House Expected to Pass Legislation Containing Meng Provisions that Would Assist Members of the Military

Improving childcare services for military families by enhancing the hours of operation for Department of Defense childcare development centers and establishing childcare coordinators for military installations. The measure would give military families with children better support and more flexibility when they use child care facilities on military installations or seek child care from community providers. Meng authored the provision in the House and Senators Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Tom Cotton (R-AR) sponsored a similar version in the Senate.

A two-year extension of the Yellow Ribbon Reintegration Program, a critical suicide prevention and resilience initiative for members of the National Guard and Reserves. 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. Meng offered a two-year extension amendment to the House-passed NDAA, and is pleased to see it included in the final text of the bill that will become law.

Requiring the Secretary of Defense to review the design, material, sizing, price, availability, quality, and utility of maternity uniforms for pregnant members of the military. Under the provision, the Defense Secretary would be required to submit a report on the review to congressional defense committees within 90 days of the enactment of the NDAA Conference Report. Meng took-up the issue after servicewomen expressed concerns about the design of maternity uniforms in the 2016 Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Services Report.