Funding our Troops and Supporting Military Families

I proudly voted for the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which passed the House and will fully fund our troops. Americans deserve a military that is laser-focused on lethality and protecting our safety. Included in the bill are strong conservative victories — including securing the largest troop pay raise in twenty years, ending woke ideology infiltrating our military, and a Parents' Bill of Rights for military families. 

As the representative for Goodfellow Air Force Base and parts of Fort Cavazos, I am especially proud of the improvements this legislation makes to better support our military families, and crucial investments for barracks, power generation, and other projects at Fort Cavazos. I will always be a staunch advocate for our troops and military families in Congress.

Pfluger Specific FY 2024 NDAA Initiatives:

• Mandates the Department of Defense adapt its standard communications system, Link-16.
• Requires deliveries of KC-46A Pegasus aircraft to Israel while also providing training to Israeli pilots immediately.
• Directs DOD to produce a report on the Department's outreach to congressional districts to increase awareness of what a future in military service provides.

Overall FY 2024 NDAA Highlights:

Military Service Members and Families:

• Supports a 5.2 percent increase in servicemember basic pay, the largest pay raise in over 20 years.
• Expands reimbursements available to military spouses for relicensing or business costs when servicemembers transfer locations.
• Provides methodological parity among military pay grades and greater flexibility to adequately respond to the housing estimation challenges posed by rapidly changing housing market conditions across the United States.

Critical Race Theory and Gender Ideology:

• Prohibits nonapproved flags from being flown at military installations.
• Requires that military accession or a promotion in the Department of Defense be based on individual merit and demonstrated performance.
• Prohibits funds from being used to promote critical race theory (CRT) at a Service Academy, in military training, or in professional military education.
• Defunds the Department of Defense Extremism Working Group.

I want to take a moment to address the concerns that I have with the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA)—notably Section 702—which needs serious reforms. Section 702 is a tool that has been used to protect the American people, but it has been abused by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). 

The House Intelligence Committee has been working for seven months on strong legislation to reform this program while protecting civil liberties. 

Getting this reform has never been more important. The risk of terrorism has increased significantly since Hamas’s massacre in Israel, and we need all the intel we can get to detect and prevent future attacks on our Homeland. We must ensure any FISA reform maintains Section 702’s usefulness as a national security tool.

The House was slated to vote on legislation this week to reauthorize FISA before it expired on December 31, 2023. Unfortunately, unresolved differences prevented the bills from coming to the House Floor for a vote. In the meantime, Congress approved a measure that extends Section 702 until April 19, 2024.

We would not know of the serious abuses of FISA if it was not for the work of House Republicans this past year. The American people deserve a law that protects them from both governmental overreach and security threats. 

I look forward to reforming FISA next year and ensuring the privacy of Americans. Read more about the 2024 NDAA here.