Washington, DC – Today, Representative Gregory W. Meeks, Chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, issued the following statement on the House passage of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA):

“I am proud to have my bipartisan bill authorizing the State Department included in the NDAA which today passed out of the House of Representatives.

“As I have made clear upon taking the Chairmanship of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, one of my top priorities has been reasserting our Committee’s role in ensuring regular authorization of the Department of State by Congress, something that has not happened in nearly two decades. With its inclusion in the House NDAA, we are one step closer to accomplishing that goal, pending passage in the Senate.

“Unfortunately, several important provisions did not make it into the final language of the NDAA, including robust measures related to the brutal war in Yemen, accountability for Saudi Arabia’s actions against dissidents and civil society and provisions promoting diversity and other management reforms at the State Department. I am very disappointed that, despite tireless efforts as Chairman, along with those of many of our members of the Foreign Affairs Committee to include important provisions, we were unable to secure the requisite support from Senate Republicans to advance them into the final package.

“I urge the Senate to act swiftly in taking up this important bill for passage in their chamber.”