WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Ben Cardin (D-Md.), a senior member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, issued the following statement after Senate passage of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA):

“For 57 years, Congress has supported America’s active and reserve service men and women and civilian defense workers with passage of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).  While I am proud to continue that tradition, I am troubled by the unusually high level of partisanship that seeped into the process this year. Missing was the expected open amendment process that has been a hallmark of this legislation for decades. Such maneuvering meant that my amendment to halt the closure of the Fort Meade-based Defense Information Support Agency’s (DISA) headquarters, in order to review the critical service that DISA provides as a Combat Support Activity, was not included.  I will continue to fight the closure of DISA when the NDAA is in conference.”

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