House Passes Legislation Containing Multiple Provisions Authored by Congresswoman Meng; Measures Include Items Benefiting the Military, Veterans, Women and Israel

June 3, 2016
Press Release

Several key provisions authored by U.S. Rep. Grace Meng (D-Queens) have been included in critical legislation passed by the House of Representatives.

The measures include five provisions in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) and four provisions in the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Bill. The NDAA is a $610 billion bill that sets funding levels and policies for the U.S. Department of Defense, and the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Bill is an $81 billion measure that funds veterans benefits, veterans programs, and training, housing and equipment for military personnel. Meng’s items include the following:

National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA)

  • A provision that requires the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to report on admissions practices and gender composition at the nation’s U.S. service academies. The measure seeks to improve the female composition of the country’s service academies and ensure that young women have an equal shot at attending these prestigious institutions, and in turn, serving at the highest levels of the military. Graduates of the academies are automatically commissioned as officers. Meng introduced the measure with Rep. Martha McSally (R-Arizona), a graduate of the Air Force Academy.
  • A provision that makes conspiracy to commit rape or sexual assault in the military an offense that requires dismissal or dishonorable discharge under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Although the NDAA, which rewrites portions of the Military Justice Code, included dismissal or dishonorable discharge for committing or attempting to commit rape or sexual assault, it omitted the conspiracy provision. Meng’s measure makes conspiracy to commit the crime part of the Uniform Code of Military Justice.
  • A provision that reauthorizes for one year an existing suicide prevention and resilience program for members of the National Guard and Reserves. The measure ensures that the Yellow Ribbon Reintegration Program, which expires on October 1, 2017, will not lapse until its next reauthorization. The program promotes the well-being of National Guard and Reserve members, their families and communities, by connecting them with resources during and after their deployment, especially during the reintegration phase that continues well beyond the service members’ return home.
  • A provision that renews for three years an American law which monitors and tracks certain ships and airlines traveling to and from Iran. Under this law, the President is required to annually report to Congress which foreign ships enter Iran’s seaports owned by sanctioned entities, and which foreign airports sanctioned Iranian air carriers fly into. The law expires on December 31.
  • A provision that authorizes the Secretary of Defense – in agreement with the Secretary of State – to enter into water resource agreements with foreign governments such as Israel. Under the provision, the United States would be permitted to partner with Israel to research and develop initiatives that would ensure access to water for U.S. troops stationed in the region. The goal is to combat water scarcity issues for American troops serving abroad.

Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Bill

  • A provision that seeks to have the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) hire more female health care professionals in order to provide female veterans with greater opportunities to choose the gender of their health care provider. The measure would create more options for female veterans who prefer to select female health care providers.
  • A provision that seeks to have the VA allow religious emblems (emblems of belief) on headstones of unclaimed, deceased veterans. The measure would allow religious identifiers to be on the headstones of these veterans as long as documentation of the veteran’s beliefs can be produced such as through dog tags or other military documentation.
  • A provision that seeks to have the Secretary of Veterans Affairs appoint an additional Asian American to the Advisory Committee on Minority Veterans. Asian Americans are currently underrepresented on the panel which provides the Secretary and Congress with advice about medical care, benefits, and services for veterans.
  • A provision that seeks to have the VA accept medical opinions from non-VA health care providers when the evidence is sufficient for rating purposes, the method used to determine disability benefits. The measure would help conserve VA resources and enable faster rating decisions, and reduce the number of appeals.

“I thank my colleagues for including these crucial provisions in these two pieces of legislation,” said Meng. “All are important to our military operations as well as veterans and women, and I look forward to the measures advancing in the Senate.”

The NDAA and the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations bill are for fiscal year 2017 which begins in October. Both pieces of legislation now head to the Senate.