Kaine Applauds Committee Passage of Fiscal Year 2026 National Defense Bill

WASHINGTON, D.C. –Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) and Ranking Member of the SASC Subcommittee on Seapower, applauded committee passage of the Fiscal Year 2026National Defense Authorization Act(NDAA), which includes key provisions Kaine secured to advance U.S. national security, support servicemembers and their families, boost Virginia’s defense industry, and strengthen relations with allies and partners:
“I’m proud to have worked with my colleagues on the Senate Armed Services Committee to pass out of committee this year’s defense authorization bill. The bill includes several provisions I secured to strengthen our national security, support Virginia’s military installations and defense community, invest in our nation’s shipbuilding programs, and most importantly, improve quality of life among servicemembers and their families. I’m especially glad the bill includes a provision I pushed for to require Defense Department aircraft that operate near commercial airports to have broadcast positioning technology following the deadly collision between an Army Black Hawk helicopter and a regional commercial jet that took 67 lives in January. I urge the full Senate to take it up as soon as possible.”
Kaine successfully secured the following provisions:
Pay Raises, Allowances, and Workforce Recruitment:
Shipbuilding Investments:
Aviation Safety:Requires that all aircraft of the Department of Defense that operate near commercial airports be equipped with broadcast positioning technology. Requires that the Department of Defense improve how it shares aviation safety data with the Federal Aviation Administration. This comes in response to the January 29, 2025 collision between an Army Black Hawk helicopter and American Airlines flight 5342 near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) that took the lives of 67 people.
Army Futures Command and Training and Doctrine Command:Requires a report on the Army’s proposed plan to integrate Army Futures Command and Training and Doctrine Command.
Military Construction:Authorizes$993,660,000for military construction (MILCON) in Virginia.
Military Housing:
Health Care:
Military Families:
European Security, NATO, and Ukraine:
Australia-U.K-U.S. (AUKUS) Partnership:Directs further collaboration between the AUKUS countries on IT infrastructure and directs the DoD to provide an update on who it has assigned to be the senior civilian defense official to lead the U.S. work on this agreement and continue the updates required by the Fiscal Year 2024 NDAA.
Taiwan:Authorizes funding for the Taiwan Security Cooperation Initiative and directs the Department of Defense to engage with Taiwan to develop a joint program to codevelop and coproduce uncrewed and counter-uncrewed capabilities.
U.S. Posture in Indo-Pacific:
Uncrewed Aircraft Systems:
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