Rep. Calvert Praises National Security Priorities Included in Defense Bill

Today, Congressman Ken Calvert (CA-42) praised the inclusion of critical national security priorities in the Fiscal Year 2021 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) Conference Report.

"The FY21 NDAA sets in place policies and programs that will help secure our nation and give American service members the resources they need," said Rep. Calvert. "A significant amount of the technological advancements in support of our national security mission are developed by small businesses. The entrenched bureaucracies in the Pentagon are far too quick to shun small businesses and have proven they won't incorporate disruptive technology on their own. That is why I requested, and am pleased to see, the final bill includes report language to address the challenges of transitioning successful projects out of the Small Business Innovation Research Program and into Programs of Record. I also strongly support the inclusion of a pay raise our service members, additional COVID-19 resources for our military agencies, programs that back of our long-standing partnership with Israel, and measures aimed at deterring Russian and Chinese aggression."

FY 21 NDAA Background:

Small Business Innovation Research Program Conference Report Language:

The conferees recognize the unique value that the Small Business Innovation Research Program (SBIR) provides to the military services as an effective way of engaging and growing innovation within the Department. However, the conferees also are aware of the challenges of transitioning successful projects out of the SBIR program into alternative funding mechanisms and programs of record. Therefore, the conferees request that the Secretaries of each military service submit a report to the congressional defense committees that identifies a minimum of five of their most transformative SBIR Projects that have completed SBIR Phase II, including projects that would be a continuation of existing Phase III Agreements that meet any of the following criteria: (1) Potential to substantially advance the national security capabilities of the United States; and/or (2) Provide technologies or processes, or applications of existing technologies, that will enable alternatives to, or be used by, existing programs; and (3) Substantially reduce the time to delivery of new warfare capabilities; and/or (4) Provide significant future cost savings.

COVID-19 Protections: The NDAA ensures service members have the diagnostic equipment, testing capabilities and PPE they need, along with providing medical surge capacity in certain healthcare facilities; and it provides health benefits to members of the National Guard that supported the COVID-19 response.

Support for Military Families: The NDAA includes a number of reform efforts to better support military families. These include efforts to address the childcare shortage for military families, reforms to programs that support military families with children with special needs, and improved voting access and support for overseas servicemembers and families.

Improvements to Military Family Housing: Overdue improvements include improved identification and remediation of severe environmental hazards, support for families displaced for mold and other hazards, and liaisons for families with special needs children.

Deterring Russia: The NDAA prohibits future administrations from implementing any activity that recognizes the sovereignty of Russia over Crimea and extends the limitation on military cooperation between the United States and Russia. The NDAA establishes mandatory sanctions on Turkey for its acquisition of the S-400 air missile defense system as required by CAATSA, and expands sanctions related to the construction of Russia's Nord Stream 2 pipeline.

Pacific Deterrence Initiative (PDI): The NDAA builds on the success of the European Deterrence Initiative and establishes the Pacific Deterrence Initiative, which includes $2.2 billion of investments and new programs to modernize and strengthen U.S. posture and capability in the Indo-Pacific region and assist U.S. allies and partners to deter against Chinese malign behavior.

Protects Against Chinese Industrial Espionage: The NDAA includes a requirement for a Presidential assessment on how to deter Chinese industrial espionage and large-scale cyber theft of intellectual property and personal information.

Transparency for Chinese Military Companies: The NDAA requires public reporting of Chinese military companies operating in the United States and for that list to be published on the Federal Register.

Reforming How the Pentagon Does Business: The NDAA expands reform efforts across the DOD to include the efficacy and efficiency of the Department as a whole as well as reforming the capability requirements process and weapon system sustainment activities.

Ensuring Innovation: The NDAA authorizes an additional $350 million in defense science and technology efforts to invest in emerging technologies and critical research areas including biotechnology, AI, hypersonics, and directed energy. It formalizes the "Hacking For Defense" program, and restores $40 million in funding for the program.