I have received many phone calls over the last week from constituents who are concerned with President Biden’s troubling decision to send cluster munitions to Ukraine and rising tensions with a nuclear power.
I certainly share their concern over the President’s lack of leadership in this matter and the impact that sending so many weapons and supplies to Ukraine will have on our own military readiness. Of course I support the people of Ukraine as they fight back against a brutal Russian invasion, however, Americans deserve transparency and accountability for how their tax dollars are being spent as well as a well-thought out exit strategy. Click here to read more of my thoughts on this developing situation.
These growing concerns are one of the main reasons I proudly voted in favor of this year’s National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) last week. This year’s NDAA includes provisions to provide for the needs of servicemembers and their families through a record 5.2% pay increase, improved housing allowance and access to healthcare, and much needed oversight from bureaucratic overreach. It safeguards taxpayer dollars by cracking down on waste, fraud, and abuse while defunding woke initiatives and countering Communist China’s aggression. It also contains language that will provide assistance to the 8,000 servicemembers who were discharged for exercising their medical freedom and refusing to comply with the covid-19 vaccine mandate. In addition to removing penalties they endured, the bill provides a path back to service. I was extremely disappointed that my proposed amendment to add the Major Richard Star Act into the NDAA was not accepted. I also supported an amendment to the NDAA that would strip any funding for Ukraine from the package for the reasons mentioned above. Unfortunately, not enough of my colleagues joined me on that measure and it did not pass. However, the NDAA is still an important step forward in keeping our country safe during these turbulent times!
