From Congressman Peter Roakam:

Roskam releases statement on passage of national defense bill

Washington, D.C. – Representative Peter Roskam (R-IL) released the following statement after the House passage of the National Defense Authorization Act of 2019 (NDAA):

Peter Roskam

“Today, the House passed the 2019 National Defense Authorization Act to ensure our troops are ready and able to face down any and all threats facing the United States.

“It is our responsibility to provide our men and women in uniform the training and resources they need to protect us.

“This bill does that by supporting topline funding for our troops and readiness, giving our military personnel a 2.6 percent pay raise, increasing the size of our armed forces and boosting funding to rebuild our fighting force.

“The NDAA also includes important provisions to counter malignant foreign influence campaigns and increase capabilities to confront aggression and counter threats from around the world, including threats from Russia, China, North Korea and Iran.

“Additionally, this legislation provides robust funding for U.S.-Israel missile defense cooperation and counter-tunnel cooperation to ensure our greatest ally in the Middle East is able to defend herself from a range of aerial and subterranean threats from Iran, Hezbollah, Hamas and other terrorist groups.

“I commend Chairman Thornberry and the entire Armed Services Committee for their tireless work to ensure our troops are taken care of.

“I’m pleased the NDAA includes a proposal I co-authored with Rep. Lipisnki which mandates a report on Iranian expenditures on military and terrorist activities throughout the world.

“This report will provide Congress necessary information to better enable us to target Iran’s dangerous activities and financial resources.

“This bill also includes an amendment I introduced which highlights the threats posed by Iran’s ballistic missile program and calls for robust economic sanctions on all entities that support it.“