD supply chains involving pharmaceutical products.

• Resources for U.S. allies and partners, including $1 billion for the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI) and funding for the European Deterrence Initiative (EDI) and Pacific Deterrence Initiative (PDI).

A summary of the provisions in the FY23 NDAA is available here.