Passed House (07/14/2022)

National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023

This bill authorizes Department of Defense (DOD) activities for FY2023 and addresses other issues.

For example, the bill

• authorizes the procurement of various items, including destroyers and aircraft;
• modifies inventory requirements for various Air Force programs;
• authorizes DOD to furnish electric vehicle charging stations at commissary stores and military exchanges;
• requires DOD to provide, subject to appropriations, support for the research and development of innovative bioindustrial manufacturing processes;
• requires DOD to carry out a pilot program to facilitate the transition of certain nontactical vehicles to electric vehicles;
• requires the Army and the Navy to jointly carry out a pilot program to evaluate the feasibility of using data recorders to monitor the operation of military tactical vehicles;
• prescribes end strengths for the branches of the Armed Forces;
• requires the branches of the Armed Forces to notify Congress before taking certain actions regarding reserve units, such as the deactivation or reassignment of such a unit;
• requires the Army to establish gender-neutral fitness standards for military occupational specialties that are higher than those for noncombat military occupational specialties;
• requires the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to report to Congress recommendations for improving the retention and recruitment of members who specialize in Army air and missile defense systems, and requires the Army to implement the recommendations;
• requires the GAO to report to Congress a review of a major military health contract after DOD has entered into the contract;
• temporarily prohibits certain TRICARE programs (health care programs that cover current and former members of the uniformed services and their dependents) from imposing cost-sharing requirements for prescription contraceptives and certain related services;
• requires the Department of Homeland Security to designate a laboratory as the Chemical Security Analysis Center;
• requires the Department of the Treasury to take actions to support international initiatives to provide debt restructuring and relief to developing countries;
• prohibits federal regulators from taking certain adverse actions against a depository institution solely for providing financial services to a cannabis-related business operating pursuant to state or local law;
• provides statutory authority for an April 27, 2021, executive order raising the minimum wage for the employees of federal contractors;
• prohibits barring a veteran from federal employment solely because the veteran consumes or has consumed cannabis;
• imposes data standards requirements on certain federal agencies, including the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation; and
• establishes the San Gabriel National Recreation Area in California as a unit of the National Park System.