Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill (NJ-11)
Washington, D.C. — Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill (NJ-11), former Navy helicopter pilot and member of the House Armed Services Committee, secured over $20 million in additional funds for Picatinny Arsenal programs and the New Jersey innovation economy in a mark-up of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).
The NDAA is critical legislation that Congress authors each year to establish defense priorities, make organizational shifts to military posture, and provide direction on how military funding can be spent.
“One of my chief responsibilities is to craft national defense legislation that strengthens our fighting forces across the globe, bolsters the New Jersey economy by investing in Picatinny Arsenal, and expands protections for our service members and their families. With Pete Hegseth, the most incompetent Secretary of Defense in history, leading our armed forces, it’s more important than ever that we pass commonsense legislation that invests in our fighting forces and the men and women who have stepped up to serve our country.
“I ensured that Picatinny Arsenal continues to have the resources it needs to keep our soldiers safe across the world, bolster our New Jersey economy, and support the Ukrainian fight against Russian oppression. I continued my fight to ensure that our servicewomen and military families have access to abortion care, no matter where they are stationed; I stood up to protect women in combat roles across our armed forces; and I advocated to expand year-long contraception prescriptions for all active duty service members and families. I fought to strengthen guardrails to provide additional congressional oversight if the President or the Secretary of Defense tries to unilaterally relocate troops and protect the National Guard from being politicized. And I successfully included an amendment in the bill to reverse the Trump Administration’s attempt to legalize racial segregation in our armed forces.
“Our service members and their families make incredible sacrifices to protect the rights, freedoms, and democracy we hold dear. There is far too much at stake right now to allow political fights and partisan gamesmanship to endanger our national security and weaken our fighting forces,” said Mikie Sherrill.
Rep. Sherrill championed a pilot program for remote blood pressure monitoring for pregnant and postpartum women, successfully included an amendment that would expand access to apprenticeship training for service members transitioning to civilian life, and improve training and resources for firefighters serving on military installations.
She spoke up against Republican attempts to strip women from combat roles, highlighted Pete Hegseth’s dangerous use of Signal, and defended U.S. funding for our ally, Ukraine.
The NDAA also includes provisions that will strengthen Picatinny Arsenal, one of the largest employers in NJ-11, and support the critical work conducted there. Rep. Sherrill championed additional funding for Picatinny programs, including:
- Scalable Counter Small Unmanned Aerial Systems (CsUAS) Munition delivered Air Defense payloads
- Tier 1 Blast Over Pressure Reduction Technologies
- Low Cost Armaments-based Counter Drone / Counter Small Unmanned Aerial Systems (CsUAS) Protection
- Critical Energetic Materials and Manufacturing Industrial Base Supply Chain Technology
Rep. Sherrill offered and successfully secured inclusion of 12 amendments to the NDAA, including:
- Requiring TRICARE to cover up to twelve-month supplies of contraception for service members and their families;
- This amendment expands on Rep. Sherrill’s effort to require private insurance to allow patients to receive a full year’s supply of birth control instead of the typical three month supply.
- Requiring DoD contractors to certify that they do not have segregated facilities
- This amendment comes in response to the Trump Administration reversing a policy that required Department of Defense contractors to have nonsegregated facilities.
- Establishing a pilot program to utilize remote monitoring of blood pressure for at-risk pregnant and postpartum military women;
- Expanding bereavement leave to include service members and the spouse of the service member who experience the loss of a pregnancy or stillbirth;
- Increasing the participation of women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) positions in the Armed Forces;
- Increasing access to registered apprenticeships in the Skillbridge program for service members transitioning to civilian careers;
- Requiring the Department of Defense to conduct a study on the training and equipment of Firefighter Rapid Intervention Teams on military facilities.
- Prohibiting the Trump administration from eliminating US military bases in Europe to protect our NATO allies.
Rep. Sherrill is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and served in the Navy for almost 10 years as a helicopter pilot and Russian policy officer. As a Russian policy officer, she worked on the implementation of our nuclear treaty obligations and oversaw the relationship between the U.S. Navy and Russian Federation Navy. She serves on the House Armed Services Committee and sits on the Tactical Air and Land Forces (TAL) and Cyber, Innovative Technologies, and Information Systems (CITI) Subcommittees.
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MIL OSI USA News –