Traditionally, Associated Equipment Distributors (AED) and the broader equipment industry wouldn’t focus much attention on the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The NDAA sets military and defense priorities and policies, authorizes funding levels, and is one of the few bills that Congress passes year-after-year. Since 1961, Congress has passed an NDAA every year.
AED’s awareness was heightened last year, when Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and others attempted to include “right to repair” mandates under the guise of military preparedness. While unsuccessful, due in part to the efforts of AED, in the current Congress, right to repair amendments have been attached to both the House and Senate versions of NDAA. AED remains opposed to the current language in both NDAA’s and we encourage equipment dealers to join our efforts.
Earlier this month, the House Armed Services Committee adopted an amendment by Rep. Maggie Goodlander (D-N.H.) prohibiting the Department of Defense from entering into major weapon systems contracts unless, “the contractor agrees in writing to provide fair and reasonable access to all the repair materials, including parts, tools, and information, used by the manufacturer or provider or their authorized repair providers to diagnose, analyze, maintain, or repair the good or service.” The “fair and reasonable” language will be familiar to anyone encountering right to repair legislation at the state level. In fact, the amendment’s definition of “fair and reasonable access” imitates the awful language attempting to impose right to repair mandates on agriculture equipment and other machinery.
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