WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) welcomed Senate passage of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2024 (FY24). The legislation includes major wins that Heinrich secured, including investments in New Mexico’s service members, military installations, national labs, and job-creating initiatives throughout the state. The legislation now heads to the U.S. House of Representatives for final passage, then to President Joe Biden’s desk to be signed into law.
"This bipartisan bill invests in our country’s service members and their families, and the success of New Mexico’s national labs and military installations. I am especially pleased that the bill we passed makes major investments to provide our Armed Forces with the state-of-the-art equipment they need to stay ahead of our adversaries and advance our leadership in emerging technologies like artificial intelligence. These provisions will help grow New Mexico’s economy and cement our state’s leadership in national security for years to come,” said Heinrich. “I'm disappointed that the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act Amendment and the FEND Off Fentanyl Act were excluded from the final NDAA. These provisions are top priorities for our state, and I will continue to fight until they become law.”
The NDAA sets the Department of Defense (DOD) spending levels and policies for the upcoming fiscal year and authorizes funding for the U.S. Department of Energy's programs at Sandia and Los Alamos National Laboratories, as well as the Department of Energy's environmental cleanup programs including the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP).
Senator Heinrich has long championed provisions that benefit New Mexico’s service members, national laboratories, and defense missions as a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee from 2013 to 2020. Beginning in the last Congress, Senator Heinrich became a member of the Senate Committee on Appropriations, where he serves on the Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Subcommittee.
The Intelligence Authorization Act for FY 2024 was also included as part of the National Defense Authorization Act. As a member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, Senator Heinrich worked to include this bill that equips U.S. intelligence agencies with the tools, resources, and personnel they need to protect the American people, while also ensuring congressional oversight over those same agencies. In particular, Senator Heinrich pushed for provisions in the bill that reform the security classification system and the security clearance process, as well as provisions to improve the intelligence community’s procurement, adoption, and integration of emerging technologies and use of Artificial Intelligence.
Below is a list of many of the programs and provisions that Senator Heinrich advocated for during the bill writing process that were included in the FY24 NDAA bill.
Senate Defense Authorization Bill Highlights
Artificial Intelligence Provisions
Senator Heinrich, a co-founder of the bipartisan Senate Artificial Intelligence (AI) Caucus, successfully supported the authorization of over $687 million for AI in the FY24 NDAA. Senator Heinrich also led a provision to ensure that the Department of Defense is maintaining a strong AI workforce by developing career pathways for AI and data science professionals.
Additionally, Senator Heinrich, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), and Senators Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) and Todd Young (R-Ind.) secured several other provisions related to identifying vulnerabilities in AI systems and supporting the Department of Defense Chief Digital and AI Office in its coordination of data sharing activities across military branches.
Joint Directed Energy Test Center Directed Energy Facility at White Sands Missile Range
The NDAA includes $5.5 million to construct a full-service Laboratory enclosure and an Operations and Administration Facility on the Campus of the High Energy Laser Systems Test Facility at White Sands Missile Range.
Readiness and Environmental Protection Integration Program
The NDAA authorizes $20.2 million for the Department of Defense’s Readiness and Environmental Protection Integration (REPI) Program. Cannon Air Force Base, Melrose Air Force Range, and White Sands Missile Range utilize the REPI to prevent encroachment and preserve their testing and training missions. The program as a whole is critical to assisting military installations and ranges as they are increasingly impacted by extreme weather, flooding, wildfires, drought, and other threats to resilience.
Space Force Modeling, Simulation & Analysis Hub
The NDAA includes $7.5 million to create a U.S. Space Force modeling and simulation hub.
Fire Station at Cannon Air Force Base
The NDAA authorizes $5 million for a new satellite fire station at Cannon Air Force Base.
New Mexico Army National Guard Rio Rancho Vehicle Maintenance Shop
The NDAA authorizes $11 million for the New Mexico Army National Guard to construct a new vehicle maintenance shop in Rio Rancho.
Environmental Cleanup
The NDAA authorizes $276 million for environmental cleanup efforts at Sandia and Los Alamos National Laboratories.
Los Alamos National Laboratory
The NDAA authorizes $1.79 billion for LANL’s ongoing research and development programs. The funding supports personnel, equipment, and other activities at LANL.
Sandia National Laboratories
Within the FY24 NDAA's $24 billion in funding for the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), Sandia's funding supports and sustains its system integration, engineering, and science programs.
Waste Isolation Pilot Plant
The NDAA authorizes full funding of $464 million to operate the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, including $44.4 million to continue construction of additional ventilation for the mine and $50 million to continue work on a new utility shaft.
Advanced Simulation and Computing for Nuclear Stockpile Stewardship
The NDAA authorizes $782 million in funding for the NNSA’s advanced simulation and computing efforts in the Stockpile Stewardship Program. This Program ensures continued reliability of the stockpile and allows realistic simulations on supercomputers to understand how they would behave, without requiring explosive testing.
Los Alamos National Laboratory Transportation Infrastructure
To address difficulties addressing workforce transportation needs at LANL, Senator Heinrich authored report language included in the NDAA that directs the NNSA Administrator to report to Congress on measures to implement alternative transportation approaches and ensure transportation challenges at LANL will not impede national security activities.
Santa Fe National Cemetery
Similar to legislation introduced earlier this year, the NDAA includes a provision that repeals a 1999 provision that allowed for the use of flat gravestones at the Santa Fe National Cemetery and studies the cost of replacing flat markers with upright gravestones.
National American Indian Veterans (NAIV) Charter
The NDAA includes legislation that recognizes the mission of the National American Indian Veterans (NAIV) with a congressional charter, ensuring Native American veterans receive proper benefits and resources.
Department of Defense Adoption of Ground Source Heat Pumps
The NDAA includes report language that Senator Heinrich authored directing the Department of Defense to ensure that all new building construction and retrofits to existing HVAC systems consider the full lifecycle cost and resiliency benefits of installing ground source heat pumps, including their consideration when utilizing energy savings performance contracts. It also requests that the DOD brief the Senate and House Armed Services Committees on their use.