Legislative Agenda & Point Papers

The U.S. military’s greatest resources are individual servicemembers and their families. Without highly qualified and committed men and women, even the most sophisticated weaponry will not provide the deterrent force necessary to defend our nation. Factors that contribute to quality of life include proper compensation, appropriate housing, quality healthcare, reasonably priced commissaries, equal opportunities for career development, talent management, access to healthcare and affordable day care.

The American Legion believes that Congress and the DOD must continue to improve quality-of-life conditions for servicemembers and military families. Inflationary pressures resulting from the pandemic, supply chain disruptions, rising energy costs, monetary policies and government spending, and support for multiple wars overseas have led to significant increases in the cost of living for Americans. Funding for military pay, benefits and quality-of-life programs must continue to be adjusted accordingly. Moreover, barriers to quality-of-life services offered to servicemembers and their families have negatively impacted retention and recruitment numbers in the armed forces. DOD must continue to make difficult decisions while balancing spending for modernization of the armed forces while funding long-neglected quality of life requirements.

Several high-profile issues involving dining facilities at multiple military installations demonstrate that DOD and some military branches have failed to prioritize and fund the health and wellness by neglecting to provide for single or unaccompanied service member nutritional and dietary requirements.¹

Key Points:

• The House Armed Services Committee Military Quality of Life Panel released a comprehensive report on quality- of-life standards. Based on its findings, the Committee made a set of recommendations to improve living standards for our servicemembers.²
• The correlation between degraded quality of life and behavioral health issues cannot be overlooked. Providing the best quality of life standards for servicemembers can reduce risk factors for behavioral health issues.³
• Barracks facilities DoD-wide are in desperate need of repair following a multitude of recurring issues including mold, mildew and substandard electrical and plumbing. Other problems include mismanagement of barracks, failure by Congress and DOD to prioritize funding for replacement barracks, and safety and security concerns. Military family housing shares many of the same issues, with tenants’ rights in housing needing to be safeguarded.

What Can Congress Do?

• Increase funding for new barracks and renovation of qualified barracks and family housing, while safeguarding tenants’ rights for those who reside in privatized family housing.
• Pass legislation to expand financial assistance to servicemembers for private and public childcare facilities and grant military construction authority for building new child-development centers.
• Continue to fully fund and retain quality of life programs including, military commissaries and exchanges, MWR programs, educational benefits, and spouse employment programs.
• Fund and prioritize repair or construction for dining facilities at DOD facilities.

Supporting Resolutions:

• Resolution No. 85: Support for Military Quality of Life Standards

¹  “Military Barracks: Poor Living Conditions Undermine Quality of Life and Readiness.” U.S. Government Accountability Office, September 19, 2023. https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-23-105797.

²  “Quality of Life Panel Releases Bipartisan Report.” House Armed Services Committee, April 11, 2024. https://democrats-armedservices.house.gov/2024/4/quality-of-life-panel-releases-bipartisan-report.

³  “Preventing Suicide in the U.S. Military: Recommendations from the Suicide Prevention and Response Independent Review Committee.” Suicide Prevention and Response Independent Review Committee (SPRIRC), January 24, 2023. https://media.defense.gov/2023/Feb/24/2003167430/-1/-1/0/SPRIRC-final-report.pdf.

As the opportunities for economic globalization expand through technological advances, so do the opportunities for criminal globalization. Transnational Criminal Organizations (TCOs) operate across national borders to facilitate capital gains or influence through illegal means. These activities include drug smuggling, illegal arms trade, human trafficking, money laundering, cybercrime, and copyright infringement.¹ In 2022, the Department of State identified a minimum of 11,676 trafficking victims in the Americas and the Caribbean.² Over 107,543 Americans died from drug overdoses in 2023, even though Border Patrol seized over 27,000 pounds of the illegal and deadly fentanyl that crossed the U.S. border.^{3, 4} Additionally, nearly one-third of border patrol agents are military veterans who continue to risk their lives protecting America’s borders.⁵

Unfortunately, the continued politicization of the border is preventing collaboration across the aisle and between the chambers. The American Legion implores lawmakers to work together on behalf of American citizens, border patrol and other law enforcement agents to improve and ensure the security of every American community. Morale within the border enforcement community has continued to decline and retention and recruiting rates have been negatively impacted as suicide rates among Border Patrol Agents has risen to alarming levels.⁶

Key Points:

• The life-threatening impacts of the illicit drug trade, weapon smuggling, and human trafficking have continued to impact communities across America.
• A significant proportion of border patrol agents are U.S. military veterans who continue to serve their country. Senior officials and current policies have prevented agents from doing their job to enforce laws, resulting in degraded morale amongst the border enforcement community.
• Partisan gridlock has continued to prevent necessary resources from reaching border patrol agents and is increasing dysfunction in the border enforcement community, risking penetration of America’s borders by a myriad of threatening actors.

