Trent Kelly: “I thank the gentleman for yielding. As ranking member of the Military Personnel Subcommittee, I stand before you today…”

“I thank the gentleman for yielding. As ranking member of the Military Personnel Subcommittee, I stand before you today in proud support of the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2021. The conference report reflects bipartisan compromise that has been a hallmark of this committee for 59 consecutive years. The National Defense Authorization Act has always been about ensuring the national defense of the United States, which would be impossible without appropriate focus on the men and women who tirelessly serve this country; and appropriate focus on their families who serve this great Nation by supporting their loved ones time and again; through the deployments, the training periods and all the challenges of day-to-day living. We owe them a great debt of gratitude. The NDAA also preserves a number of robust TRICARE and retirement benefits for our retirees. To this end, we addressed a number of significant and overdue policy issues that would directly improve the quality of life of our servicemembers and their families. The NDAA authorizes a 3 percent increase in basic pay for servicemembers. It also standardizes the payment of hazardous duty incentive pay and increases hazardous duty pay from $250 to $275 a month for members of the uniformed services.…”