West Virginia to reap benefits from NDAA

Dec. 20—The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that was passed by the U.S. Senate last week may not have included federal permitting reform, but West Virginia will reap benefits from the annual act needed up primarily update defense spending needs.

The act passed 83-11 with both West Virginia senators supporting it.

"After too long a delay, I am pleased that Congress has finally passed legislation that demonstrates our continued support of our military, especially during these challenging times," GOP Sen. Shelley Moore Capito said. "We have to ensure our military is best equipped and prepared to face whatever challenge it may have to face, and that our personnel and equipment are able to meet those pressing needs in defense of our nation and our allies. This legislation accomplishes that goal."

Included in the act was language drafted by Capito to promote the Green Bank Observatory, located north of Lewisburg, to develop the Next Generation Very Large Array (ngVLA) and a new high-power radar transmitter for the Green Bank Telescope. This language directs the Secretary of Defense to assess the department's current ground-based radar infrastructure and outline how the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) could benefit from utilizing Green Bank, she said.

Capito was also instrumental in making sure the NDAA recognizes the West Virginia National Guard's Army Interagency Training and Education Center (AITEC) and "encourages DoD to assess the expansion of AITEC's mission capabilities to include combating cyber threats to critical infrastructure."

The bill also prohibits the Air Force from reducing the number of C-130s assigned to the National Guard. C-130s are important aircraft for the National Guard, but particularly in West Virginia.

A mandate that required troops to be vaccinated for COVID was removed in the NDAA, a move that Capito supported, saying last week the military lost about 8,000 troops who refused to be vaccinated.

"That was past due coming," she said of ending the mandate, adding during a virtual press briefing last week that needed pay raises for U.S. troops are also included in the NDAA.

Capito said it also seeks to help offset the devastating impact of inflation through increased housing allowances, reducing food costs at military commissaries, offsets in procurement of ships, aircraft, and weapons systems, and increases to cover record fuel prices.

Everything in the NDA "sets standards for robust support of our military," she said, support that is crucial considering the threats from China, North Korea and the ongoing war in the Ukraine.

The NDAA "expresses the sense of Congress that the U.S. must continue to assist Ukraine in its fight against Russia's unprovoked invasion, and that oversight and transparency for such assistance is essential to ensure effective and sustained support."

The act also included the bipartisan Water Resources Development Act of 2022 (WRDA), legislation that Capito, in her role as ranking member of the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee, co-authored that authorizes key projects and studies to tackle water resources challenges across the country.

"The Water Resources Development Act of 2022 is the product of bipartisan work to tackle our nation's water resources challenges," she said. "This legislation further enables the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to address local and regional concerns while continuing to advance national priorities. For West Virginia, it means projects across our state will receive the resources and support needed to make progress on critical issues, such as addressing flood risk. WRDA 2022 is another example of commonsense, bipartisan collaboration on the EPW Committee and with our counterparts in the House to improve the nation's infrastructure, and I look forward to voting to send it to the president's desk."

Those projects in West Virginia include urging the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) to expedite completion of the Bluestone Dam rehabilitation project, authorizing USACE to evaluate the feasibility of adding federal or nonfederal hydropower at several dams in West Virginia and directing the USACE to develop an implementation plan for enhancing economic development and recreation opportunities at the agency's facilities in Appalachia.

Democrat Sen. Joe Manchin, Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Cybersecurity and member of the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC), also voted for the NDAA.

"The United States military must be prepared and able to defend our nation from threats at home and abroad," he said in a statement after passage. "This bipartisan legislation is critical to combatting enemies seen and unseen, and includes funding for numerous priorities for West Virginia, including training center support, intelligence gathering at Green Bank and cybersecurity research. I am pleased with the bipartisan efforts on this legislation and the commitment to regular order from my colleagues, and I am proud the Senate overwhelmingly passed this essential legislation that includes numerous provisions for the Mountain State."

Benefits to the Mountain State, he said, also include an entity within the Joint Staff for the purpose of identifying future energy needs of the Department of Defense with particular attention paid to nuclear, hydrogen, CCUS, battery storage, zero-carbon synthetic fuels, and renewable technologies. It would also identify critical infrastructure such as pipelines and electricity transmission that supply U.S. military facilities.

Manchin had included an amendment in the NDAA to enact federal permitting reform to specifically speed up the process of installing pipelines, like the natural gas Mountain Valley Pipeline, but that amendment failed.

He has also promoted developing alternative energy sources like nuclear and hydrogen in West Virginia.

Manchin said the NDAA has language cutting red tape by allowing the DoD stockpile manager to purchase critical minerals after reporting to Congress, instead of waiting for approval from the Secretary.

"This will make it easier for DoD to ensure they have a sufficient stockpile which can be purchased from sources such as acid mine drainage remediation efforts in West Virginia," he said.

The fiscal year 2022-23 NDAA authorizes $857 billion, including $817 billion for the Department of Defense and $30 billion for Department of Energy (DOE) national security programs, which Manchin also oversees as the Chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

— Contact Charles Boothe at cboothe@bdtonline.com

Contact Charles Boothe at cboothe@bdtonline.com