Senator Rosen Helped Write and Pass the Legislation to Raise Pay for Troops, Deliver for Nevada’s National Security Installations, And Benefit Nevada Servicemembers
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, U.S. Senator Jacky Rosen (D-NV), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, helped pass the bipartisan national defense bill with key provisions that she secured for Nevada. It now heads to the President’s desk to be signed into law. The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2025 (FY25 NDAA) contains three of Senator Rosen’s bipartisan bills in addition to several sections based on her bills and provisions she championed. The legislation also provides a 4.5 percent pay raise for our troops and a 14.5 percent pay raise for junior enlisted troops.
The package includes many Rosen-led victories, including provisions directly benefiting Nevada’s servicemembers and national security installations – such as funding for Nevada’s first certified small arms training range for the Nevada National Guard at Hawthorne Army Depot, which she secured; requiring the VA to maintain a permanent helpline for veterans to use for information and assistance with all services from the VA; and creating programs to strengthen collaboration with Israel, Taiwan, and other partners in the areas of space, artificial intelligence, and the defense industrial base.
“As a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, I’m proud to have helped write and pass this year’s bipartisan national defense package to deliver for Nevada’s hardworking servicemembers and ensure our armed forces have the resources they need and deserve,” said Senator Rosen. “This legislation will increase wages for servicemembers, protect against Iranian aggression, and modernize technology and facilities across Nevada and the country. I’ll keep working across the aisle to support our troops and fight for our state’s priorities.”
Rosen-led bipartisan bills included in the FY25 NDAA:
- Bipartisan Translating Military Skills into Civilian Jobs Act: Requires the Department of Defense to create a competency record that outlines the training and qualifications acquired by a servicemember while serving in the military. As they transition to the civilian sector, the servicemember can then provide this record to an employer to determine if their military training and qualifications satisfies the job requirements.
- Bipartisan Veterans Assistance Helpline Act: Requires the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to maintain a permanent helpline for veterans to use in order to quickly obtain information and assistance with all services from the VA.
- Bipartisan Space Technology and Regional Security (STARS) Act: Requires the Department of Defense to develop a strategy and data-sharing agreement to protect Israel and other allies and partners in the Middle East from hostile Iranian space activities.
Provisions in the FY25 NDAA based on Rosen-led bipartisan bills:
- Bipartisan Five AIs Act: Directs the Secretary of Defense to establish a working group to develop and coordinate artificial intelligence (AI) initiatives among U.S. partners and allies.
- Bipartisan Transpacific Allies Investing in Weapons to Advance National (TAIWAN) Security Act: Requires the secretaries of Defense and State to conduct a study on the feasibility and advisability of entering into defense industrial base agreements with Taiwan in order to deepen U.S.-Taiwan defense ties, promote supply chain security, and help alleviate Taiwan’s readiness challenges in order to counter China’s growing military expansion.
- Bipartisan Combat Action Recognition and Evaluation (CARE) for Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA) Crews Act: Requires the Government Accountability Office to evaluate and provide a report to Congress on the support services available to, and ways to better document the combat operations of, remotely piloted aircraft crew – like those at Creech Air Force Base in Nevada. Its purpose is to identify documentation gaps in RPA crews’ records for combat operations performed, due to the uniqueness of their service from outside a combat zone, and identify opportunities to provide more support services and recognition of their performed combat operations in order to remove barriers to mental health care services once separated from the RPA community.
Other key Rosen-led provisions included in the FY25 NDAA include, among others:
- No Funding for Yucca Mountain: Zero dollars authorized for defense nuclear waste storage at Yucca Mountain.
- Securing $18 million to build Nevada’s first certified small arms training range at Hawthorne Army Depot that Senator Rosen secured: This will mean that members of the Nevada National Guard and Reserves no longer will have to travel out of state in order to fulfill their annual weapons qualification, at an average cost of $500,000 a year, per unit.
- Acquiring Land for Fallon Range Training Complex: Authorizes $48.3 million to pay ranchers for their land permits as part of the Fallon Range Training Complex (FRTC) modernization and expansion at Naval Air Station Fallon that Senator Rosen passed in 2023’s defense package after years of negotiations. Senator Rosen also secured an additional $45 million to accelerate FRTC modernization.
- Investing in our Security and Safety: Authorizes $98 million for the ongoing mining and construction project at the Nevada National Security Site, which will host the most capable weapons radiographic system in the world to verify the reliability of our nation’s nuclear stockpile without the need for explosive testing, and construction of a new access shaft to the underground laboratory. The package also provides over $63 million for defense environmental cleanup at the Site from the era of Cold War explosive nuclear testing.
- Providing Land for Tribal Housing: Provides an 80-acre parcel for the Fallon Paiute Shoshone Tribe to utilize for housing as part of the FRTC modernization and expansion legislation Senator Rosen helped negotiate and pass.
- Strengthening Cybersecurity at the Department of Defense: Elevates the Department of Defense Information Network as a subordinate unified combatant command at U.S. Cyber Command.
- Establishing Cyber Intelligence Center: Establishes a dedicated Cyber Intelligence Center at the Department of Defense to provide intelligence on the cyber capabilities of adversaries.
- Abraham Accords Military Expert Exchange Program: Requires the Department of Defense to establish a military expert exchange program with Abraham Accords countries and other regional partners.
- Coordinating United States-Jordan Defense Cooperation: Facilitates defense assistance to Jordan, coordinates against missile threats in the region, and advances national security interests in the Middle East.
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