Senator McCormick Secures Key Legislation in NDAA for Fiscal Year 2026

WASHINGTON, D.C., December 17, 2025 - Senator Dave McCormick (R-PA) issued the following statement today after voting to pass the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA):

"The NDAA is a decisive win for Pennsylvania and America. It includes critical provisions I introduced earlier this year to counter Chinese aggression, strengthen border security, support defense industrialization and shipbuilding, while also providing overdue pay raises and quality-of-life improvements for our service men and women. These provisions, along with investments authorized to strengthen Pennsylvania's defense infrastructure and military support operations, reinforce Pennsylvania's leadership in helping to ensure America's military readiness and advanced defense capabilities. Most importantly, the bill fulfills the first responsibility of the Congress - protecting the American people."

Specific legislation sponsored by Senator McCormick and passed in the NDAA for fiscal year 2026 includes:

· Taiwan Non-Discrimination Act: Requires the U.S. Governor to the International Monetary Fund to use the voice and vote of the United States to support Taiwan's admission to the IMF, if Taiwan seeks membership. It would also support Taiwan's participation in IMF surveillance of its economic and financial policies, expand employment opportunities for Taiwanese nationals at the IMF, and enable Taiwan to receive appropriate IMF technical assistance and training.

· Strategy for Countering Transnational Criminal Organizations in Mexico: Requires the U.S. Department of State to develop a strategy for U.S. security assistance in Mexico that degrades the cartels, builds the capacity of Mexico's security forces and law enforcement, and combats pervasive impunity.

· PRC Financial Intermediary Act: Requires the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) to study the transparency and cooperation of broker-dealers and investment advisors controlled or organized under the laws of the PRC.

Additional legislation, co-sponsored and supported by Senator McCormick, in the NDAA includes:

· FIGHT China Act of 2025: Requires the U.S. Department of Treasury to prohibit certain covered investments relating to transactions that threaten U.S. national security.

· Defending International Security by Restricting Unacceptable Partnerships and Tactics Act: Requires the executive branch to develop a whole-of-government strategy to disrupt growing cooperation among the People's Republic of China, the Russian Federation, the Islamic Republic of Iran, and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, which are the foremost adversaries of the United States, and mitigate the risks posed to the United States.

· Honoring our Fallen Heroes Act of 2025: Amends the Public Safety Officers' Benefits Program (PSOB) to create a presumption that certain cancers are service-related if a public safety officer was exposed to qualifying carcinogens while performing line-of-duty duties. In practice, this would mean that, unless compelling medical evidence shows otherwise, the cancer would count as a job-related injury, making the affected officer (or their survivors) eligible for PSOB benefits.

· Protect Our Bases Act: Strengthens national security by ensuring the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States can rigorously review foreign land purchases near sensitive military, intelligence, and national laboratory sites, requiring regular reporting and annual updates of designated sensitive locations to prevent adversaries, particularly China, from exploiting real estate transactions to undermine U.S. military operations and intelligence capabilities.

Senator McCormick also helped support authorized funding for the following military construction priorities in Pennsylvania:

• $91.5 million to Letterkenny Army Depot which includes $7.5 for Defense Access Road and $84 million for Guided Missile Maintenance Building
• $68 million to Tobyhanna Army Depot for Radar Test Range Expansion
• $94.1 million to Naval Support Activity Mechanicsburg for Machinery Control Development Center
• $90 million to Defense Distribution Depot New Cumberland
• $30 million to New Castle Army Reserve Center
• $13.4 million to Harrisburg Air National Guard Base for SOCOM SOF Simulator Facility

Finally, additional provisions in the NDAA supported by Senator McCormick and aligned with his "Day One" promises include:

Securing Our Border

· Declares a national emergency at the southern border.

· Fully funds and provides additional authorities to the U.S. Department of Defense to support the Department of Homeland Security's border security efforts.

· Fully funds the deployment of National Guard and active-duty troops in support of Border Patrol activities at the southwest border.

· Strengthens counterterrorism and counter-transnational organized crime activities by extending the authorization for U.S. Department of Defense support for joint law enforcement task forces.

· Authorizes over $1 billion ($100 million over the budget request) to fight drug trafficking, including $398 million for U.S. Department of Defense support of Counter Narcotics operations and $216 million for National Guard Counter Drug programs.

Rebuilding Our Military Power through Defense Reindustrialization, Shipbuilding & Support for Military Service Members

· Provides 3.8% pay raise for all servicemembers.

· Reauthorizes and expands military bonuses and special pays.

· Increases Family Separation Allowance for deployed servicemembers.

· Requires a study to improve the calculation of Basic Allowance for Housing to ensure it keeps up with rising rental costs.

· Authorizes over $1.5 billion for new construction of barracks and family housing.

· Expands Industrial Base Fund authorities to accelerate reindustrialization in America and regain global defense manufacturing dominance.

· Expands Navy fleet and funds wage improvements for conventional surface shipbuilders (destroyers, amphibious ships, and more).

· Increases readiness and maintenance funding for all military services.

· Prohibits the acquisition of critical minerals, including molybdenum, gallium, and germanium from the People's Republic of China (PRC) and other adversaries and supports efforts by the U.S. Department of Defense to mitigate dependencies on the PRC for rare earth magnets.

· Establishes a pilot program on the use of automated assembly technologies and capabilities in naval shipbuilding to reduce overall construction times and alleviate workforce constraints.

· Extends the Defense Production Act until September 30, 2026.

Countering China's Rise

· Extends the Pacific Deterrence Initiative to enhance U.S. posture in the Indo-Pacific region. Increases funding for innovative new technologies needed to deter the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), including hypersonics, AI, autonomous systems, cyber, mobile micronuclear reactors, and high energy lasers.

· Prohibits the federal government from acquiring biotechnology equipment and services from companies owned or controlled by China and other adversaries.

· Prohibits the U.S. Department of Defense from providing loan or grant funds to entities that do business with companies owned or controlled by China.

· Requires the U.S. Department of Defense to implement strategies to eliminate DoD's reliance on China for computer displays and optical glass and optical systems, such as night vision goggles.

· Authorizes over $2.7 billion in essential military construction projects and expands logistics capabilities in the Indo-Pacific to ensure our forces can sustain the fight.

· Fully funds the Taiwan Security Cooperation Initiative at $1 billion. A dedicated legislative initiative that provides funding and legal authority for the U.S. Department of Defense to provide training, equipment, and capacity-building support to strengthen Taiwan's self-defense capabilities-specifically focusing on asymmetric warfare.

· Authorizes funding for U.S. forces to continue training Taiwan and other partner nations to resist China's aggression and malign influence.

· Requires the U.S. Department of Defense to implement a strategy to expand basing agreements, intelligence sharing, command and control coordination, and multilateral military exercises with Australia, Japan, and the Philippines.

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