This week, the House and Senate Conference Committee is expected to release finalized bill text of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The Conference finalizes the differences between the House and Senate versions of the NDAA. After they release a finalized version of the bill, it will go to the full House and Senate for final passage before being sent to the President’s desk.
The NDAA is one of the few bills Congress must undertake every year, as it funds the United States military and covers all Department of Defense appropriations for the upcoming fiscal year. Congress has passed the NDAA for 64 continuous years, and AGC takes any attempt to add harmful construction policy to the bill very seriously.
AGC has been engaged with the NDAA process throughout the year. Recently, on November 19, AGC of America sent a letter to the Senate and House of Representatives ahead of the conference that outlined key provisions to be included in the final version of the bill. As AGC has previously reported, this year’s House and Senate NDAAs, H.R. 3838 /S.2296 placed a strong emphasis on comprehensive acquisition reform. The House of Representatives previously passed its version on Sept. 10. Some key provisions within both bills included:
- House Section 312 – Requiring DoD to begin investigating and remediating PFAS in annual report;
- House Section 834 – Restricting CPARS to only negative comments;
- Senate Section 834 – Provides DoD coverage for contractors who cannot secure insurance for classified work;
- House Section 2804 – Granting DoD agencies the authority to use progressive design-build for military construction projects; and
- House Section 2807 – allowing for Cost-Plus Incentive Fee contracting for the Shipyard Infrastructure Optimization program.
We hope to see these inclusions within the final version of the bill. AGC will continue to advocate for contractor priorities to be included in future versions of the bill to ensure there are no attempts to add harmful construction policy. For more information, please contact John Chambers.