Dear Friend,
Last week, House Republicans passed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), the annual defense bill which bolsters our national defense and ensures our military readiness on the world stage. As the United States faces threats from adversaries like China, North Korea, Iran, and Russia, we must make smart investments in defense to support America’s position as the most secure nation in the world. This bill also improves servicemembers’ quality of life and provides much-needed oversight and crackdown on waste, fraud, and abuse, saving taxpayers tens of billions of dollars.
Here are a few of the important provisions in this year’s package: - Boosting Compensation: The FY25 NDAA gives junior enlisted servicemembers a 19.5% pay raise, expands allowances for housing and food, and improves the cost of living calculation.
- Improving Housing: The FY25 NDAA boosts funding for housing maintenance accounts, strengthens oversight of military housing programs, and pursues public-private partnerships to upgrade unaccompanied housing.
- Ensuring Access to Medical Care: The FY25 NDAA reduces dangerous healthcare wait times by expanding access to medical providers, especially mental health providers, and increases oversight of healthcare accessibility for servicemembers.
- Enhancing Support for Military Spouses: The FY25 NDAA makes it easier for spouses to transfer professional licenses across states and expands DoD programs that provide employment support to military spouses.
- Increasing Access to Childcare: The FY25 NDAA improves access to childcare for military families by mitigating childcare staffing shortages at DoD facilities and fully funding childcare fee assistance programs.
The FY25 NDAA also restores American deterrence by: - Preventing Communist China’s espionage in our military, supply chain, and research institutions.
- Reforming DoD acquisitions to expedite the fielding of innovative technologies that we need to deter Communist China’s aggression.
- Bolstering Taiwan’s defense, supporting Indo-Pacific allies, and increasing funding for U.S. defense initiatives in the Indo-Pacific.
- Expanding U.S.-Israel military exercises while fully funding cooperative missile defense programs.
- Securing America’s border.
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Recently, I chaired the Ways and Means Subcommittee on Social Security hearing to examine the current and projected financial status of the Social Security Trust Funds. The Biden Administration is doing nothing to pull back from Social Security’s unsustainable financial path. In my opening statement, I laid out that Social Security spending will continue to grow as a percentage of the nation’s economic output. Instead of offering a plan, the Biden Administration has weakened the program’s finances.
On top of proposing a budget that would result in a $17 billion cut in program revenue over the next decade, in just the past six months, the Biden Administration through executive action and rulemaking has unilaterally added $24 billion of unpaid-for new costs to the program.
Click here to watch. |
Last week, the Committee on Ways and Means held a hearing on the crisis of antisemitism on American college and university campuses. Reports show that in the three months following the Hamas attacks, there were at least 500 antisemitic incidents on college campuses — including threats, violence, or harassment — and antisemitic activity on college campuses increased by 321 percent from 2022.
The hearing examined recent developments in the Committee’s ongoing investigation into tax-exempt institutions of higher education following the dramatic rise of antisemitism in the United States. Under Section 501 of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code, institutions of higher learning, including colleges and universities, are exempt from paying certain federal taxes as they are organized for an educational purpose.
This hearing highlighted universities’ refusal to enforce campus antidiscrimination, harassment, free speech, and other policies and discipline students, as well as the role that faculty on college campuses play in indoctrinating students and inciting much of the antisemitic activity witnessed on college campuses recently. These actions suggest many schools are not fulfilling their educational purpose, as required to maintain tax-exempt status under law.
Click here to watch. |
Thank you to Aflac's Executive Vice President and General Counsel, Audrey Tillman for stopping in to meet. We had a productive conversation about some of the issues facing their industry. |
I had the pleasure of meeting with political science students from the University of West Georgia. We discussed their future career plans. |
Thank you to the Homebuilders Association of Georgia for meeting with me in D.C. We discussed ways to improve the domestic supply chains and different solutions to the transformer shortages around Georgia. |
I was honored to be awarded the Champion of Healthcare Innovation by the Healthcare Leadership Council. At their recent Health Innovation Expo, I had the pleasure of meeting with professionals in the healthcare industry and learned more about new emerging technologies and treatments. |
I was proud to host an event to raise awareness on antimicrobial resistance and my legislation, the PASTEUR Act. The PASTEUR Act brings together the public and private sectors to address drug development market failures, increase public health preparedness, and help usher in a new era of antibiotic development. |
It was great to catch up with the National Alliance of Forestry. We discussed a number of issues the forestry industry is facing. |
Thank you to the Grace Baptist Church for stopping by the office during your trip to Washington, D.C. |
As always, I’m here to serve you. Please contact my office with any questions, comments, or concerns. Be sure to follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, and Instagram to keep track of upcoming legislation and events!
If you are having issues with a federal agency or have a casework question, don’t forget to reach out to my Newnan District office at 770-683-2033. |
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Sincerely,
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Drew Ferguson
Member of Congress
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