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Rubio Applauds Senate Passage of 2021 National Defense Authorization Act

Jul 23, 2020 | Press Releases

Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) applauded the Senate passage of the Fiscal Year (FY) 2021 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which includes critical Rubio-led provisions for Florida. These provisions build on Rubio’s efforts in the FY20 NDAA. The 2021 NDAA also contains Rubio’s bipartisan United States-Israel Security Assistance Authorization Act (S.3176).
 
“I am proud to support this year’s defense bill, which provides a well-deserved raise for our men and women in uniform and will ensure significant federal funding for military construction projects across the state of Florida,” Rubio said. “The legislation includes federal funding for the next phase of Gulf Range Modernization and funding to ensure Tyndall Air Force Base makes a full recovery from the damages suffered as a result of Hurricane Michael. It also contains funding for Florida’s key military installations that are critical to our national security and military readiness.” 
 
The 2021 NDAA authorizes the following provisions led by Senator Rubio: 
 

  1. $15 million for the Gulf Range Modernization and the next phase in the Gulf Test Range telemetric modernization process
  2. Industrial capacity vulnerability study that requires the Secretary of Defense to do a study of the DoD supply chain dependence on foreign pharmaceuticals 
  3. Joint Interagency Task Force-South (JIATF-S) Operations Center Facility Planning and Design to provide $8 million for the planning and design of a Category 5 hurricane-rated Command and Control facility to enable consistent drug interdiction operations managed by JIATF-S
  4. Development and deployment of secure 5G networks based in open-standards to compete with our adversaries
  5. Authorizes U.S. security assistance to our strongest ally in the Middle East, Israel, to ensure Israel has what it needs to defend itself from conventional and emerging threats

 
The NDAA also includes the following provisions that directly impact Florida:
 

  • Tyndall Air Force Base: The FY21 NDAA gives guidance on the continuing reconstruction of the base. 
  • Hurlburt Field: $83.1 million for military construction; $44.8 million to build a Special Operations Forces Special Tactics Operations Facility; and $38.3 million to build a Special Operations Forces Combat Aircraft Parking Apron.
  • Army Reserves in Gainesville: $36 million to build Environmental Control System Warehouse.
  • Panama City: The FY21 NDAA transfers 1.23 acres of land from the Department of the Interior to the Secretary of the Navy.