NJ Congresswoman Votes Yes On Massive Military Spending Bill

NEW JERSEY — It temporarily took a back seat to the Democrat-Republican standoff over the debt ceiling, but a major federal military spending bill is back on track: the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).

Earlier this week, the $874 billion spending plan picked up key support from Rep. Mikie Sherrill (NJ-11) and other members of the bipartisan House Armed Services Committee, which voted 58-1 to advance the bill.

According to Sherrill, who represents New Jersey’s 11th Congressional District, the tentative spending plan has some major wins for the state, including Picatinny Arsenal in Morris County – one of the largest employers in the district (read more below).

Federal lawmakers hammer out a new version of the NDAA every year, which lays out defense priorities and provides guidance on how military funding can be spent. It typically sees several changes and amendments before a final version is agreed upon by the Senate and House of Representatives. Separate appropriations bills with matching dollar figures must also be passed for the increases to become a reality.

Congress has greenlighted the NDAA every year for more than six consecutive decades, and it typically sees support from all but a handful of dissenters in New Jersey – although last year’s bill saw four “no” votes from House members in the Garden State.

• See Related: 4 NJ Lawmakers Vote Against Record-High US Military Spending Bill
• See Related: Menendez, Booker Split Votes On National Defense Authorization Act

Supporters of the annual bill say that military spending strengthens national security, supports servicemembers and creates jobs. But other federal lawmakers from New Jersey have said the nation’s military spending is getting way out of hand, with one Congress member recently opining that “a defense budget [this] large is a policy failure when families in this country struggle to put food on the table.”

The version of the NDAA that passed the House committee late Wednesday night sticks to the $874 billion budget request from President Joe Biden. It includes a 5.2 percent pay raise for service members, money for programs and initiatives involving China, and $300 million to support Ukraine.

According to Sherrill, this year’s bill includes efforts to develop new and sustainable fuels, and safeguards to address sexual assault and harassment in the military. It also expands access to child care for military families, lowers the cost of dental care, and funds the refurbishment and new construction of military housing.

MIKIE SHERRILL: ‘WINS FOR NJ-11 AND OUR COUNTRY’

In May, Sherrill was one of several Democratic lawmakers who was on the forefront of a standoff over the U.S. debt ceiling with their Republican peers in Congress.

Sherrill released a scathing statement that slammed GOP leadership after the House Armed Services Committee announced an indefinite delay to its markup of the bill due to the debt ceiling debate.

“House and Senate Republican leaders are putting partisan politics and a right-wing agenda above our national security, military readiness, and the wellbeing of our servicemembers,” criticized Sherrill, a former U.S. Navy helicopter pilot who has served on the House Armed Services Committee for the past four years.

• See Related: NJ Lawmaker Blasts GOP After Debt Battle Derails Military Spending Bill

On Thursday, the congresswoman said that taking part in the markup process of the NDAA is one of the “most effective avenues” she can use to boost people living in her home district.

“I look forward to working with my colleagues in the House and Senate to shepherd the Committee-reported bill through the legislative process — cementing these wins for NJ-11 and our country,” she said.

According to Sherrill, some of the funding provisions that will head Picatinny Arsenal’s way include:

• Armaments Technology for Unmanned Systems
• Assured Munitions Positioning, Navigation, and Timing
• Energetics Materials and Manufacturing Technology
• Battlefield Armaments and Ammunition Supply Chains
• Critical Energetic Materials Chemistries and Chemical Synthesis Technologies
• Armaments Based Counter Small Unmanned Aerial Systems
• Advanced Armament System Materials and Hardened StructuresOvermatching the Speed of
• Battle
• Advanced Technologies for Extended Range Munitions
• Replenished Part Demonstration Research

Sherrill said that other notable items in the NDAA include:

• “Establishing a Space National Guard”
• “Investing in the Organic Defense Industrial Base”
• “Expanding missile defense and hypersonic capabilities”
• “Strengthening oversight over defense acquisition and foreign military sales”
• “Emphasizing and strengthens our efforts to counter the CCP”

Sherrill has been an enthusiastic supporter of the NDAA, voting in its favor every time she has participated in the House committee markup.

“The U.S. military employs 1.3 million Americans, with nearly 10,000 in New Jersey, and the NDAA is a critical piece of legislation that translates into economic benefits across the country,” she said after last year’s markup.

• See Related: Rep. Sherrill Of NJ Votes To Boost Military Spending For 2023

But other federal lawmakers from New Jersey have been questioning whether the nation’s rising military budget is a good deal for the U.S.

“A defense budget that large is a policy failure when families in this country struggle to put food on the table,” a spokesperson for Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman told Patch after a vote on the 2023 NDAA last July.

After last year's NDAA vote, Rep. Frank Pallone said he supports a "robust defense budget that keeps us safe here at home, is strongly aligned with our allies abroad, and above all else, lives up to our commitment to servicemembers, veterans and their families."

"Unfortunately, the bill we voted on included $45 billion in additional spending that the Pentagon did not even request in the first place," Pallone previously told Patch. "We can and must invest in our national security while placing sensible limits on defense spending."

Some of their peers in the House of Representatives have agreed.

Rep. Ro Khanna of California – who has been vocal about his opposition to the rising U.S. military budget – was the only legislator on the House Armed Services Committee who voted against the 2024 NDAA during this week’s markup.

“Our defense budget is on track to $1 trillion, with nearly half going to defense contractors known for price gouging,” Khanna tweeted Thursday.

“I voted for critical amendments for our national security, but I was the only no vote on the NDAA,” he added. “We need to rein in wasteful spending at the Pentagon.”

MILITARY SPENDING IN NJ

A state-by-state analysis of U.S. Department of Defense spending done in 2020 showed that it spent about $593.9 billion on contracts and payroll alone. Roughly $8.4 billion of that was spent in New Jersey – about $948 per person.

The state’s top defense contract spending locations were:

• Burlington County - $2.6 billion
• Morris County - $820.5 million
• Essex County - $620.8 million
• Passaic County - $446 million
• Camden County - $416.4 million
• Monmouth County - $400.4 million
• Bergen County - $159.1 million
• Union County - $154.7 million
• Middlesex County - $153 million
• Somerset County - $137.7 million

The state’s top defense personnel spending locations were:

• Burlington County - $872.1 million
• Morris County - $531.8 million
• Ocean County - $268.9 million
• Monmouth County - $78.3 million
• Atlantic County - $57.7 million
• Camden County - $21.9 million
• Bergen County - $19.9 million
• Mercer County - $18.9 million
• Hudson County - $17.4 million
• Middlesex County - $14.6 million

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