On Wednesday, Rep. Mike Rogers, Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, delivered opening remarks during full committee consideration of HR 8070, the Military Quality of Life Improvement Act and the Fiscal Year 2025 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).

All branches of the military are important assignment In recruiting, lawmakers urged prioritizing strengthening the workforce. Military Pay and Benefits In this year's NDAA, Rogers said active duty military members' pay should not be so low that they are “eligible for food stamps” or “living in deplorable conditions.”

“For the first time in decades, the bill before us today has a different, shorter title,” said Chairman Rogers. “It is the Military Quality of Life Improvement and National Defense Authorization Act. We did this to emphasize the significant contributions this bill will make to improving the quality of life for our service members and their families.”

“Service members should not have to live in squalid conditions,” Rogers said. “Military families should not have to rely on food stamps to feed their children, and no one who serves our country should have to wait weeks to see a doctor or mental health professional. This bill would go a long way to solving that problem.”

Rogers had tasked the Subcommittee on Quality of Life with helping Congress identify areas where the Defense Department needs to improve its benefits packages.

The report prepared by the subcommittee addressed key issues facing military families, including the need for a 15 percent pay increase for service members to help them cover basic living expenses and invest in their future. Recommendations include providing safe housing, improving access to child care, spousal support programs and health care services.

“Every member of our military makes a selfless decision to serve and protect our country, and we have an obligation to ensure our brave soldiers have adequate pay, safe housing, access to health care and child care, and support for their spouses,” Rogers said.

“The Quality of Life Commission's recommendations aim to move the needle toward improving the quality of life for service members and their families and will form the basis of the Department of Defense bill for FY25, arguably the most important work Congress has undertaken.”

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The ongoing war in Ukraine illustrates the decline in the United States' ability to equip and resupply modern troops on the battlefield since the end of the Cold War. Partially paid It will shrink the domestic industrial base. U.S. efforts to supply Ukraine for defense against Russia are being hampered by the slow pace of production, particularly of 105mm shells, but also missiles, armored vehicles, and even small arms.

“This is a good bill that will help revitalize our defense industrial base and build the readiness, capability and lethal fighting force we need to deter China and other adversaries,” Rogers said.

Last year's NDAA was delayed for months by partisan bickering between House Republicans and the Democratic-controlled Senate after House Republicans added some partisan provisions to the bill on the floor of the House. Rogers said this year's NDAA was prepared in a bipartisan manner.

“I want to commend Senator Smith and his staff for continuing our tradition of putting this bill together in a strong bipartisan manner,” Rogers said. “I also want to thank all of the members of Congress who offered their input and support.”

Rogers and the committee are considering roughly 700 proposed amendments covering the full range of members' issues.

“I ask all members of Congress to work together to keep this process moving forward in a timely manner,” Rogers said. “We will have differences of opinion, but we all have the same goal: supporting the men and women who serve our country.”

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