On the recordJuly 13, 2022
I thank the chairman for yielding time. Mr. Speaker, I have the honor of representing Joint Base Lewis- McChord, the largest military base on the West Coast, and tens of thousands of servicemembers and their families who call the South Puget Sound home. I am pleased that the NDAA raises base pay by 4.6 percent and includes inflation bonuses. The top concern that I hear from command staff and servicemembers and their families is a lack of housing and housing that is affordable. That is why in April, I introduced a four-bill package ensuring every servicemember has a home. I am very pleased that this bill includes: The Basic Allowance for Housing Calculation Improvement Act; and Increasing Home Ownership for Servicemembers Act. This act directs DOD to create a more transparent and modernized way to calculate the housing allowance. The defense bill also directs DOD to consider restoring the housing allowance back to 100 percent. I am also pleased that we will direct DOD to collect data on scholarship awards and ROTC program completion by gender, by race, and ethnicity. Many officers come through ROTC, but unfortunately, fewer officers of color come through ROTC compared to other commissioning sources. We must find out why. This year's NDAA invests in the lives and livelihood of servicemembers and their families. I strongly urge adoption of this important legislation.