What Can Congress Do?

• Increased funding to field advanced technologies that can identify and counter threats at or between ports of entry.
• Provide oversight on DHS efforts to eliminate barriers to increase Border Patrol recruitment and improve retention while also authorizing the hiring of additional agents for patrolling the nation’s borders.
• Provide increased funding for the U.S. Government and DOD entities to increase counter-narcotics and counter-transnational organized crime activities.

Supporting Resolutions:

• Resolution No. 29: Commend U.S. Border Patrol
• Resolution No. 134: The American Legion role in homeland security
• Resolution No. 8: Combatting Transnational Criminal Organizations
• Resolution No. 10: Immigration Reform

¹  “Establishing the United States Council on Transnational Organized Crime” Federal Register, December 20, 2021. https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2021/12/20/2021-27605/establishing-the-united-states-council-on-transnational-organized-crime.

²  “2024 Trafficking in Persons Report.” The United States Department of State, June 24, 2024. https://www.state.gov/reports/2024-trafficking-in-persons-report/.

³  “U.S. Overdose Deaths Decrease in 2023, First Time Since 2018.” Center for Disease Control, National Center for Health Statistics, May 15, 2024. https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/pressroom/nchs_press_releases/2024/20240515.htm.

⁴  “Fact Sheet: DHS Shows Results in the Fight to Dismantle Cartels and Stop Fentanyl from Entering the U.S.” United States Department of Homeland Security, July 31, 2024. https://www.dhs.gov/news/2024/07/31/fact-sheet-dhs-shows-results-fight-dismantle-cartels-and-stop-fentanyl-entering-us

⁵  Kosak, Paul. “CBP Resiliency: How One Veteran’s Efforts Became an Agency-Wide Program.” U.S. Customs and Border Protection, August 9, 2023. https://www.cbp.gov/frontline/cbp-resiliency  

⁶  Villarreal, Mireya and Luke Barr. “US border officer suicides at 13-year high: How agency is focusing on 'culture change'.” ABC News, December 22, 2022. https://abcnews.go.com/US/us-border-officer-suicides-13-year-high-agency/story?id=95671395.

The continued modernization of the armed forces is essential for maintaining military superiority and ensuring national security in an increasingly complex and dynamic global environment. As adversaries adopt new technologies and strategies, the U.S. must stay ahead by embracing cutting-edge solutions and modernizing its defense capabilities. This includes investing in next-generation weaponry, cybersecurity measures, and artificial intelligence; all critical to maintaining strategic advantage. America no longer has the world’s largest Navy and China’s shipbuilding capacity is 232 times greater than the United States¹. The modernization process also involves updating military infrastructure, improving logistics, and enhancing the training and operational readiness of personnel to address evolving threats.¹

In order accelerate modernization of American military capabilities, Congress must increase funding and prioritize resources to rebuild a seriously degraded defense industrial base. This sector is responsible for producing the advanced technologies and equipment necessary to keep the armed forces competitive. By supporting research and development in key areas such as hypersonic weapons, unmanned systems, and space capabilities, Congress can ensure that the military has access to the latest technologies. Additionally, fostering partnerships between the Department of Defense and private sector companies, including veteran owned businesses, can encourage faster development and integration of new systems into the military’s arsenal, ensuring readiness in the face of emerging global threat.

Talent acquisitions are equally critical to the success of military innovation. The armed forces must attract skilled professionals in fields such as engineering, cybersecurity, and data science to meet the demands of modern warfare. By modernizing recruitment practices and offering competitive incentives, Congress can help the military build a workforce capable of driving technological advancement. Creating pathways for ongoing education and career development within the military will also ensure that the force remains agile, skilled, and capable of deterring and winning future wars.

 Key Points:

• Enforce modernization through funding for Research & Development (R&D) and incentivizing innovative practices and by procuring next-generation technologies.
• Strengthen the defense industrial base by prioritizing funding for replacing expended weapons and ammunition stocks, shipbuilding, fostering private-public partnerships and transitioning critically skilled military personnel into defense industry.
• Enhance talent acquisition by reforming recruitment strategies and offering retention incentives to military personnel with advanced technical skills.

 What Can Congress do?

• Increase funding for defense-related R&D initiatives to accelerate fielding capabilities in all domains of conflict, especially rapid prototyping and experimentation, hypersonics, artificial intelligence, space, and quantum.
• Ensure National Defense Strategy related spending prioritizes joint warfighting capabilities and service force development efforts to retain lethality and capability advantages.
• Prioritize defense funding to focus on increasing ship-building capacity through construction of additional shipyards and associated work force trade schools.

