Representative Andy Biggs (R-AZ) is celebrating the inclusion of two of his amendments in the Fiscal Year 2027 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which passed the House last week.
The Amendments
Rep. Biggs's first amendment is the Audit the Pentagon Act. As its name suggests, the amendment requires the Department of War to undergo an audit, which it has failed to undergo for eight years in a row.
As Rep. Biggs shared in a press release, Americans deserve to know that their tax dollars are going toward maintaining the most formidable military in the world.
Representative David Schweikert (R-AZ) has similarly been a strong advocate of auditing the Pentagon, having successfully passed amendments to the FY2025 NDAA calling for the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to assist in the effort.
The second is a bill focused on increasing federal support for accredited mining engineering programs, especially since the United States graduates only 200 mining engineers annually compared to approximately 3,000 to 10,000 in China.
This, the Arizona congressman suggests, is because the United States is 100 percent import-reliant for 16 nonfuel minerals and more than 50 percent import-reliant for dozens more, compromising American defense systems, semiconductors, and infrastructure.
Senators Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) and Mark Kelly (D-AZ) tapped into the same instinct in the March 2025 Mining Schools Act, which establishes a grant program for mining schools at colleges and universities.
What Biggs is Saying
"I'm grateful for the support of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle for these amendments," Biggs said in a press release. "My amendments address critical issues within America's massive national defense apparatus, ensuring more transparency and accountability within our government and closing the gap between China and the United States for a critical workforce. I look forward to seeing these commonsense amendments soon signed into law by the president."
