IFPTE Shares Positions on NDAA Amendments Ahead of House Rules Committee's Consideration
This week, IFPTE sent a letter to the House of Representatives Rules Committee and requested Committee Members' support for amendments to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2024that correspond with IFPTE members’ priorities.
On Friday, the House passed the NDAA without the customary strong bipartisan support that the NDAA has received in years past. The House bill passed with several troubling amendments that would cut health services for armed service members and defund numerous DoD components and civilian positions related to diversity, without considering the impacts.
Because these amendments were ill-considered, poorly defined, and lacked bipartisan support that is the hallmark of the NDAA process, IFPTE requested Members of the House to reconsider the NDAA text passed by the House Armed Services Committee that does not include any amendments and start over.
The most problematic amendment IFPTE opposed, a proposal to end official time for DoD bargaining units, was not considered by the House and is not in the House-passed NDAA.
IFPTE is working with Senate offices to support a bipartisan NDAA that reflects the priorities of federal employees, defense and aerospace industry workers, veterans, and uniformed service members so that DoD and our defense industrial base has the policies and resources needed to support our national security needs.
IFPTE asked the Rules Committee to include the following amendments for consideration. None of these amendments were advanced out of the Rules Committee, thus none were considered and included in the NDAA:
The bipartisan Rep. Bilirakis and Rep. Ruiz Amendment #184, which acknowledges the value of Veteran's service and sacrifice by allowing retired members of the Armed Forces who have a service-connected disability to receive both disability compensation from the Department of Veterans Affairs for their disability and retirement pay for their military service or combat-related special compensation.
The bipartisan Rep. Norcross and Rep. Fitzpatrick Amendment #280, to restore the Department of Labor’s authority to make national wage determinations for work performed under federal contacts and federal grants will ensure job quality, wages, and labor protections befitting the significance of the recent and upcoming federal investments in our manufacturing sector. This provision is important to supporting federal investments in critical strategic industries and domestic supply chains – which are critical to our nation’s defense industrial base.
Rep. Schakowsky Amendment #587, to create a requirement that DoD will include in any contract awards for goods or services a preference for contractors with union-represented workers, contractors with union neutrality or noninterference agreements in place, or contractors that are engaged in collective bargaining. This language promotes productive labor-management relations for DOD contractors, ensuing stable stability in labor relations for firms providing goods and services necessary for our national security.
Rep. Jayapal Amendment #440, to restrict federal contract from being awarded to firms that are willful violators of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). This language assures that the DoD and federal agencies will not award nor incentivize illegal employment practices that violate FLSA.
Rep. Foster, Rep. Larsen, and Rep. Garamendi Amendment #489, to support research, development, and deployment of advanced naval nuclear reactors that utilize low enriched uranium.
Rep. Case and Rep. Tokuda Amendment #599, calling for a healthcare registry for individuals affected by the military's Red Hill Underground Fuel Storage Facility 2021 fuel leak.
Rep. Connolly, Rep. Moore (WI), and Rep. Lee (CA) Amendment #969, to repeal the new Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) work requirements for people aged 50 to 54. The new work requirements will harm families and older working Americans, be expensive to administer, will not increase employment and will actually impede working people from seeking employment by denying them and their families basic nutrition and food security.
Rep. Norcross Amendment #230, to direct DoD to establish a safety rating system for defense contractors that considers occupational health and safety records.
Rep. Connolly Amendment #1032, to direct OPM to set requirements for health plans in the Federal Employees Health Benefits program (FEHB) to cover reproductive technology services.
Read IFPTE’s letter to the House Rules Committee here.