Washington, D.C. — Today, Congresswoman Annie Kuster (NH-02) voted in favor of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2024. This bipartisan, bicameral legislation represents a compromise between Republicans and Democrats to support our national defense and ensure America’s security. 

“One of the core responsibilities of Congress is to ensure the security of the United States of America. I was proud to vote for the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2024 to do just that,” said Congresswoman Kuster. “This bill takes critical steps to strengthen our national defense, including increasing military pay by 5.2%, expanding child care access, supporting our allies abroad, investing in defense innovation, and more. I urge the president to quickly sign this into law for the sake of our country and our future.”

Specifically, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2024 secures our defense by:

• Authorizing a 5.2% pay raise for service members;
• Meeting our obligations to the European Deterrence Initiative and the Pacific Deterrence Initiatives and supporting our commitment to AUKUS;
• Reaffirming our commitment to Ukraine by extending the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI) at the $300 million level through FY25;
• Investing in R&D and acquisition programs to modernize the force, including $650 million worth of investments in energy resilience and energy conservation projects;
• Supporting the civilian workforce by extending the Department of Defense’s ability to grant allowances, benefits and gratuities to civilians carrying out official duty in a combat zone;
• Supporting military families by authorizing over $300 million in military construction for new child care development centers on top of $60 million to help speed up future child development center replacements; 
• Making military housing more affordable by allowing Secretaries of military departments to exclude the Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH) from the Basic Needs Allowance (BNA) calculation, which keeps more money in the pockets of service members and their families.

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