As I return to Washington this week, I would like to thank everyone who reached out to express their condolences to our family on the passing of my mother, Lois D. McClellan, and brother-in-law, Gregory M. Beckwith. Mom was a remarkable woman, who lived a long and fulfilling life, as profiled in the Richmond Free Press. As a Hall of Fame basketball player, coach, and analyst, Greg left an indelible mark on the University of Richmond community, as profiled by the University of Richmond Collegian, Richmond Times Dispatch, and Spider Athletics Webpage. They will both be greatly missed.

This week, the House will consider H.R. 8070, the Servicemember Quality of Life Improvement Act and the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2025 (FY25 NDAA), which the House Armed Services Committee (HASC) advanced on a vote of 57-1. Below is a summary of the bill and what else you missed since the last newsletter.

IN WASHINGTON

HASC Advances FY25 NDAA

As a member of HASC, I have the privilege to fight to improve the quality of life for our active-duty servicemembers and their families, while ensuring they are ready to defend our country and its interests when necessary. Our primary responsibility every year is to pass the FY25 NDAA, the annual bill to authorize funding for the Department of Defense (DoD) and our Armed Forces.

The FY25 NDAA largely focuses on quality of life issues for servicemembers and their families, incorporating many of the findings and recommendations from the HASC Quality of Life Panel’s bipartisan report. As it passed the committee, the FY25 NDAA authorizes a 4.5% pay raise for all servicemembers and a 19.5% pay raise for junior enlisted servicemembers; $17.5 billion for military construction projects, including $1.15 billion to improve the condition of housing; and investing $143.3 billion in research, testing, and evaluations to drive innovation and modernization efforts. You can read a summary of the legislation prepared by HASC Democrats here.

During the FY25 NDAA markup process, committee members can submit amendments to the base text of the legislation. The markup lasted for over 12 hours, as committee members considered, debated, and voted on hundreds of amendments. House Republicans once again sought to use the amendment process to stoke culture wars and rail against Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives, reproductive health care, contraception, IVF for servicemembers, and more. I fought back against these efforts. Check out a few debate clips here, here, here, and here or below.

The committee adopted all seven of the amendments that I offered and two additional priorities I advocated for:

1. Transition Assistance for Guard and Reserve Servicemembers: Incorporating my H.R. 8336, this amendment creates a dedicated pathway within the Transition Assistance Program (TAP) to provide specialized information assistance to meet the unique needs of Guard and Reserve servicemembers. TAP provides invaluable resources to servicemembers as they transition back to civilian life, including employment support, professional development support, mental health services, and more; however, there is currently no specific information for the Reserve Components of the Armed Forces. 
   
   
2. DoD PFAS Discharge Prevention: Incorporating my H.R. 6095, this amendment requires the Secretary of Defense to apply for new permits that would allow for the use of PFAS – or “forever chemical” – remediation technology on DoD bases, including carbon filtration at DoD stormwater management outflows. DoD facilities are some of the largest contributors to PFAS contamination, which impacts both servicemembers and their families on base, as well as surrounding communities in close proximity to the facility. My amendment also directs DoD to conduct onsite testing to track mitigation efforts and help ensure our waterways are not contaminated. 
   
   
3. Directive Report Language on PFAS: This amendment directs the DoD to brief the House Armed Services Committee on its plans to comply with the Biden-Harris Administration’s recently announced Maximum Contaminants Levels (MCLs) for PFAS in drinking water. 
   
   
4. DoD Briefing on Education Support Professional Workforce Development and Internal Hiring: This amendment directs the DoD Education Activity (DoDEA) to brief the House Armed Services Committee internal processes to empower Education Support Professionals to teaching positions. My amendment also seeks to identify barriers that might impede that transition to ensure interested ESPs have the support they need to transition to these critically important teaching positions. 
   
   
5. DoD Briefing on Army Training Information Systems: This amendment directs DoD to brief the House Armed Services Committee on the implementation process of the Army Training Information System (ATIS). ATIS acquires, deploys, and maintains worldwide distributed learning systems to ensure American soldiers receive critical training no matter where they’re stationed. 
   
