Washington, DC, NJ-Rep. Donald Norcross (NJ-01) today affirmed his commitment to U.S. national security during a House Armed Services Committee markup of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).  The bill, which passed on a 60-2 vote out of committee, addresses both the critical needs of our military personnel, providing them the resources they need to keep our nation safe and combat terrorism wherever it lays and advancing defense issues vital to our region.

“My first priority is to both protect our nation and our neighborhoods by supporting and the brave men and women who defend our freedoms. Our service members do more to keep us safe than we will ever know, and they must have the tools to do their job well,” said Rep. Norcross.

Congressman Norcross focused his efforts on enhancing our strategic partnership with Israel, enhancing our cyber-security and addressing issues important to the region.

To increase our continued strategic partnership with Israel, Rep. Norcross successfully included provisions that would bolster our directed energy research to protect both nations against ballistic missile threats.  In addition, Rep. Norcross helped increase research to help combat the growing danger of tunneling that threatens the security of both nations security.

"This latest action solidifies our long standing partnership with Israel, and advances a shared agreement to defeat threats to the United States and our strongest ally in the Middle East,” said Rep. Norcross.

Rep. Norcross also worked to address local issues important to our region and our economy.

Protecting The Joint Base:

Along with Rep. MacArthur, Rep. Norcross worked to ensure that the Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst won’t be targeted by Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC),

“I continue to fight for New Jersey’s Joint Base and, thanks to coordinated advocacy, I’m thankful that it won’t be targeted by the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC). This builds on protections from last year’s NDAA for the Joint Base’s fleet of KC-10 air refueling tankers,” said Norcross. “Both achievements are critical to our national security, the state’s economy and the tens of thousands of military and civilian employees at the base.”

Rep. Norcross also helped streamline energy installation projects at New Jersey’s Joint Base and all of our nation's strategic military bases to ensure they are less vulnerable to external threats.

Protecting Our Tax Dollars:

Additionally, Rep. Norcross supported efforts that ensure the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) recycles retired military vessels in the United States instead of overseas and enter into contracts with high skilled labor by educating federal agencies on the importance of using project labor agreements (PLAs) that prioritize hiring our returning veterans, and addressed a long-standing pay equity issue for those who work at New Jersey’s Joint Base.

"This is a vote to both protect our nation and help our local economy. By supporting our armed services, we are also supporting all the working families that make it the greatest military in the world,” added Rep. Norcross.

Congressman Norcross also advanced provisions that will invest in state of the art manufacturing research being conducted at our local universities while cutting through the bureaucratic red tape resulting in the most advanced cost-effective equipment getting into the hands of our military when they need them.

Helping Our Heroes:

In addition to providing the tools our soldiers need, Rep. Norcross worked to ensure our heroes are taken care of when they are home.

In particular Rep. Norcross was pleased to see a fully funded pay raise for our troops as well as championed language that would help create a pilot program to address the issue of driving under the influence on military bases.