Biggs's Bipartisan Amendments Included in National Defense Authorization Act Package
WASHINGTON, D.C.- Last week, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Fiscal Year 2027 National Defense Authorization Act, which included two of Congressman Andy Biggs’s (AZ-05) bipartisan amendments.
The first amendment was the Audit the Pentagon Act. This legislation was one of the first bills Congressman Biggs introduced when he entered the U.S. House in 2017. It restores financial oversight to the Department of Defense (DoD), which has failed eight straight audits while billions of taxpayer dollars remain unaccounted for in this critical department. In fact, the DoD is the only federal agency without a successful audit. Americans demand that their government officials know where their tax dollars are going and that every dollar is used as effectively as possible. By doing so, our government can help ensure the United States has the strongest, most-effective military in the world for generations to come.
The second amendment addresses the disparity between Chinese and American mining engineering workforces. The United States graduates just over 200 mining engineers each year, paling in comparison to China’s reported annual graduation of 3,000 to 10,000 mining-related engineers. Due, in part, to this gap, the United States is 100 percent import reliant for 16 nonfuel minerals and more than 50 percent reliant for dozens more, compromising American defense systems, semiconductors, and infrastructure. States like Arizona know how mining supports both economic strength and critical mineral independence, reinforcing the need to open additional pathways to build this specific workforce. This amendment ensures federal support focuses where it belongs: on the accredited mining engineering programs that directly strengthen America’s workforce pipeline and national security.
“I’m grateful for the support of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle for these amendments,”said Congressman Biggs.“My amendments address critical issues within America’s massive national defense apparatus, ensuring more transparency and accountability within our government and closing the gap between China and the United States for a critical workforce. I look forward to seeing these commonsense amendments soon signed into law by the president.”
Both the amendments passed with overwhelmingly bipartisan support.
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