WASHINGTON (September 30, 2015) - The American Hotel & Lodging Association (AH&LA) issued the following statement on the final National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) conference report.

"The hotel industry prides itself on serving military communities across the country and the Pentagon's policy to drastically cut the military per diem rates for workers who are on long-term travel makes it extremely difficult for hotels serving the military to offer acceptable levels of accommodations or serve federal workers," said AH&LA Vanessa Sinders, senior vice president of Government Affairs. "Although we wish the conference committee followed the lead of the House and repealed this policy, we truly appreciate the diligence and determination from Congressman Kilmer, who began this fight, along with the resolute efforts of Congressman Takai and Senator Hirono, to push back on the Pentagon's policy and ensure that it will at least be reviewed by the Government Accountability Office. We believe that the study will show the negative impact on federal workers from this new Pentagon policy. We will continue to support per diem policies that allow hotels to serve military communities and will pursue other avenues for repealing the cuts."