U.S. Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-TX), ranking member of the U.S. House Armed Services Committee, continued to make his dissatisfaction known with specific provisions in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2020, which is expected to see action this week by the U.S. House of Representatives.
The Armed Services Committee on June 13 voted 33-24 to pass the bipartisan H.R. 2500, which Rep. Thornberry cosponsored in May with bill sponsor U.S. Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA).
“Normally the NDAA is a product of bipartisan consensus that allows Congress to execute our most important constitutional duty,” Rep. Thornberry said on Tuesday. “Unfortunately, partisan provisions in this bill have robbed it of bipartisan support.”
The congressman outlined several issues he has with the NDAA, including the proposed funding topline of $735 billion, which includes numerous reductions for personnel accounts that fund troop pay, benefits and housing; hypersonics, ship construction, 5G development, and rapid innovation programs; and nuclear deterrent programs, among others.
“Through this bill, House Democrats are forcing our troops to pay the price for their political disputes with the president,” said Rep. Thornberry. “From personnel accounts, where the NDAA cuts funding to meet an arbitrary topline; to military construction, where critical projects will go unfunded because House Democrats refuse to backfill funding used for border security, our troops will pay the price for Washington’s dysfunction.”
Rep. Thornberry added that the NDAA “turns back vital investments in nuclear modernization, short changes development of critical technologies, and endangers readiness recovery.”
He also isn’t happy that certain NDAA provisions appear to be a backdoor effort to force the Trump administration to close the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay and move terrorists to the mainland, according to his office.
Additionally, the NDAA would ban construction projects at the U.S.-Mexico border and would put restrictions on the U.S. military’s missions to support border security, the lawmaker’s office said.
“This week, House Republicans will work to restore critical programs, and with them, the bipartisan support this critical legislation has traditionally enjoyed,” Rep. Thornberry said.