Rep. Takano’s Bipartisan Amendment to Prevent the Consolidation of Defense Media Activity and Protect 300 Jobs at March Air Reserve Base Included in NDAA
Washington, DC – Rep. Mark Takano’s (D-Calif.) bipartisan amendment to prohibit the Department of Defense’s (DoD) consolidation of Defense Media Activity (DMA) and protect roughly 300 jobs at March Air Reserve Base (MARB) in Moreno Valley was adopted in the National Defense Authorization Act for FY2021.
“The ongoing efforts by the Department of Defense to consolidate Defense Media Activity pose a serious threat to our strategic military advantage, and to the livelihoods of the hundreds of employees who currently serve our community at March Air Reserve Base,” said Rep. Mark Takano. “Both my Democratic and Republican colleagues and I have been working hard to fight back against these efforts, so I am glad that this important amendment was included in the NDAA.”
Amendment #441 requires DoD to certify to Congress in a report that any consolidation would not (1) compromise the safety of service members; (2) compromise the cybersecurity or security of content delivery to service members; (3) increase personal costs to service members; or (4) impede access to content due to technical limitations. DMA would be strictly prohibited from moving forward with any consolidation efforts until 180 days after DoD submits said report.
Last year, Rep. Mark Takano warned about the potential risk of consolidation of DMA functions at March Air Reserve Base and strongly opposed these efforts. Rep. Takano led a bipartisan letter with Representative Ken Calvert (R-Calif.) and Senators Feinstein and Harris expressing concern and opposition to the Department of Defense’s ongoing effort to relocate DMA functions currently stationed at March Air Reserve Base. Rep. Takano also included a provision in the NDAA for FY2020 to limit and prevent the Secretary of Defense from taking any potential action to consolidate DMA until a report was submitted to Congress and 60 days had passed following submission to Congress.
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