[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 173 (Friday, December 2, 2016)]
[House]
[Page H7137]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NDAA

  (Mr. LaMALFA asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. LaMALFA. Mr. Speaker, we are all very pleased to see the passage 
of the Defense Authorization Act today. This is how the process 
actually is supposed to work. The House and the Senate came together in 
conference to have a document that we can send to the White House. We 
urge the President, after previous veto threats, to pass this measure, 
to sign this measure so we can put these important priorities in place, 
such as stopping the decrease of our American troop levels--this has 
funding to do that; very importantly, finally, a 2.1 percent pay raise 
for our troops, largest in several years.
  Other good highlights of this include the stoppage of any funding to 
close down Guantanamo Bay, which helps keep us safe on American soil. 
We are not going to do anything to reduce the housing allowance. 
Instead, we will keep that in place for our soldiers and their families 
on base.
  There is much to be happy about with this. One of the things I am 
most happy about as a Californian is Cal Guard, the National Guard, 
will not be seeking to take back the bonuses. This has strong measures 
in it. My colleague, Representative Denham, and I sponsored a bill to 
do this. This has a lot of those pieces in that, in Mr. Denham's bill, 
to stop the required repayment of bonuses that were taken in good faith 
by our Guard members who served. A lot of good things about this. I 
urge the President to sign this.

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