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May 9, 2014 – The House Armed Services Committee on Wednesday voted to preserve troop pay raises and benefits despite reductions urged by the Department of Defense to meet its required defense cuts as sequestration savings run out.

Stars and Stripes reported Wednesday that the committee passed a National Defense Authorization Act that rejected the DoD's proposals to "cap troop pay raises at 1 percent and slash the costs of base supermarkets, housing allowances and health care."

The article also reported that Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., introduced a proposal to use the Base Realignment and Closure Act, which would cause a review and possible closure of military facilities. Smith pulled the amendment and said he may introduce it to the full House at a later time.

The House is expected to address the National Defense Authorization Act later this month; the Senate Armed Services Committee is set to discuss it May 20. NAFCU is monitoring developments for any impact on member credit unions.

"As always, we are monitoring the defense authorization throughout the legislative process to ensure there are no adverse effects on credit unions serving the military servicemembers and their families," said Quincy Enoch, NAFCU's associate director of legislative affairs and military liaison.

These issues will be discussed during NAFCU's Defense Credit Union Summit held in conjunction with this year's Annual Conference and Solutions Expo in Las Vegas. The half-day summit, exclusively for DoD-related credit unions, will include remarks from defense leaders on the most pressing defense issues.