Supporting Resolutions:

• Resolution No. 30: Modernization of the Armed Forces
• Resolution No. 48: Rebuilding the U.S. Defense Industrial Base 
• Resolution No. 11: Department of Defense Budget

¹  Weichert, Brandon J. ”China’s Shipbuilding Capacity: 232 Times Greater Than United States.” The National Interest, September 13, 2024. https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/china%E2%80%99s-shipbuilding-capacity-232-times-greater-united-states-212736. 

Former Secretary of Defense James Mattis once stated, “And to those who would threaten America’s experiment in democracy, they must know: If you challenge us, it will be your longest and your worst day. Work with our diplomats; you don’t want to fight the Department of Defense.”¹ Our diplomats are the first line of de-escalation. Without them, our servicemembers will be put at risk in preventable conflicts.

As introduced in the House of Representatives, the Fiscal Year 2025 State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs (SFOPs) proposed an 11% cut to the bill’s overall funding levels from the fiscal year 2024, which was already cut by 6% from 2023.² Today, as we face mounting tensions across the globe, it is crucial that Congress reverse this trend. The People’s Republic of China (PRC) has surpassed America in foreign service by having 274 diplomatic missions worldwide versus America’s 271.³

As the Department of Defense prepares for potential future conflicts, they could one day face a variety of emboldened adversaries due to America’s lack of investment in its diplomatic instrument of power. If we hope to deter conflict with many potential adversaries and protect the lives of our service members in the future, we must have a robust and well- funded diplomatic arm to counter authoritarian influence across the globe.

Key Points:

• Diplomacy is a significant tool of international influence and has the potential to prevent conflict and save the lives of our servicemembers and innocent civilians lives globally.
• As America continues to make significant cuts to the SFOPs budget, potential adversaries are investing heavily in their diplomatic network to normalize its aggressive behavior and isolate the U.S. from potential allies.
• Continued utilization of SFOPs programs will maximize and maintain a robust network of allies who can help reinforce and protect a rules-based international order.

What Can Congress Do?

• Fund the SFOPs appropriations bill to enable execution of critical diplomatic efforts and international commitments which are vital to competing and winning against foreign adversaries.
• Prioritize funding for International Security Assistance and Foreign Military Financing to better enable allies to defend themselves while also contributing to global security and stability.
• Prioritize appointments to fill vacant Ambassador positions at U.S. Embassies globally.

Supporting Resolutions:

• Resolution No. 51: Fully Fund the International Affairs Budget
• Resolution No. 205: Foreign Policy Objectives

¹  “Remarks by Secretary Mattis on the National Defense Strategy.” United States Department of Defense, January 19, 2018. https://www.defense.gov/News/Transcripts/Transcript/Article/1420042/remarks-by-secretary-mattis-on-the-national-defense-strategy/. 

²  "Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2025, H.R. 8771.” 118^th Congress. https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/8771/text.

³  ”China beats United States to top 2024 Global Diplomacy Index.” The Lowy Institute, February 25, 2024. https://www.lowyinstitute.org/china-beats-united-states-top-2024-global-diplomacy-index.

U.S. Coast Guard personnel carry out missions vital to our national security. Still, they have been the only military branch working without pay during government shutdowns due to their status under the Department of Homeland Security. The repeated and common threat of government shutdowns brings severe and unnecessary hardship on these men, women, and Coast Guard families. Previous government shutdowns caused members of the Coast Guard to temporarily lose pay and benefits, resulting in unnecessary financial burdens and significant degradation in readiness. During the 2019 government shutdown, The American Legion stepped up and issued more than $1 million in expedited Temporary Financial Assistance grants to Coast Guard personnel and their families. The American Legion urges Congress to introduce legislation to guarantee that Coast Guard personnel are paid without delay like their military counterparts at the Department of Defense in the event of a government shutdown.

Key Points:

• The U.S. Coast Guard is the only branch of the Armed Forces that does not fall under DOD. During federal government shutdowns, Coast Guard personnel are more exposed to working without pay.¹
• The Coast Guard is uniquely responsible for maritime security, search and rescue, port security, law enforcement, and military readiness with jurisdiction in domestic and international waters. American presidents have transferred Coast Guard assets to the Department of the Navy during almost every conflict. The Coast Guard should be treated and funded accordingly.

What Can Congress Do?

• Approve and continue to increase the Coast Guard’s budget annually to meet national security requirements and funding priorities such as restoring readiness and recapitalizing legacy assets and infrastructure.
• Pass legislation that would ensure pay and allowances for members of the Coast Guard during a funding gap.

Supporting Resolutions:

• Resolution No. 16: Coast Guard Pay Discrimination

¹  ”Commerce Committee Leadership Introduce Bill to Ensure Coast Guard Personnel Paid in Event of Government Shutdown.” Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, September 14, 2023. https://www.commerce.senate.gov/2023/9/commerce-committee-leadership-introduce-bill-to-ensure-coast-guard-personnel-paid-in-event-of-gov-t-shutdown