Rep. Van Epps Introduces Slew of NDAA Amendments to Bolster Homeland Security

Washington, D.C. - Rep. Matt Van Epps (TN-07) successfully introduced three floor amendments to the FY27 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). 

Rep. Van Epps said, “I am proud to introduce several amendments to the FY27 House NDAA. Taken as a whole, these amendments aim to strengthen our national security, empower our war fighters, and improve conditions on our bases.”

Amendment 302: Report on Defense Prototype Transition to Program of Record  

Rep Van Epps said, “This amendment will help accelerate the delivery of promising technologies to our warfighters. Too often, the gap between research and development and fielding is unnecessarily long, and in a future conflict, those delays could cost lives. Bureaucratic acquisition processes, fragmented oversight, and other institutional barriers prevent successful prototypes from reaching production and operational use. That is unacceptable. By identifying these bottlenecks and holding the Department accountable for addressing them, we can get critical capabilities into the hands of our servicemembers faster.”

This Amendment:

• Requires the Department of War (DoW) to submit an annual report to Congress on how successful prototype projects transition into procurement, production, or operational deployment.
• Tracks transition timelines for prototype projects across the Department.
• Identifies how many prototype projects successfully advance into programs of record.
• Requires explanations for transition delays exceeding one year.
• Examines barriers to deploying emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence, cyber capabilities, autonomous systems, microelectronics, and advanced manufacturing.
• Evaluates challenges faced by small businesses and nontraditional defense contractors. Identifies barriers, including financing challenges, cybersecurity compliance costs, intellectual property concerns, and difficulty accessing follow-on procurement opportunities. 

Amendment 303: Defense Contractor Maximum Production Plan Requirement 

Rep. Van Epps stated, “The United States cannot wait until a major conflict begins to discover that it lacks the industrial capacity to sustain the fight. The war in Ukraine demonstrated how quickly modern conflicts consume artillery rounds, precision-guided munitions, air defense interceptors, and other critical systems, exposing serious limitations in Western production capacity and supply-chain resilience. These concerns are compounded by longstanding bottlenecks across the defense industrial base, including single-source suppliers, workforce shortages, long-lead manufacturing requirements, and aging production infrastructure. By requiring greater visibility into surge production capabilities and the obstacles preventing rapid expansion, the amendment would help Congress and the Department of Defense better prepare for the industrial demands of a large-scale conflict before a crisis occurs. We can’t leave an inevitable need to ramp up munitions to chance—we need a plan in place.” 

This Amendment: 

• This amendment requires major defense contractors and critical lower-tier suppliers and subcontractors producing key munitions and weapon systems to submit detailed plans to the DoW explaining how they would rapidly increase production capacity during a national emergency or major conflict. 
• The plans must identify current production limits, the investments and operational changes needed to scale production, major supply-chain and workforce bottlenecks, projected timelines for increasing output to 150 percent, 200 percent, and 500 percent of current production rates, and the estimated costs associated with each expansion level. 
• Contractors would also be required to identify major subcontractor dependencies and update these plans annually or whenever significant changes occur. 

Amendment 304: Fort Campbell Water and Wastewater Infrastructure

Rep. Van Epps stated, “Having served at Fort Campbell, I saw firsthand the challenges posed by its aging water and wastewater infrastructure. This is more than a personal concern. It is a readiness issue and a quality of life issue for our servicemembers and their families. Our servicemembers deserve better. That's why this amendment, which directs an evaluation of water and wastewater infrastructure at our oldest military installations, is so important.” 

This Amendment: 

• Directs the Department of War to identify water and wastewater infrastructure systems at military installations that are more than 60 years old, require significant maintenance or replacement, and pose substantial risks to readiness, force health protection, mission execution, or public health if they fail. 
• The report would assess each system’s condition, replacement costs, contingency operating costs, and impacts on servicemembers, military families, installation operations, and quality of life. 
• Additionally, it would rank the most critical systems across the military and provide recommendations for prioritizing maintenance, modernization, and replacement efforts.