Washington, DC – Today the U.S. Senate passed the 2015 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The bill includes a provision authored by U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse requiring the Department of Defense to plan for its cyber security education needs, which will help prepare our military for success in the cyber domain. It also contains several provisions that will directly benefit Rhode Island: it establishes a unit of the National Park System within the John H. Chafee Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor; it contains a provision paving the way for adding parts of the Wood-Pawcatuck Watershed to the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System; and authorizes funding for the Virginia Class and Ohio Replacement submarine programs, which are important to the Rhode Island economy.
Senator Whitehouse released the following statement applauding the bill’s passage:
“This bill takes several big steps forward for Rhode Island. Thanks to the leadership of Jack Reed and David Cicilline, and with my and Jim Langevin’s enthusiastic support, it helps preserve some of the Blackstone Valley’s most significant natural and historical places. It funds key submarine programs that will create hundreds of jobs in Quonset and benefit our state’s economy as a whole. And it also makes important progress in readying our armed forces to address cyber threats today and into the future. I look forward to seeing the benefits it will bring to the citizens of Rhode Island,” Whitehouse said.
The bill passed the Senate by a vote of 89 to 11 and will now be sent to the President to be signed into law.
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