   
6. Compound Flood Risk Assessment: This amendment amends DoD flood mapping procedure to include an evaluation of compound flood risks that jeopardize DoD facilities and may not be captured by existing procedures.
    
7. DoD Briefing on Costs Imposed by Weather-Related Natural Disasters: This amendment Directs the DoD to brief the House Armed Services Committee on the costs incurred by extreme-related natural disasters on DoD facilities. 
   
   
8. Child Care Development Center Employee Background Checks: This Directs the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness to brief the House Armed Services Committee to improve and streamline the background checks process and improve retention of Child Development Center employees. 
   
   
9. Assessment of the “Come Grow With Us” Recruitment Effort: This amendment Directs the Secretary of Defense to brief the House Armed Services Committee on the efficacy of the “Come Grow With Us” campaign. The campaign is designed to improve recruitment, hiring, and retention of military childcare providers. 

The FY25 NDAA now goes to the House Rules Committee, which will consider over 1300 proposed amendments at its meeting tomorrow at noon. I look forward to advocating for my priorities and will oppose any efforts by House Republicans to turn this must-pass legislation into a hyper-partisan messaging bill. 


FY2025 Appropriations Process Kicks Off with Mil-Con VA Bill 

Last week, the House considered the first of twelve appropriations bills for Fiscal Year 2025 (FY2025): H.R. 8580, the Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies (Mil-Con VA). This bill allocates funding for all construction, upgrades, and continued maintenance of DoD facilities and services provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). The Mil-Con VA appropriations bill is traditionally an opportunity for bipartisanship; however, House Republicans loaded the legislation down with poison pill policy riders to advance their extreme agenda. 

H.R. 8580 included drastic cuts to military construction, which will worsen our service members’ quality of life; strips back climate change and resilience funding, which will leave our military installations, service members, and their families more susceptible to the impacts of climate change and natural disasters; and notable funding cuts to the VA, which will harm our veterans and military families. House Republicans also used the bill to advance restrictive reproductive health provisions that will limit service members’ access to abortion care, despite the VA’s final rule that affirmed abortion care is health care and protected for service members and their families. You can read a summary of the bill here and a fact sheet here. 

While I was not in Washington, I certainly would have voted against this legislation. The Senate will begin its own appropriations process in the coming weeks, and I remain hopeful their version of the bill will address our national security priorities and the needs of our service members, veterans, and their families. 


Episode 7: Moments with McClellan Features Congressman Steny Hoyer

The newest episode of Moments with McClellan is now live with special guest, Congressman Steny Hoyer! Congressman Hoyer represents Maryland’s Fifth Congressional District and served as House Majority Leader, the second highest-ranking position in our Caucus, from 2007 to 2011 and from 2019 to 2023. We discussed everything from his hobbies to the best advice he ever received, and more. Check out the latest episode here or below. 

IN THE DISTRICT

Spotlight on Constituent Casework

In addition to my legislative work in Washington, my office works diligently to help resolve any issues you may face with a federal agency or service. Since my swearing-in on March 7th, my office has closed thousands of cases and returned millions of dollars back to constituents. Recently, one of my constituent caseworkers reunited a family with their son, who was stuck in India due to issues with his visa. Check out what the constituent had to say:

“Our son, Parth, was stuck in India and unable to obtain a visa. We tried for nearly four years to get him back to the United States, but the coronavirus pandemic disrupted our visa application process. When processing resumed, his application was denied due to an age calculation discrepancy. Despite multiple attempts, we were unable to get a response from the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services. That’s when we reached out to Congresswoman McClellan’s office. Her caseworkers were incredibly responsive and advocated on our behalf. They fought for our son, Parth, and never gave up on our family. Thanks to their tireless efforts, our son’s visa was officially granted. We are very grateful to Congresswoman McClellan and her staff for their assistance and can’t wait to be reunited with our son.” – The Patel Family

Constituent casework is one of the most rewarding parts of serving as your Congresswoman! If you are in need of assistance and would like to open a case, please call my Richmond Office at 804-486-1840, my Brunswick Office at 804-690-5809, and/or fill out the authorization form on my website.

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