Washington, D.C. – Congresswoman Marilyn Strickland (WA-10), a member of the House Armed Services Committee, released the following statement after the House Armed Services Committee passed H.R. 8070, the FY25 Servicemember Quality of Life Improvement and National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).
Under Strickland’s leadership and advocacy, the bill includes the full restoration of the Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH).
“Since my first day in Congress, servicemember quality of life issues, like access to housing and the long-overdue full restoration of Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH) has been a priority,” said Strickland. “I am proud that we’re restoring BAH to 100%, giving junior servicemembers a pay raise, addressing the shortage of military nurses, and more.”
Other Strickland-secured priorities included in the FY25 NDAA are:
Housing: Authorizes an additional $1.2 billion to fully fund the Basic Allowance for Housing.
Healthcare: Includes Strickland’s REWARD Experience Act, which removes unnecessary hiring barriers to address the nursing shortage and retain skilled military nurses.
Compensation: Gives junior enlisted servicemembers a 19% pay raise.
Nutrition: Requires an increase in the Basic Needs Allowance (BNA) for qualifying servicemembers to 200 percent of Federal poverty guidelines.
Joint Base Lewis-McChord: $330.6 million in funding to strengthen and improve JBLM and the South Sound. Specifically, $40 million for on-base barracks.
Strickland is also supportive of provisions that continue to improve servicemember quality of life, diversity initiatives, HBCU funding, and childcare.
U.S. Representative Marilyn Strickland serves on the House Armed Services Committee and the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. She is whip for the Congressional Black Caucus, a member of the New Democrat Coalition, and one of the first Korean-American women elected to Congress.
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