Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., attends a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on July 12, 2023, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. (Carlos Bongioanni/Stars and Stripes)
(Tribune News Service) — Alabama Republicans, in touting passage in the House of Representatives of the 2024 defense spending bill, included mentions of amendments to end the Pentagon abortion policy in a fight being led by Sen. Tommy Tuberville.
The National Defense Appropriations Act bill narrowly passed the House on Friday and now moves to the Democrat-controlled Senate – which will likely attempt to halt some provisions in the bill, including on abortion. House Democrats overwhelmingly voted against the bill, including Alabama’s Terri Sewell.
“For years, the far-left Biden Administration has moved to use the military as a venue to showcase their unpopular, liberal social policies,” Alabama Congressman Mike Rogers, R-Saks, said in a statement. Rogers is chair of the House Armed Services Committee.
“I am proud that this year’s NDAA counteracts the woke agenda and refocuses our military on lethality. Specifically, amendments to halt Biden’s unconstitutional abortion travel policy, eliminate unjust DEI measures and prohibit drag shows on military bases all passed in the final House bill,” he said.
The abortion policy, a hot-button issue in Washington these days, permits the military to provide paid leave and travel expenses for servicewomen traveling to obtain an abortion. Tuberville has protested the policy, enacted earlier this year by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, by putting a hold on all military promotions awaiting Senate confirmation.
The stalemate has been ongoing for months with neither side budging and no signs of a resolution, though Austin and Tuberville spoke by phone Thursday for the first time in months.
“This bill prioritizes a strong national defense, military readiness, and servicemembers’ needs over Biden’s far-left, woke agenda at the Department of Defense,” Congressman Barry Moore, a Republican from Enterprise, said in a statement. “In the face of alarming recruiting numbers and emerging global threats, Republicans are working to ensure our military is focused on protecting American citizens instead of holding drag shows and funding travel for abortion.”
Sewell, the state’s lone Democrat in Congress, said in a statement she voted against the NDAA for the first time since coming to Washington in 2010.
“I cannot and will not support a bill that would rip basic health care away from our service members and make bigotry and discrimination a centerpiece of our defense policy,” Sewell’s statement said. “Republicans need to stop playing politics with our national security.”
The defense bill also impacts Alabama financially. Congressman Dale Strong, whose district includes Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, said the bill provides more than $310 million in direct funding for the arsenal and other north Alabama endeavors. Strong also said he worked to block funding for Space Command headquarters spending in Colorado Springs that Colorado lawmakers wanted to add to the bill. The issue of a permanent home for Space Command HQ remains undetermined despite multiple reviews identifying Redstone Arsenal as the best location.
Congressman Gary Palmer of Hoover also hailed the bill as a “win not just for our military but also for Alabamians,” lauding the efforts to halt Space Command work in Colorado.
“To ensure the administration stops playing politics with our national security, section 2866 prohibits funds for being used to build a headquarters for Space Command and cuts the travel budget for the Secretary of the Air Force in half until he submits a report to the congressional defense committees justifying the selection of a permanent location for the headquarters,” Palmer said in a statement. “It’s time to bring Space Command home to Huntsville.”
©2023 Advance Local Media LLC.
Visit al.com
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
