As the House Armed Services Committee prepares to receive this fiscal year’s National Defense Authorization Act, Rep. Katie Hill, D-Agua Dulce, released a statement Wednesday that discussed the thousands of local jobs that could result from the defense bill.
For 58 consecutive years, Congress has passed the National Defense Authorization Act, which is an annual piece of legislation that authorizes funding to the U.S. military and other defense priorities, according to the U.S. Senate Committee on Armed Services’ website.
This year’s version of the defense act was introduced in the House on May 2, and was subsequently recommended to the Subcommittee on Tactical Air and Land Forces, according to Congress.Gov.
“The subcommittees’ markups will benefit the economy and security of my district, most notably through increasing investment in B-2, F-35 and U-2 aircraft, as well as through a number of other essential programs to modernize and improve the lethality of our country’s warfighters,” Hill said in Wednesday’s statement. “These investments will give us the tools necessary to carry out modern multi-domain operations across units and with our allies, ensuring the safety and security of the American people regardless of the threat.”
Hill added, “To give you an example of what this means at home, our district has 28 first-tier supplier companies working on the F-35 program, alone. They support 1,588 direct jobs and an estimated 4,389 indirect jobs for a total of almost 6,000 jobs in our community. The total economic impact annually is over $523 million.”
The congresswoman concluded by stating she is looking forward to the passage of the $733 billion bill.
“I will continue to advocate for CA-25 through this process,” Hill said, “and am committed to ensuring our taxpayer dollars are spent in the wisest possible manner as we confront the threats of our rapidly changing world.”
