Defense Appropriations Bill Passed In House of Representatives

Press Release

Today the U.S. House of Representatives approved the Department of Defense (DoD) Appropriations legislation for fiscal year 2015. Congressman Kevin Cramer said the bill supports our troops around the world and military activities in North Dakota including ICBMs, the Global Hawk, and MQ-9s, puts more resources toward troop healthcare, and rejects President Obama's reduced pay increase for military personnel.

"National defense is our number one national priority, and I am pleased we are once again funding our most important objectives while also finding some savings within the compromise budget caps," said Cramer. "This bill contains important investments into military activities in North Dakota including a boost in funding for the morale and well-being of our ICBM crewmembers, and improvements in Global Hawk capabilities."

Supports military activities in North Dakota

Provides an additional $21.6 million for efforts to directly improve the quality of life and morale of ICBM crewmembers, and directs the Secretary of the Air Force to submit a detailed spending plan for this funding to the House and Senate defense committees. Includes language preventing actions to reduce, convert, decommission, or otherwise move any Minuteman III ballistic missile silos to nondeployed status.

Recognizes the significant investment made to enable the Guard and reserve as an integral part of the operational force thereby providing additional funding to specifically improve their readiness. Further to this end the bill prevents the transfer of all Apache helicopters from the Army National Guard to the active Army.

Includes funding for an additional 12 MQ-9 Reaper aircraft above the President's request to replace the older MQ-1 Predator aircraft. The North Dakota Air National Guard currently flies the MQ-1 and will eventually transition to the more capable MQ-9. Directs investment for improving the sensor and weather capabilities of the RQ-4 Global Hawk which is flown by the active duty Air Force at the Grand Forks Air Force Base.

Boosts military pay and health care

Fully funds a 1.8 percent pay raise for the military, rejecting the reduced increase of 1 percent requested by the President.

Prevents certain funding until the Secretary of Defense meets certain requirements to resolve the inability of the VA and DoD to develop a fully interoperable electronic health record system.

Includes $125 million for traumatic brain injury (TBI) and psychological health research, $158 million for suicide prevention outreach, and $275 million for sexual assault prevention and response programs. Encourages the DoD to continue research into canine therapy as an alternative to pharmaceutical treatments, especially those suffering from TBI and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Finds savings responsibly

Reduces spending without adversely affecting troops or military missions by eliminating $965 million in unused prior-year funding, reducing equipment procurement by $1.6 billion from last year, and reducing the President's operations and maintenance budget by $1.4 billion.

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