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WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Brett Guthrie (KY-02), released the following statement after voting for the FY2025 National Defense Authorization Act last night which includes funding for the Rip-and Replace Program Congressman Guthrie lead in 2020:

“Last night, I voted for the FY2025 NDAA which will not only ensure our nation remains a military superpower, but also improves the quality of life of our servicemembers by including a significant pay raise for those who do so much to protect us each and every day. This legislation includes a 14.5% pay raise for junior enlisted servicemembers and a 4.5% pay raise for all other servicemembers, in addition to ensuring the servicemember cost of living calculation accounts for inflation. This bill also reinforces House Republicans commitment to defending our nation against our foreign adversaries like the Chinese Communist Party. The FY2025 NDAA fully funds the rip-and-replace program, which was established in 2020 through my leadership, and helps small telecommunication providers replace Chinese spyware from their networks. By replacing this dangerous equipment, we are able to protect Americans’ data and critical infrastructure from being tampered with by our foreign adversaries,” said Congressman Brett Guthrie.

Background

FY2025 NDAA

• The 2025 National Defense Authorization Act specifically focuses on servicemember quality of life improvement, in addition to strengthening our national security.

• It includes:

o   A 14.5% raise for junior enlisted servicemembers and a 4.5% raise for all other servicemembers.

o   Requires the Department of Defense to develop and implement a strategy to enter into public-private partnerships to lease new barracks and other unaccompanied housing.

o   Increases access to childcare by fully funding childcare fee assistance programs to eliminate all fee assistance wait lists for eligible families.

o   Provides servicemembers with direct access to specialty medical providers by waiving the Tricare referral requirement.

o   Codifies the Military Spouses Career Accelerator which provides unemployment services to military spouses.

o   Authorizes a new Boots to Business program to expand training in entrepreneurship, resume building, and networking for retiring servicemembers.

• This bill also authorizes $15.6 billion for the Pacific Deterrence Initiative to enhance US deterrence and defense posture in the Indo-Pacific region.

Rip and Replace Program

• The Rip and Replace program, which Rep. Guthrie lead, was authorized through the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Act in 2020.
• This law established a program to prevent Chinese telecommunication companies that are deemed a nation security threat from entering our networks and provided a funding mechanism to cover the cost of replacing suspect equipment from our network infrastructure.
• The Chinese Communist Party purposefully subsidizes their telecommunication companies, like Huawei and ZTE, to subvert free-market competitors and gain access to U.S. networks to potentially spy or disrupt our nation’s communication system.
• This critical program faced a $3 billion shortfall to fully cover the cost of replacing covered equipment and threatened the solvency of small telecommunications providers.
• The FY2025 NDAA fully funds the Rip and Replace shortfall to root out Chinese spyware and maintain connectivity of rural telecommunication networks across the country.

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