Tuberville urges Congress to pass the NDAA

December 4, 2024 – WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-Alabama) spoke on the Senate floor about the urgent need to pass the Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The NDAA – like the budget – is supposed to be passed before the start of the fiscal year – October 1; but yet again Congress as a whole and especially the Senate has not done their work and gotten this done.

In his speech, Sen. Tuberville highlighted key conservative wins in the NDAA, including slashing funding for gender transition surgeries and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs in the military. Sen. Tuberville emphasized the need for strong leadership in the Pentagon and expressed his continued support for President Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth.

The Senate version of the NDAA passed out of the Senate Armed Services Committee almost six months ago.

“The Senate's version of this year's NDAA includes some excellent provisions, including a 4.5% pay raise for America's military service members,” said Sen. Tuberville. “This is a pay raise for the boots on the ground, not the top brass at the Pentagon. We secured powerful, new security initiatives in the Indo-Pacific. And provisions that advance our Counter-Unmanned Aircraft Systems technologies. “

Tuberville urged the Pentagon to focus, “Focus on its mission to ‘deter war and ensure our nation's security.’”

Tuberville said that he supports an amendment,” Slashing all funding for the woke ‘Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion’ policies at the DOD. Another amendment prohibits the use of taxpayer dollars for any costs associated with funding gender transition surgeries.”

“We need a military that is 100% focused on protecting our country and enhancing national security—not implementing a woke Biden agenda,” Sen. Tuberville said. “The military is not a social experiment; it should be a lethal fighting force feared by our enemies and made up of our best and brightest in this country. This is why I applaud the work of the Senate Armed Service Committee and Ranking Member Wicker's leadership for putting together this excellent piece of legislation.”

“If Senator Schumer really cared about our military, he would have brought the NDAA up for a vote almost six months ago,” charged Tuberville. “But instead, we’ve been prioritizing liberal judges for the final weeks he has as Majority Leader. Senate Democrats are more interested in burning taxpayer dollars on an unwinnable war in Ukraine than passing our military budget.”

“Sadly, we've seen this time and again: leadership that would rather cater to the woke [Biden] administration agenda than ensuring our military is a lethal fighting force,” said Sen. Tuberville. “On November 5th, nearly 77 million Americans joined me [in] taking a stand to say, ‘enough of this nonsense.’ The American people gave President Trump a mandate to get Washington working for the people again.”

“President Trump is returning to the White House and has nominated Pete Hegseth to serve as Secretary of Defense,” continued Tuberville. “I just met with Pete on Monday, and I have known him for a long time. And he is the man we need leading our military. Pete is smart, he’s battle-tested, and he’s prepared to lead. Pete has actually had a real job in the military on the battlefield. Not pushing paper in some stuffy room in the Pentagon.”

“If confirmed, Pete will focus on rebuilding peace through strength—putting America first and prioritizing America's military readiness,” said Tuberville. “He will focus on lethality and maintaining our competitive edge. Not to mention getting our recruitment problems straightened out. And boy, do we have problems. With military recruitment tanking, what better way to inspire young men and women to join the most lethal fighting force in the world than by nominating a decorated veteran who served in two wars and is closer to their age?”

While Tuberville is backing Hegseth some of his Republican colleagues in the Senate have expressed grave reservations. There are allegations that Hegseth has an alcohol problem, was prone to drinking to excess when employed at Fox News; and has acted inappropriately toward women between his two marriages. The Trump transition team has dismissed the reports as a “smear campaign” but some Republican Senators have said that the allegations are troubling. Hegseth for his part has vowed to keep fighting.

Senator Tommy Tuberville was elected to the Senate in 2020. He is a member of the Senae Armed Services Committee.

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