•   "For the first time in decades, the bill before us today carries a different short title. It is the Servicemember Quality of Life Improvement and National Defense Authorization Act. We did that to underscore the tremendous gains this bill makes toward improving the quality of life for our servicemembers and their families. No servicemember should have to live in squalid conditions. No military family should have to rely on food stamps to feed their children. And no one serving this country should have to wait weeks to see a doctor or a mental health specialist. This bill will go a long way toward fixing that. I want to thank Mr. Bacon and Ms. Houlahan, and all the members of the Quality of Life Panel for their hard work and contributions to this bill. This bill is also the product of hundreds of hours of oversight done by all members and staff over the past few months. It is a good bill that will help revitalize the defense industrial base and build the ready, capable, and lethal fighting force we need to deter China and our other adversaries…" Source: Rep. Mike Rogers (Republican, Alabama, District 3)

 •  "I want to emphasize the importance of appropriately funding the readiness accounts. No longer can we jeopardize current and future readiness by underfunding maintenance, sustainment, and training. Quality of life for our service members is paramount. The Readiness subcommittee included more than $1.1 billion for quality of life initiatives. The condition of our barracks is shocking. We must provide safe barracks and housing that puts our service members’ welfare first. This print does exactly that. I thank my colleagues for the work done on the Quality of Life Panel. Based on their hard work and the continued oversight of the Readiness subcommittee, we included several provisions to address the poor conditions at unaccompanied housing facilities and operational facilities that impact readiness. To improve barracks and aging infrastructure, transparency of Facilities, Sustainment, Restoration, and Modernization (FSRM) execution is key. The subcommittee required that each Military Department implement an electronic management system to track how FSRM funds are spent and keep current records of facility conditions. With more granularity in this data, and oversight from this committee, the Military Departments will be forced to adequately budget and plan for facility upkeep. Furthermore, this print provides necessary oversight of the global household goods contract. I remain concerned about a single point of failure in the new contract and emphasize that oversight from both TRANSCOM and Congress, provided in this print, is an important part of implementation. Lastly, this print mandates the Department of Defense eliminate reliance on Russian energy for all installations within European Command." Source: Rep. Mike Waltz (Republican, Florida, District 6)