Even though the U.S. House passed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) last week, Rep. Tom Rooney (R-FL) blasted Democrats who failed to vote in favor of the legislation, which authorizes $612 billion in funding for the military.
“There’s very little that shocks me in D.C. anymore,” Rooney said. “But I was surprised and disappointed that House Democrats, who supported this bill just two weeks ago in committee, pulled their support as part of an unrelated political stunt. They’ll have to explain to the troops and military families in their districts why they were for this bill and now they’re against it.”
The NDAA bill passed the House Armed Services Committee earlier this month by a resounding vote of 60-2. Many Congressmen from the Democratic Party reversed their position in the full House vote, reportedly in protest for an unrelated issue.
“Without this bill, we can’t pay our troops’ salaries and benefits, provide the equipment they need to stay alive in the field, give them the tools to complete their missions, or put food on their families’ tables,” Rooney said. “We need this bill to fund the weapons and programs that keep Americans safe, combat global terrorism and support our allies.
Highlighted provisions of the NDAA include: funding the national defense at the level set by Congress’ balanced budget plan and the president’s budget request; improving pay and benefits for America’s troops and families, including allowing service members to contribute to a portable retirement plan, cutting the backlog for military childcare, and improving coordination for medications between the Department of Defense (DOD) and the Department of Veterans Affairs; reforming DOD’s acquisition system to streamline the process, improve accountability and eliminate outdated regulations; providing greater protection for victims of sexual assault; and keeping Gitmo terrorists out of the United States and rolling back the president’s authority to transfer them to other countries unilaterally.
Other provisions include: strengthening America’s cyber defenses and fully authorizing all U.S. Cyber Command Military Service programs; improving mental health services; providing lethal aid to Ukraine, so it can better defend itself from Russian aggression; improving missile defense capabilities; and authorizing resources for planning an East Coast missile defense site.