Press Releases

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Congresswoman Lori Trahan (MA-03), a member of the House Armed Services Committee and National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) Conference Committee conferee, voted along with a veto-proof majority of members in the House of Representatives to pass the NDAA Conference Report for Fiscal Year (FY) 2021.

“For the past 59 years, Congress and Presidents of both parties have reached a bipartisan compromise that delivers for our servicemembers and their loved ones. This Conference Report is evidence that Congress is still capable of upholding our end of that bargain. I’m proud that this final bill includes a number of key provisions that deliver for our servicemembers and military families, who continue to sacrifice each day to keep us safe. These bipartisan proposals, many of which I was proud to author, are long overdue and simply cannot be delayed by an unnecessary and petty veto by the President,” said Congresswoman Trahan.

As a Conference Committee member, Trahan secured inclusion of a number of proposals that she authored in coordination with national, state, and local organizations to keep servicemembers safe, support research in the Third District, and strengthen the United States’ ability to respond to foreign interference.

To help combat the alarming rise in servicemembers dying by suicide, Trahan successfully included the Comprehensive Review of Military Suicide Act, her legislation developed in consultation with the American Psychiatric Association (APA) to require the Secretary of Defense to establish a multidisciplinary review board for obtaining necessary data to improve the military’s ability to prevent future servicemember suicides, in the final version of the bill.

“The American Psychiatric Association is pleased to see that Congress included much needed provisions in the National Defense Authorization Act to help us better understand and prevent servicemember and veteran suicide,” said APA President Jeffrey Geller, M.D., M.P.H. “Especially in the pandemic, these are essential measures that will save the lives of those who’ve given so much for our country already.”

Recognizing the tremendous value of the Harnessing Emerging Research Opportunities to Empower Soldiers (HEROES) program at UMass Lowell, Trahan was able to maintain the inclusion of her provision to increase funding by $5 million for the unique collaborative research and development center. This funding will only strengthen the coordinated research being conducted by UMass Lowell and the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Soldier Center that encourages and facilitates interdisciplinary technological advancements for improved survivability and sustainability of American troops.

“The HEROES research team and the university are very appreciative of Rep. Trahan’s continuing support for HEROES. Working closely with industry and leveraging the Massachusetts M2I2 support for the UMass Lowell Fabric Discovery Center, HEROES is developing multifunctional textiles with unusual configurations and embedded electronics to improve warfighter protection and survivability. HEROES is also creating new and advanced sensing capabilities that are deployed on Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) with improved communication and navigation in GPS-denied environments. This includes collaboration with the UMass Lowell New England Robotics Validation and Experimentation (NERVE) Center for developing test and evaluation methods for UAS operating in subterranean GPS-denied environments and identifying solutions to advance these systems for the Army,” said Prof. Ramaswamy Nagarajan, co-director of HEROES and faculty member in UMass Lowell’s Francis College of Engineering.

Trahan also successfully managed to include the following provisions she authored in the final version of the FY21 NDAA:

• Address dangerous PFAS chemicals. Provision continues to provide federal support for efforts to clean up per- and polyfluorinated compound-contaminated sites on military installations;
• Protect taxpayer dollars. Requires the U.S. Government Accountability Office to provide a report on how the Air Force uses the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program funding. This will ensure the most efficient use of taxpayer dollars by tracking performance metrics on new acquisition approaches and set the Air Force on a path to harness innovation opportunities and lessons learned from program integration. 
• Report on Chinese election interference. Directs the Secretary of Defense to provide the interim report on Chinese influence operations that were directed by FY20 NDAA; which the Administration has yet to provide. This provision requires a briefing on international election interference efforts, influence operations and campaigns targeting democratic elections. 

Other key provisions in the Conference Report that Trahan helped negotiate for as a conferee include:

• Authorization of hazard pay for servicemembers in harm’s way;
• A 3 percent pay raise for troops;
• A requirement to rename bases that glorify traitorous Confederate leaders;
• Ensuring paid parental leave is extended to all federal employees;
• Addressing the shortage in military child care;
• Long-overdue benefits to Vietnam-era veterans exposed to Agent Orange;
• Required improvements in military housing to keep military families safe in their homes;
• Strong limitations on executive overreach relating to emergency construction authority and deployment of military personnel to the southern border; and
• Provisions to prevent the use of military construction funds for the construction of the border wall.

The FY21 NDAA Conference report is expected to be brought up for a vote in the Senate later this week.

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