Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., touted the benefits to Alabama contained in the annual defense spending bill passed by the Senate on Wednesday, which includes more than $316 million to improve military bases and National Guard facilities in the state.

The measure, known as the National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA, passed Wednesday night in overwhelmingly bipartisan fashion by a vote of 87-13.

“Today, I voted to support the Fiscal Year 2024 NDAA, which contains major wins for Alabama, for our national defense, and for conservatives,” Britt said in a statement shortly after the Senate passed the bill.

“This legislation includes a 5.2 percent pay raise for our troops, forces the Biden Administration to resume construction of the wall at our southern border, and ensures that all future military promotions are solely based on an individual’s performance and merit,” Alabama’s junior senator continued.

The troop pay raise is the largest income increase for service members in 20 years.

The bill now heads to the House for consideration, where some far-right members are threatening to torpedo the bill over concerns such as not including language blocking the Defense Department policy reimbursing service members’ travel for abortion, which was the basis for Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s 10-month-long hold on Pentagon nominations, and not restricting gender-affirming health care for transgender service members and dependents.

Conservatives were also concerned the Senate version of the bill includes a short-term extension of a surveillance program aimed at preventing terrorism and catching spies. But the program has detractors on both sides of the political aisle who view it as a threat to the privacy of ordinary Americans. Some House Republicans were incensed at the extension, which is designed to buy more time to reach a compromise.

The $316 million in military construction projects in Alabama funded by the bill include:

• $68M for a ground test facility on Redstone Arsenal
• $65M for military family housing at Maxwell Air Force Base
• $57M for a new Army Reserve center in Birmingham
• $41.2M for new barracks at Ft. Novosel

“This is imperative to our state’s ability to continue strengthening our national defense long into the future, and it supports tens of thousands of good-paying jobs in communities across Alabama,” Britt said.

A provision also freezes funding to Space Command headquarters in Colorado “until a full audit of the Biden Administration’s politically-motivated, reckless basing decision is complete and publicized,” Britt said.

Alabama’s junior senator also put her stamp on the bill with an amendment requiring the Defense Department to submit a report to Congress on the feasibility of allowing servicemembers and their dependents to keep previously retained mental healthcare through telehealth services while transferring between postings.

“I’m also especially proud to have included a provision in the NDAA that represents a positive step forward as we continue to work to better support the wellbeing of our servicemembers and their families,” Britt said. “This provision is aimed at ensuring our military families have expanded access and greater flexibility when it comes to mental health care, and I’ll continue to advance this important mission.”

Another provision, the FINISH IT Act, which Britt cosponsored, would force the Defense Department to allow millions dollars of unused border wall panels already owned by the U.S. government to be used to extend the wall along the U.S.-Mexico border that was started under the Trump Administration.

And the MERIT Act, another Britt-sponsored bill, would ensure military promotions are made on the basis of merit and performance instead of other factors, she said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.