Washington, D.C. – Republican Study Committee Chairman Kevin Hern, who represents Oklahoma’s First Congressional District, released the following statement after House Resolution 2670, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2024, passed the House.
“The goal of the RSC is to make each bill that goes to the floor as conservative as possible while still being able to get 218 votes,” said Chairman Hern.
“With this NDAA, conservatives fought for and secured a long list of key reforms. Biden has injected our military with woke ideology at the expense of our national security. His policies have weakened our military and made the world a more dangerous place. We developed a slate of amendments that I’m proud were adopted by the House. These amendments ensure our military is focused on threats from nations like China, Russia, and Iran, not carrying out the left’s radical social experiments.”
After an extensive amendment process this week, RSC had 24 amendments submitted by 17 Members pass the House, including:
Amendment 413, Representative Jim Banks, R-Indiana: This amendment prohibits any funds authorized by the NDAA from going to any entity owned or controlled by the Iranian government or on relevant blacklists.
Amendment 414, Rep. Banks: This amendment expands the annual China Military Power Report to include China’s security cooperation with Iran and Russia.
Amendment 1265, Rep. Jim Banks: This amendment requires a DoD assessment of the precision-guided munitions Israel needs in the event of conflict with regional actors. It would extend existing authorities to provide Israel with such munitions in the event of an emergency.
Amendment 1491, Rep. Banks: This amendment prohibits any funds authorized in this bill from being made available directly or indirectly to the Badr Organization.
Amendment 1434, Representative John Curtis, R-Utah: This amendment asks for an assessment of Russia’s information operations capabilities and an assessment of current efforts taken by the Department of Defense and allied and partner militaries’ information operations components to target and otherwise coordinate efforts against Russian military information operations.
Amendment 1435, Rep. Curtis: This amendment asks for a report on the sophistication of Iranian missile capabilities and details of Iranian ballistic missile testing.
Amendment 1439, Rep. Curtis: This amendment asks for a classified report on Iranian involvement in the narcotics trade, the entities associated with the trade, and an assessment on the financial benefits of involvement in the trade & what the money is used for.
Amendment 1061, Representative Pat Fallon, R-Texas: This amendment expresses the Sense of Congress that the US and Taiwan should explore efforts to expand energy sources and harden existing facilities.
Amendment 1136, Representative. Carlos Gimenez, R-Florida: This amendment asks for a report from the President on Iran’s military assistance and cooperation with Bolivia, Brazil, and Venezuela to be submitted to appropriate Congressional committees.
Amendment 940, Rep. French Hill, R-Arkansas: This amendment requires the Secretary of Defense to submit a report on threats Iran poses to United States and partner military bases.
Amendment 1484, Representative John James, R-Michigan: This amendment requires DOD and State to do a joint assessment on current and future constraints to our defense supply chain.
Amendment 734, Representative Doug Lamborn, R-Colorado: This amendment would require DoD to provide a report on the Precision Strike Missile production capacity for FY24-25 and a strategy for increasing production capacity.
Amendment 534, Representative Lisa McClain, R-Michigan: This amendment requires a report from Sec. Defense on (1) specific weapon systems Ukraine needs to defend itself from Russia; (2) specific weapon systems Taiwan needs to defend itself from the PLA; (3) assessment of weapon supply chains.
Amendment 988, Rep. McClain: This amendment requires a report from Secretary of Defense on efforts to expand the frequency of bilateral and multilateral exercises involving Israel and U.S. Middle East regional partners.
Amendment 118, Representative Corey Mills, R-Florida: This amendment requires a report from the Secretary of Defense to the congressional defense committees, the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, and the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations on expediting fighter aircraft sales to Israel.
Amendment 866, Representative Chip Roy, R-Texas: This amendment states that none of the funds authorized to DoD or otherwise made available by this Act may be made available, directly or indirectly, to the Government of Iran; any person owned or controlled by the Government of Iran.
Amendment 75, Rep. Bryan Steil, R-Wisconsin: This amendment requires the Secretary of Defense and Secretary of State to jointly brief relevant committees of weapons the United States has committed to sending to Ukraine and to other regional allies who are providing weapons to Ukraine.
Amendment 608, Representative Claudia Tenney, R-New York: This amendment requires a report on CENTCOM capabilities and any capability gaps in carrying out CENTCOM’s responsibilities, as well as recommendations to address any capability gaps.
Amendment 655, Representative Michael Waltz, R-Florida: This amendment requires a report on Harpoon missile delivery to Taiwan.
Amendment 659, Rep. Waltz: This amendment requires a briefing on Joint Exercises with Taiwan.
Amendment 1286, Rep. Andy Ogles, R-Tennessee: This amendment ensures oversight over the implementation of the Taiwan Enhanced Resilience Act.
Amendment 677, Representative Doug Lamborn, R-Colorado: This amendment prohibits the Department of Defense from entering into contracts with entities that engaged in a boycott of the State of Israel.
Amendment 1498, Representative Morgan Luttrell, R-Texas: This amendment requires a report on U.S. assistance to Iraq Popular Mobilization Forces and if any of these funds have benefited any member of a foreign terrorist organization.
Amendment 693, Representative Bob Good, R-Viginia: This amendment requires a report by the Secretary of Defense within one year of enactment on the extent to which Communist China has benefited from taxpayer funded research. This report would include a list of United States Government-funded entities, such as research institutions, laboratories, and institutions of higher education, which have hired Chinese nationals or allowed Chinese nationals to conduct research, including an estimate in the number of nationals hired or involved in research projects.
Before the bill came to the House floor, Members of RSC worked hard to include conservative priorities at the House Armed Services Committee markup.
Amendments made in Committee to strengthen America’s position against China, Iran, and Russia were included in the legislation.
Notes and Disclosure: Pat McGuigan of The City Sentinel newspaper prepared this story for posting, adapting it from material provided by the RSC staff. Pat selected all of the photos accompanying this story. During his year’s as a journalist and researcher working in Washington, D.C., Pat worked closely with members and staff of the Republican Study Committee.
