Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Don Bacon (2nd District of Nebraska)
Bacon Lauds Progress on FY27 Defense Policy Bill
Washington, D.C. – Rep. Don Bacon (NE-02), Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee’s (HASC) Cyber, Information Technologies, and Innovation Subcommittee (CITI), voted in favor of advancing H.R. 8800, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2027 (FY27 NDAA). The bill was reported out of committee on June 5 by a vote of 44-12.
The annual legislation, which contains 33 amendments and provisions authored by Rep. Bacon, authorizes defense spending and sets the policy and priorities for the Armed Forces.
“Once again, the House Armed Services Committee has shown why it remains one of the most bipartisan and productive committees in Congress,” said Chairman Bacon after completing his tenth and final full-committee markup of the NDAA. “At a time when restoring American deterrence requires serious investment, this year’s bill makes clear that Congress is committed to providing for the common defense. In my final NDAA markup, our office delivered our strongest result yet, securing 33 provisions and amendments in this year’s bill. We are running through the finish line and continuing to deliver serious wins for military readiness, nuclear command and control, cyber defense, defense innovation, and support for our servicemembers and military families. I am grateful to my hardworking team and colleagues on the committee for months of work that made this possible. I look forward to advancing this important legislation through the House.”
Highlights from the committee’s FY 2027 bill include:
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Raises all servicemembers’ pay by 5 to 7% and improves housing, education, and access to childcare for military families
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Restores defense spending to 4.5% of GDP, the level needed to deter conflict and ensure America leads by example as our allies increase their own defense spending
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Expands U.S. production capacity, unleashes private sector investment, opens the door to new and innovative entrants, reduces needless regulations, and creates thousands of skilled jobs for Americans
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Rebuilds depleted stockpiles by providing the authorities and resources required to expedite the production and acquisition of munitions and key warfighting capabilities
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Invests in the capabilities needed to maintain a strong U.S. posture. It strengthens nuclear deterrence, expands missile defense, and provides resources and authorities to counter adversaries like China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea
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Ensures our warfighters have the capabilities they need to prevail in future conflicts by accelerating innovation and prioritizing cutting-edge technologies like hypersonics and autonomous systems
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Streamlines DoD operations and cuts billions in wasteful programs by standing up a new task force and providing necessary resources to achieve a full and clean audit within 24 months
In addition, the committee’s bill contains 33 Bacon-backed legislative proposals, amendments, and funding priorities, including:
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Requiring the Air Force to provide the timing and requirements for selection of Looking Glass-Next, including the feasibility and affordability of a business jet solution, platform dependencies, and a recommended acquisition strategy and multi-year funding profile
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Authorizing $2.2 billion in funding for the Survivable Airborne Operations Center
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Authorizing $660 million in funding for three EA-37B Compass Call aircraft
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Directing the Department to examine the feasibility and advisability of establishing a pilot program to deploy an advanced nuclear microreactor or small modular reactor to provide primary and redundant power to mission-critical facilities of U.S. Strategic Command
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Providing $175 million for the Baltic Security Initiative
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Directing the Army to report on the feasibility of establishing dedicated Army Prepositioned Stocks in each Baltic state and Romania
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Directing U.S. European Command to assess integrated air and missile defense in the Baltic region, including efforts to enhance Baltic IAMD in coordination with NATO allies and partners
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Directing U.S. European Command to assess the feasibility and requirements for expanding training ranges and live-fire opportunities in Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania
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Requiring the Department to carry out a program providing for long-range aerial transport of individuals infected with high-consequence infectious diseases
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Requiring a policy to guide the development and acquisition of quantum computing systems for the Department of Defense
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Directing the Department to provide a plan to transition hypersonic weapon technologies from science and technology, prototyping, and middle-tier acquisition efforts into major acquisition capabilities
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Providing $15 million in funding for the Pathfinder
Additional Bacon-backed priorities include provisions to advance physics-based alternative positioning, navigation, and timing capabilities; keep adversary AI companies excluded from Department of Defense systems and devices; develop emerging cryptographic capabilities faster to protect defense networks; provide Department research, development, test, and evaluation teams a dashboard to monitor construction projects; examine temporary facilities needed to support the next-generation airborne nuclear command and control aircraft; establish a Pentagon liaison for Medal of Honor recipients; assess medical response plans related to chemical, biological, and radiological weapons; continue traumatic brain injury research; provide recommendations on restoring Gen. John D. Lavelle’s rank; recognize Maj. Robert A. Lodge’s valor with a Medal of Honor; provide for an independent review of the Air Force missile community cancer study; assess bone marrow radiation shielding for nuclear survivability; expand digital engineering, including digital twins and digital threads, for construction and sustainment; establish the United States-Israel Defense Technology Cooperation Initiative; establish the Military Service Academy Panel on Athletics; report on the Space Force Continuous Fitness Assessment study; enhance American commercial remote sensing support to U.S. border operations; assess active and passive protection systems on aerial refueling tankers; include the National Guard Relief Foundation as a military welfare society; and report on interoperable multi-cloud solutions across the defense enterprise.
Watch Rep. Bacon’s markup remarks here and see full remarks as delivered below:
Thank you Mr. Chairman, I’d like to thank the members of the subcommittee for their collaboration in putting together a strong Cyber, IT, and Innovation subcommittee print for the FY27 NDAA. I’d also like to thank my friend and Ranking Member Congressman Ro Khanna for his partnership in this effort.
This mark affects several crucial areas of our national defense and takes ambitious strides to maintain our dominance in cyber, IT, and science and technology. The print supports the DOD’s incredible innovation enterprise, leverages the boundless potential of artificial intelligence, and strengthens and secures our IT networks. Most importantly, it focuses on rapidly delivering these improvements to the warfighter.
Taking meaningful steps to bridge the valley of death, this print amends Defense Innovation Unit authorities to require more formal collaboration between the DIU and the military services, speeding up the timeline by which cutting edge technology gets into the hands of the warfighter.
In addition, the print expands the geographical footprint of our nation’s test and evaluation enterprise and promotes better coordination between the Department and the T&E community.
Moreover, this portion of the NDAA sets the course for quantum computing by requiring the lessons learned from DARPA’s Quantum Benchmarking Initiative to inform development and acquisition of future DOD quantum computing systems.
The CITI print also streamlines adoption of new AI tools by directing the Chief Data and Artificial Intelligence Officer to establish a framework to enable rapid adoption and governance of AI systems across the DOD. It also directs the Department to update its policies governing autonomous weapon systems, creating risk-informed requirements for approval, oversight, testing, human involvement, and eventual operational use of such systems.
Additionally, in a time where cyber warfare is more prevalent than ever, this print takes steps to unencumber our cyber defense forces from bureaucracy by requiring a review of DOD’s cybersecurity, IT, network defense, and defensive cyber operations in order to reduce redundancy and create direct accountability in this crucial area of national security.
And, once again, the FY27 NDAA continues the great work of the Quality of Life Panel to deliver quality of life improvements to our servicemembers and their families.
Thank you to everyone who contributed to the compilation of this subcommittee print. And with that Mr. Chairman I yield back.
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