For Immediate Release
Contact: bowman.press@mail.house.gov

NEWS: Rep. Jamaal Bowman Introduces NDAA Amendments 

WASHINGTON, D.C.  - Congressman Jamaal Bowman, Ed.D (NY-16) is offering four amendments to the FY23 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). 

This week, the House is set to vote on the Fiscal Year 2023 NDAA led by the Armed Services Committee. Before that bill comes to the floor for a vote, Congressman Bowman has offered four amendments to the bill which will be considered by  the House Rules Committee to determine if they will be included in the final NDAA bill that is subsequently voted on. Respectively those amendments would: 

1. Bring the U.S. military’s presence in Syria up for a debate and vote in Congress, reaffirming Congress’s role in authorizing military action abroad  
2. Require a report on military recruitment efforts in public secondary schools 
3. Grant the Secretary of Defense authority to increase the inflation bonus pay above 2.4 percent for servicemembers and DOD civilian employees making $45,000 or less in order to respond to the economic impact of inflation  
4. Require public disclosure of our overseas military footprint to more accurately outline the cost of war

“This year’s NDAA would authorize upwards of $840 billion for the Pentagon,” said Congressman Jamaal Bowman, Ed.D (NY-16). “ The American people deserve public discourse before we engage in conflict overseas that requires the full service and even sacrifice of our military personnel. Congressional war powers must be restored. Our U.S. military presence in Syria necessitates a long overdue vote in Congress. I was proud to introduce this amendment for the first time in last year’s NDAA and to be joined by Congressional leaders on war powers. The majority of our caucus agrees on this common-sense amendment, in addition to several colleagues on the other side of the aisle. Former Ambassador to Syria Robert Ford has been raising these issues for years and I’m grateful for his advocacy. The American people  deserve transparency about how the Pentagon uses its funding, which exceeds our spending on domestic priorities like education, health, and housing combined. We also need a public disclosure to identify our overseas military footprint. In addition, we need transparency about recruitment practices at our public schools, especially in underserved communities of color where opportunities may seem limited and unavailable. Finally, we need to take care of our lowest paid service members and DOD civilian employees. There is no reason anyone in America, including our service members and their families, should be standing in food pantry lines because they can’t afford enough groceries or are wondering how they are going to afford basic and necessary costs like child care. My priority is taking care of people, and making sure we are holding the Pentagon accountable when it comes to how we spend billions of dollars every year. These amendments would allow us to do that.” 

Former U.S. Ambassador to Syria, Robert S. Ford, served during the Obama Administration and currently serves as the Kissinger Senior Fellow at the Yale Jackson Institute for Global Affairs issued letter to Congress expressing support for Rep. Bowman’s amendment reaffirming Congress’s role in authorizing military action abroad. To read the letter, see the attached letter.   

To read the amendments, please click below. 

Reaffirming Congress’s Role in Authorizing Military Action Abroad 

Granting authority for DOD Secretary to increase pay for lowest paid servicemembers and DOD civilian employees 

Reporting on Military Recruitment in Public Secondary Schools 

Public disclosures on overseas military footprint