Gillibrand Highlights Major Wins For Service Members, New Yorkers In FY2026 Defense Bill

Gillibrand Highlights Major Wins For Service Members, New Yorkers In FY2026 Defense Bill

Dec 17, 2025

GILLIBRAND HIGHLIGHTS MAJOR WINS FOR SERVICE MEMBERS, NEW YORKERS IN FY2026 DEFENSE BILL

Bill Includes A Pay Raise for Service Members and Authorizes Over $240 Million for New York Projects

Today, U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, announced that several of her provisions were included in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2026.

"This year's NDAA is a win for service members, New Yorkers, and all Americans," said Senator Gillibrand."I was proud to fight for and secure key provisions in the final bill, including a significant pay raise for troops, over $240 million in authorizations for military installations and activities in New York, and measures to strengthen our defense against cyber threats, biological threats, and unmanned aerial systems (UAS). Protecting our troops and our national security is of the utmost importance, and I am glad to see Democrats and Republicans work together to pass this vital legislation."

A list of Senator Gillibrand's priorities included in the NDAA and the Senate Report include:

Personnel:

1. Increases service members' pay by 3.8%.
2. Protects access to sexual assault medical forensic examinations by requiring the Secretary of Defense to authorize military medical treatment facilities to provide sexual assault medical forensic examinations to all victims, not just victims who are eligible for military health care.
3. Bolsters OBGYN care at Fort Drum by directing a briefing on the adequacy and sufficiency of OBGYN care for TRICARE beneficiaries in the installation's vicinity.
4. Protects service members' brain health by supporting blast exposure monitoring within Special Operations Command.
5. Helps victims of anomalous health incidents by encouraging the Department of Defense (DOD) to provide the cross-functional team addressing anomalous health incidents (AHIs) with adequate resources to continue its efforts, particularly treatment of those affected by AHIs, and by ensuring timely compensation under the Helping American Victims Afflicted by Neurological Attacks (HAVANA) Act of 2021.

New York Priorities:

Senator Gillibrand secured over $240 million in authorizations for New York institutions in the NDAA, including:

• $90 million for the 42nd Infantry Division Headquarters Readiness Center, which when funded will also clear the way for separate investments and construction at Watervliet Arsenal.
• $54 million for the Combined Operations Airfield Facility at Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station
• $31 million for the Fort Hamilton Child Development Center
• $29 million for the Watervliet Arsenal Electrical Switching Station
• $20 million for the planning and design of future construction projects at Fort Drum, including:
  • $9.5 million for Fort Drum aircraft maintenance hangar addition
  • $8.3 million for Fort Drum Operational Readiness Training Center barracks design
  • $2.5 million for Fort Drum Range 41c, Automated Record Fire Plus range design
• $5 million for short-pulsed lasers intended to defeat hypersonic missiles and other potential threats. This research is carried out by the University of Rochester.
• $5 million to expand the regional presence and outreach of the Defense Innovation Unit, which works to rapidly integrate commercial technologies into the DOD.
• $5 million for an Agile, Assured, and Autonomous Battle Management Network and Readiness Accelerator (3A-BMN) at Rome Lab
• $5 million for biotechnology manufacturing

Unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) and unmanned aerial systems (UAS):

• Expands DOD's authority to counter unmanned aerial systems (UAS) by allowing the Secretary of Defense to designate DOD installations as critical to national security and therefore covered assets for the purposes of counter-UAS (cUAS) actions; allowing the use of contractors for cUAS activities; and improving information sharing between DOD and other agencies relevant to cUAS activities.
• Expands domestic cUAS authorities by allowing DHS and DOJ to provide training to state, local, Tribal, or territorial law enforcement or correctional agencies to engage in cUAS detection and mitigation to protect critical infrastructure and mass gatherings.
• Strengthens UAP oversight by requiring the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO)to brief Congresson UAP intercepts by NORTHCOM and NORAD and by requiring AARO to account for security classification guides that apply to UAP and authorizing a consolidated security classification matrix for UAP.

Cyber:

1. Protects undersea cables by requiring a report on the strategy, challenges, and capability gaps facing DOD in protecting undersea cables from physical and cybersecurity threats.
2. Bolsters cyber capabilities by requiring the Secretary of Defense to conduct one or more tabletop exercises to evaluate concepts for the future employment of cyber capabilities.

Biosecurity:

This year's NDAA includes multiple provisions to strengthen America's defense against biological threats, including:

1. Increasing interagency coordination to strengthen biodefense by directing the Defense Threat Reduction Agency to coordinate with other agencies and departments to clarify roles and responsibilities for building out biodefense capacity.
2. Supporting research and development of bioindustrial manufacturing processes by expanding DOD's ability to support these activities at bioindustrial manufacturing facilities.
3. Giving the Secretary of Defense the authority to establish a program to support the expansion of the domestic capacity for bioindustrial manufacturing at a commercial level through awards to entities for establishing, upgrading, and retooling bioindustrial manufacturing facilities.

International Partnerships:

1. $500 million for Israeli Missile Defense Cooperative Programs such as Iron Dome, David's Sling, and Arrow.

###