Magaziner Secures House Passage of Key Provisions in Annual Defense Bill

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Representative Seth Magaziner (RI-02) secured House passage of two amendments he authored in H.R.8070, the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2025 (FY25). 

“The National Defense Authorization Act is one of the most important pieces of legislation that Congress passes every year to protect our national security and keep Americans safe, and I am proud to announce that two amendments I authored were adopted by the House,” said Rep. Magaziner. “These provisions will help identify workforce shortages in the submarine industrial base and develop strategies to improve recruitment, and ensure that service members and veterans have accurate and up-to-date information on their health insurance plans.”

“It is unfortunate that House Republicans chose to insert extreme language into the defense bill that would deny women in the Armed Forces access to abortion,” Rep. Magaziner continued. “It is just plain wrong to take freedoms away from women in the military who fought for ours. The inclusion of such provisions has compelled me to vote against the overall bill in its current form, but I am hopeful that this extreme language will be dropped when the House and Senate versions of the bill are reconciled.”

Magaziner’s amendments were among the less than 25% approved by the full House out of all those submitted by Members of Congress.

Magaziner’s first amendment requires the Department of Defense to survey suppliers in the submarine industrial base to assess whether they are experiencing workforce shortages and to develop a strategy to expand SkillBridge participation to those suppliers to improve recruitment, particularly for smaller suppliers. 

The Department of Defense SkillBridge program is a program that allows active-duty service members to gain civilian work experience during their last 180 days of service. The program offers apprenticeships, internships, or industry training to help service members find meaningful employment after they are discharged. Many SkillBridge authorized partners also offer pathways to training and employment to veterans, National Guard, reserve and military spouses.

Magaziner’s second amendment requires TRICARE's managed care support contractors to keep provider directories up to date. TRICARE is the uniformed services health care program for active duty service members, active duty family members, National Guard and Reserve members and their family members, retirees and retiree family members, survivors, and certain former spouses worldwide.