The United States House of Representatives passed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) on June 14, allocating $883 billion for fiscal year 2025.
New provisions in the NDAA, proposed by Delegate Uifa’atali Amata Radewagen (R) of American Samoa and sponsored by Delegate Gregorio Kilili Sablan of (D) the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), give greater attention to defense in the two territories. The outlined actions in Amata’s amendment include requiring the US Department of Defense and National Guard Bureau to do a feasibility study on establishing the National Guard in American Samoa and the CNMI. The amendment represents a shift in American interests in the region as it symbolizes how the US is looking to increase military involvement through the National Guard, in the face of growing geopolitical adversarial tactics, namely threats from China within the Indo-Pacific.
According to a press release by Radewagen, the two additional amendments require, “a report on the workforce of the Freely Associated States (FAS) with regards to military construction in the FAS and a report on the use of Chaplains in the Indo-Pacific to build relationships and partnerships with partners and host countries.”
The FAS report will provide explicit analysis to support economic reinforcement through strategic military construction spending related to the FAS region, which maintains a special relationship with the United States. The bill states that a report would be conducted on the workforce; laying the foundation for possible projects in the future that might bolster territorial economies.
Additionally, Puerto Rico will see significant benefits from the NDAA. Resident Commissioner Jennifer González-Colón (NPP, R) of Puerto Rico, recently advocated for increased funding for two military projects on the island. A total of $102 million is to be allocated to build maintenance workshops for the National Guard to ensure that military equipment is operational and fund repairs to military facilities damaged by Hurricane Maria.
Overall, the NDAA, which will now be debated in the Senate, ensures that the territories receive critical attention from the federal government and the defense sector, which relies heavily on the strategic geography and military positioning in the Pacific.
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