NASHVILLE, TENN. – U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, pushed for the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) to include major wins for Tennessee including raises for military servicemembers, access to additional resources for military families, and strengthened national defense capabilities. 

What the $770B defense bill means for Tennessee

Vivian Jones

Main Street Nashville

A $770 billion defense spending bill now headed to President Joe Biden’s desk includes significant funding for military projects in Tennessee.

The National Defense Authorization Act, which received final approval from the U.S. Senate on Wednesday, provides a 2.7% pay raise and improved health benefits for military service members, as well as significant funding for nuclear modernization and military equipment at Tennessee facilities.

A controversial measure to require women aged 18 to 25 to register for the selective service alongside men was not included in the final bill.

U.S. senators, including Tennessee Sens. Marsha Blackburn and Bill Hagerty, approved the bill in an 89-10 vote on Wednesday. Earlier this month, the bill cleared the House of Representatives in a vote of 363 to 70.

“Every step we take with every taxpayer dollar that is designated in this legislation is going to help hold our adversaries to account on many different fronts,” Blackburn told Main Street Nashville in an interview. “We fully realize that China, Russia, Iran and North Korea are the new axis of evil, and showing that we consider them our adversaries and that we intend to hold them to account for their actions is important for the safety and security of this nation.”

What it means for Tennessee service members

Significantly, the bill includes a 2.7% pay increase for military service members and improvements in military health care.

It also provides funding for a pilot program championed by Blackburn to ensure military spouses whose jobs require state-specific licensure, such as those in health care or education careers, secure reciprocal licensure in Tennessee when their spouse’s military service prompts a move.

“This would cover individuals that are required by law to have a license in one state for Tennessee to recognize that license when they move to Tennessee,” Blackburn said. “This has been a very successful pilot project that I had started by working with the secretary of the Army. We’re continuing that.”

A significant reform is included regarding how accusations of sexual harassment are handled under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. For the first time, the bill designates sexual harassment as a crime and requires allegations of sexual harassment to be handled by an independent investigator outside the chain of command.

In 2018, a Pentagon survey on sexual assault in the military found an estimated 20,500 instances of unwanted sexual contact, a more than 25% increase over the last major survey in 2016.

Funding for Tennessee military installments

Funding is included for military facilities, research and equipment in Tennessee.

The bill includes $436 million for nuclear modernization projects and decontamination projects at the Y-12 National Security Complex and Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Several nuclear modernization programs are authorized, including the reestablishment of domestic uranium enrichment in Tennessee. The bill includes funding for materials, uranium and lithium, and nonproliferation expertise for the Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

“The Oak Ridge National Lab and Y-12 Complex is being utilized more — whether it comes to quantum computing, our uranium enrichment and lithium processing ... these are all going to be important,” Blackburn said.

Nearly $20 million is authorized for military construction projects at Memphis International Airport and Arnold Air Force Base, expanding Arnold Air Force Base’s ability to execute test programs for technology including hypersonic munitions and future strike aircraft.

“You’re going to see more attention there for hypersonics,” Blackburn said. “You’ve got the Space Force going in at Huntsville, which is just a stone’s throw away from Tullahoma. So we feel very good about the research work that’s going to take place there.”

The bill includes funding to provide additional UH-60 helicopters for the Tennessee Army National Guard, and it prohibits reduction of KC-135 aircraft for the Air National Guard.

“Not only does this legislation include a pay raise for our men and women in uniform, invest in their families, and strengthen our national defense, but it includes significant investments in the Volunteer State that I strongly advocated for in order to keep Tennessee a leader in protecting our homeland,” Hagerty said in a statement.

Deterring US adversaries

The bill establishes a commission to examine the 20-year conflict in Afghanistan. Blackburn says that provision is aimed at bringing accountability for the botched withdrawal from Afghanistan in August.

“How is it that our intel did not pick up that Taliban had positioned people in different agencies and that Kabul would fall so quickly? Why did we leave those billions of dollars of equipment there? Why did we not get Americans out before we turned over the keys to the Taliban?” Blackburn said. “So we are going to have a commission that will look at that.”

The bill also includes a requirement that the Department of Defense assess how respiratory diseases are being weaponized, and it requires the department to increase reporting to Congress on plant-directed research and biological weapons production labs.