Press Releases

On Monday, Congresswoman Kendra Horn (OK-5) signed a bipartisan deal to finalize House-Senate negotiations over the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). This critical legislation authorizes historic investments in national defense priorities and modernizations for U.S. forces. The NDAA includes a Tenants Bill of Rights to address unsafe housing conditions at Tinker Air Force Base and at military bases across the country. The NDAA deal includes 12 weeks of paid parental leave for federal employees, a repeal of the widow’s tax, and a 3.1% raise for service members - the largest pay increase in a decade. A vote on the revised NDAA is expected later this week.

“Tonight’s bipartisan deal is a victory for Tinker and for service members and military families across the country,” said Congresswoman Horn. “At one of my first town halls, a mother told me about the unsafe and unsanitary housing conditions that her family was forced to live in at Tinker. Since hearing her story, I’ve fought for housing protections for our military families, and today’s bipartisan deal moves us closer to signing those safeguards into law. One important component of the NDAA is the Tenants Bill of Rights. This provision will protect our military families from predatory contracts and provide increased oversight of privatized base housing. Our fight for military families and safe housing is far from over, but today’s announcement is a critical step in the right direction.”

“This legislation provides a historic raise for our men and women in uniform who have put everything on the line to serve our country. Our bipartisan agreement also invests in critical national defense modernizations and takes care of our military families by eliminating the widow’s tax. Compromise takes hard work, but this year’s NDAA is proof that it pays off.”

Congresswoman Horn, a member of the House Armed Services Committee, was appointed as a conferee to the House-Senate conference committee on the NDAA. Horn was one of the only first-term lawmakers named to the conference committee, which was responsible for reaching a compromise between House and Senate versions of the NDAA.

Congresswoman Horn brought national lawmakers to see housing conditions first-hand at Tinker in April, and she fought to include the Tenants Bill of Rights in the original NDAA and in today’s bicameral bill. Last week, Congresswoman Horn questioned a contractor responsible for housing maintenance at Tinker during a hearing in the House Armed Services Committee.

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