Today, Representative Lois Frankel (FL-21) voted to pass the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2021, a strong, bipartisan bill that honors America’s values, strengthens our security, and advances America’s leadership in the world. In addition to funding our military, the bill includes provisions Frankel advocated for to advance women’s participation in national security forces both in the U.S. and globally.

“Increasing women’s participation in peace and security efforts is not only crucial to advancing gender equality around the world, it is critical to broader international security concerns," said Rep. Frankel. “This strong bipartisan bill works for the people to ensure that women always have a seat at the table and an equal voice when it comes to peace and security. It also gives our troops a pay raise, establishes a confidential reporting option for sexual harassment complaints made by military service members, improves the lives of women in the Armed Forces, and strengthens our partnership with Israel.”

It passed the House by a vote of 335-78. Once it passes the Senate, it will go to the President’s desk for a signature.

Rep. Frankel praised several provisions in the final NDAA including:

• Extending paid parental leave to all federal employees.
• Several sexual assault prevention and response provisions, such as confidential reporting of sexual harassment outside of the chain of command and requiring the development of coordinated care for members of the Armed Forces who are survivors of sexual trauma.
• Several provisions that strengthen equal employment opportunity protections for federal employees including bolstering of prohibitions against discrimination and reinforcing whistleblower protections.
• Measures to boost U.S.-Israel cooperation, including $500 million in joint missile defense.
• Long overdue benefits to Vietnam-Era Veterans exposed to Agent Orange and later diagnosed with certain diseases.
• Guidance on the Department of Defense’s implementation of the Women, Peace, and Security Act of 2017 including through integrating training curriculum that focuses on women participation for members of the Armed Forces across all ranks, and security cooperation activities.
• Provisions to ensure U.S.-Afghanistan strategy meets WPS standards, including: commitments to women and girls’ inclusion in Afghanistan, continued advancement of women in the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF), and blocking funding for further troop reductions until the Defense Department until assessments on drawdown are complete.

A full summary of the legislation can be found here.

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