WASHINGTON, DC – In preparation for next week’s full House Armed Services Committee markup of the FY20 National Defense Authorization Act, U.S. Rep. Katie Hill, D-Agua Dulce, released the following statement Wednesday on the Tactical Air and Land and the Seapower and Projection Forces Subcommittee markups of the bill:

Over the last five months, I have had the privilege of supporting Aerospace Valley jobs by working closely with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle, as well as industry partners and local experts, on this important legislation that directly impacts our district and community.

The subcommittees’ markups will benefit the economy and security of my district, most notably through increasing investment in B-2, F-35 and U-2 aircraft, as well as through a number of other essential programs to modernize and improve the lethality of our country’s warfighters. These investments will give us the tools necessary to carry out modern multi-domain operations across units and with our allies, ensuring the safety and security of the American people regardless of the threat.

To give you an example of what this means at home, our district has 28 first tier supplier companies working on the F-35 program, alone. They support 1,588 direct jobs and an estimated 4,389 indirect jobs for a total of almost 6,000 jobs in our community. The total economic impact annually is over $523 million. Having a seat at the table matters.

I look forward to next week’s full committee markup and passage of the overall $733 billion bill and am grateful to the leadership of Subcommittee Chairs Joe Courtney and Donald Norcross in this process so far. Both of their markups went smoothly with bipartisan cooperation — a refreshing demonstration of the parties working together to address the nation’s needs.

I will continue to advocate for CA-25 through this process and am committed to ensuring our taxpayer dollars are spent in the wisest possible manner as we confront the threats of our rapidly changing world.