The House Armed Services Committee passed H.R. 4909, National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017, by a vote of 60-2.
After more than 16 hours of deliberation, the committee voted at about 2:30 AM Thursday the 28th of April. Rep. Rob Bishop (UT-01) is a senior member of the Committee and voted in favor of the annual bill. Following the vote, Rep. Bishop offered the following statement:
“In this year’s annual vote, I have stood with my fellow members of the Armed Services Committee and voted to pass the NDAA. As Members of the US Congress, we have sworn to defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies. Funding the military is one of the ways Congress is able to fulfill its duty to provide for the common defense.
Rep. Bishop presented numerous amendments during the deliberations. All of his proposals received a favorable vote by the committee and will be included in the bill as it heads to the House floor for further consideration. Rep. Bishop stated the following after the successful passage of his proposed amendments:
“As a fan of baseball, I can say it feels good to be batting 1000. My amendments will create more jobs in Northern Utah. I’m happy we’re are one step closer to granting greater flexibility and capability to the servicemen and women who sharpen their skills at the Utah Test and Training Range. It is also great to see progress towards granting the military the ability to manage training lands, and not be beholden to the BLM to drain their time and resources with meaningless reviews and bureaucratic hurdles.”
Rep. Bishop led an effort to include language regarding the Greater Sage Grouse in this year’s NDAA. The section would give states priority and allow state plans to address the issue of Sage Grouse populations, while sparing the military from interference by the President’s administration. An amendment to strike this language from the NDAA was defeated by a vote of the full committee.
