Today, Congressman Tony Gonzales (TX-23) voted for the final passage of the Servicemember Quality of Life Improvement and National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2025, also known as the FY25 NDAA in the U.S. House of Representatives. This legislation will raise junior enlisted servicemembers’ pay by 14.5% and provide all servicemembers across the board with a 4.5% pay raise—a priority that Congressman Gonzales has strongly advocated for in Congress. Additionally, the FY25 NDAA will improve military housing, support law enforcement operations at our nation’s borders, prioritize quality of life initiatives for military families, and equip our armed services to defend against America's adversaries. 

 

“Addressing cost of living issues and improving the quality of life for our men and women in uniform is a top priority of mine. When I enlisted in the U.S. Navy in the ‘90s—I brought home less than $900 a month. Today, E-1s make just over $24,000 a year. It’s beyond time we give our junior troops a much-needed raise. The FY25 NDAA will kick in a 14.5% pay raise for our junior enlisted servicemembers and a 4.5% pay bump for servicemembers across the board in 2025. The FY25 NDAA will also fund much-needed infrastructure projects to ensure our troops have safe living arrangements and are prepared, trained, and ready to defend our nation when the call arrives.  As a part of the FY25 NDAA, I helped secure over $260 million to improve military housing and infrastructure for military installations across South and West Texas,” said Congressman Tony Gonzales. “The men and women who answered the call to serve are vital to our nation’s national security mission. This issue is deeply personal to me; I served for 20 years in the military. Putting our servicemembers and military families at the front of the line will always be a top priority, and the passage of the FY25 NDAA is a win for our troops.” 

 

TX-23 Wins Advanced by Congressman Tony Gonzales:

 

• $60 million in authorized construction to support Rep. Gonzales’ Community Project Funding Request for Basic Military Training Classrooms and a Dining Facility at Lackland AFB (San Antonio).
• $77 million for barracks at Fort Sam Houston Medical Education & Training Campus (San Antonio). 
• $24 million to support family housing at Lackland AFB (San Antonio) (roofing, Heating, Ventilation and Cooling units, repairs, and whole-house renovations).
• $38 million for the T-7 Ground-Based Training System at Laughlin AFB (Del Rio) This provides for an adequate Flight Simulator Facility for pilots to train and maintain proficiency in the T-7A aircraft.
• $18 million for the T-7 Unity Maintenance Training Facility at Laughlin AFB (Del Rio) This facility will have the tools and classrooms needed to train students on the maintenance and repair of the T-7A aircraft.
• $44 million for the completion of the Rail Yard at Fort Bliss (El Paso). This will eliminate current infrastructure bottlenecks, prevent mission-critical delays, and ensure the installation meets its 72-hour deployment turnaround requirement, safeguarding its role as a key Power Projection Platform for Army operations.
• Permits the Secretary of the Army to transfer 65 acres of land at Fort Bliss to El Paso Water for Stormwater flood control purposes

 

Key Priorities Advanced by Congressman Gonzales:

 

Improves servicemember quality of life to address military recruitment, retention, and readiness:

 

• Authorizes a 14.5% pay raise for junior enlisted servicemembers and supports a 4.5% pay raise for all other servicemembers
• Addresses chronic underfunding of housing maintenance to address poor conditions like sewage overflows, gas leaks, and mold
• Ensures access to medical care, including mental health services and specialty providers
• Increases access to childcare by authorizing $176 million for the construction of new childcare centers
• Supports military spouses by making it easier to find and maintain employment
• Improves DoD schools by authorizing over $110 million to build new schools for children of servicemembers
• Enhances career transition assistance, including ensuring the Transition Assistance Program includes a pathway to aid retiring members of the reserve components
• Address the Biden-Harris’ administration’s failure to reach annual recruiting goals by extending military recruitment bonuses, increasing funding and support for JROTC programs, and expediting the processing of medical records to get recruits into the service quicker

 

Continues DoD support of law enforcement operations along our southwest and maritime borders

 

• Fully supports deployment of National Guard troops to augment Border Patrol activities at the southwest border
• Authorizes $90 million for the construction of a new Joint Inter-Agency Task Force South (JIATF-S) Command and Control Facility to detect and interdict illegal migrants and narcotics
• Increases funding by $10 million for DoD counternarcotics activities
• Expands DoD’s authority to assist law enforcement in the interdiction of narcotics traffickers

 

Improves military readiness, strengthens our industrial base, and supports the deployment of innovative and new technologies to ensure our warfighters are prepared for whatever lies ahead

 

• Blocks the Biden-Harris Administration’s plan to reduce the number of U.S. Special Forces and request to divest certain aircraft
• Increases funding to develop and procure counter-drone systems
• Supports investments in shipyard infrastructure and industrial base

 

Increases oversight and accountability of the DoD

 

• Saves taxpayers $31 billion, or 4%, of current DoD spending levels by cutting inefficient programs, obsolete weapons systems, and unnecessary Pentagon bureaucracy
• Requires all DoD components to undertake an annual independent audit and reduces funds available to such components by 1.5% if it fails to undertake the audit

 

Deters Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Aggression

 

• Increases funding for innovative new technologies needed to deter the CCP, including hypersonics and AI
• Prevents Chinese espionage by prohibiting contracting with the subsidiaries of any Chinese civil-military companies to include any subsidiaries, the sharing of sensitive missile defense information with China, and Chinese nationals from being admitted to nuclear facilities
• Bolsters Taiwan’s defense and supports our Indo-Pacific allies and partners

 

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