Press Releases

WASHINGTON - Today, Congresswoman Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.) voted to pass H.R. 7900, the National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2023. This bipartisan bill honors our values, supports our servicemembers and their families, strengthens our security, and advances our leadership in the world.  The bill authorizes discretionary spending for national defense for FY 2023, while making significant quality of life improvements for servicemembers and their families and also making key investments in innovation and emerging technologies. 

The bill includes $16 million in funding, which would be used for the construction of a new training facility for the Delaware Air National Guard designed to improve the quality and quantity of training for the units. The bill also includes over $1 million to support the Advanced Quantum Sensing Center at Delaware State University. Quantum research and emerging technologies promise revolutionary changes to fundamentally secure modes of communication, new paradigms for energy harvesting and conversion, powerful quantum computers, and exquisitely sensitive quantum sensing and metrology platforms. Blunt Rochester also fought to secure critical funding for housing at the Dover Air Force Base. 

“As Members of Congress, we have no greater responsibility than to ensure the security of our nation – and that starts with supporting our men and women in uniform,” said Rep. Blunt Rochester. “With this year’s defense funding bill, I was proud to secure crucial benefits and protections for our servicemembers that will make our nation safer and stronger, while making strong investments in our national defense and in our security interests.  I’m particularly proud to have secured key funding for the Delaware National Guard to help make critical upgrades to their facilities that will help improve readiness. I’m also thrilled that this bill will help secure vital funds for cutting-edge research at Delaware State University.”

The bill also includes a number of key amendments authored and championed by Blunt Rochester that will directly benefit Delawareans including: 

·       Requiring the Secretary of Defense to submit a report on the scope of TRICARE coverage of behavioral and mental health crisis services. 

·       Requiring the Secretary of Defense to report on “mental health provider readiness designations,” which are given to TRICARE providers that completed training on military cultural competency and evidence-based treatments. 

·       Expanding the space-available travel program to allow certain veterans with disabilities to travel with caregivers or dependents on certain aircrafts. 

·       Requiring the Secretary of Defense to conduct a study to identify health care provider training gaps in screening and treating maternal mental health conditions. Such a study will assess health care provider experience with and attitudes around treating pregnant and postpartum women with mental and substance use disorders and include training recommendations for these providers based on identified training gaps. 

·       Reauthorizing the Delaware River Basin Restoration Program and increases the federal cost share for certain grant projects. Extends the program through FY2030 and increases the federal cost share of a grant project that serves a small, rural, or disadvantaged community to 90% of the total cost of the project. 

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