Rep. Panetta to serve as National Defense Authorization Act Conferee, initiatives include some from Central Coast

MONTEREY, Calif. (KION) Rep. Jimmy Panetta has been chosen to serve as a conferee for the FY1021 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), and several initiatives include Central Coast military installations.

Members of the NDAA are responsible for authorizing Department of Defense programs, spending and priorities for the upcoming fiscal year, and it includes both Democrat and Republican Congress members and senators selected by leadership.

Panetta listed several of his initiatives, and some of them directly involve the Central Coast.

One of the initiatives would allow the Defense Language Institute in Monterey to have authority to award a Bachelor of Arts degree in a foreign language upon graduation from the institute's Foreign Language Center, in addition to the Associate degree already authorized. Another initiative would require a report on the role of the Naval Postgraduate School in space education.

“I am honored to serve as an NDAA conferee in support of our men and women in uniform, the installations on the Central Coast of California, and the security of our nation,” said Congressman Panetta.  “Although I was able to successfully incorporate numerous provisions in the House legislation to enhance support services for our nation’s troops and their families, improve military housing, and advance our national security, I now get to confer with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle and the Capitol to ensure that those elements stay in the final bill."

Some of Panetta's other initiatives include:

• Small Manufacturers Cybersecurity Enhancement Act: Help small manufacturers in the defense industrial supply chain with improving cybersecurity.
• College of International Security Affairs: Prohibits the Secretary of Defense from eliminating the College of International Security or the Joint Special Operations Master of Arts without giving Congress an assessment of the impact the action would have on U.S. interests related to counterterrorism and asymmetrical warfare.
• Military Educational Institution Research Grants: Allows faculty at military educational institutions to accept research grants to support scientific, literary and educational efforts.
• TRICARE for Maternal Health: Requires the Department of Defense to evaluate expanded use of TRICARE pregnancy resources for service members and their spouses.
• NNSA Diversity: Affirms Congressional support for the National Nuclear Security Administration and requires GAP to review the hiring, training and retention of a national security workforce.
• Privatized Military Housing Contractor Performance Metric Assessment: Requires annual public assessment of contractor performance for privatized military housing, including tenant satisfaction, maintenance management, project safety and financial management.
• SOCOM Preservation of the Force and Families: Enhances support services for Special Ops forces, their families and supporting personnel.
• Artificial Intelligence for USSOCOM Small Unit Maneuver: Requires the Director of the Joint Artificial Intelligence Center to provide a briefing to congress on an assessment of Machine Learning/Artificial Intelligence technologies to enable operational maneuver in contested environments with near-peer adversaries.