Betty McCollum

06/28/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 06/28/2024 09:50

House Republicans’ Defense Funding Bill Weakens U.S. National Security and Undermines Democracy at Home and Abroad

Today, the House passed Republicans' extreme 2025 Defense funding bill that harms our military readiness, undermines democracy at home and abroad, and abandons Ukraine. Instead of investing in our national security and the issues that matter most to our men and women in uniform, the bill includes harmful policy riders that divide our nation.

The legislation:

  • Eliminates support for Ukraine by not providing any funding for the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative.
  • Undermines democracy at home and abroadby allowing disinformation campaigns and extremist views to flourish.
  • Fails to invest in critical climate change programs necessary to protect our military installations.
  • Harms readiness with divisive provisions that undermine morale and fail to support our service personnel, by:
    • Further limiting women's access to abortion by preventing service personnel from traveling to seek reproductive health care;
    • Cutting vital civilian positions;
    • Attacking the LGBTQ+ community with hateful policies; and
    • Banning funding for diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts.
"As Ranking Member of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, and former Chair, I know how critical the annual Defense Appropriations Act is to ensuring our national security. That is why it is so disappointing to see the Republican majority continue to use this important legislation as a vehicle to advance extreme MAGA social policies that are not supported by the American people," Defense Appropriations Subcommittee Ranking Member Betty McCollum (D-MN-04) said. "The Fiscal Year 2025 Defense Appropriations Act is once again loaded with offensive and unnecessary provisions that divide Americans and weaken our national security. Like last year, Republicans have made a bad bill worse on the floor of the House of Representatives, and I am deeply concerned about the negative impacts on recruitment and retention efforts across the military if this bill were to be enacted as written. Our national security cannot afford another chaotic appropriations process like the one House Republicans ran last year. Unfortunately, that is the path we are currently on. Republicans must return to a bipartisan process and work with Democrats to produce a Defense Appropriations bill that meets the needs of all our service members, their families, and keeps our nation safe."

Congresswoman McCollum's full remarks are here.

"Congress has the unique and solemn responsibility of providing the funds necessary to defend and protect our nation. In Connecticut, we understand the importance of the investments we make in the annual Defense funding bill. But the bill House Republicans just forced through does not advance our national defense capabilities. It weakens our national security, undermines democracy at home and abroad, and threatens our military readiness." Appropriations Committee Ranking Member Rosa DeLauro (D-CT-03) said. "The House Republican majority has once again chosen to take us down the same chaotic path as last year, filling their unserious funding bills with extreme cuts and policies that would harm United States' safety and security. Despite broad bipartisan support for Ukraine, the bill rewards Russia by failing to fundthe Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative. Itcontains a laundry list of partisan proposals that divide Americans and appease their most hateful, extreme members, including provisions that hurt servicemembers and further their goal of making abortion illegal nationally by making it harder for women in our military to obtain reproductive care. By forcing consideration of this bill, the majority has sent a message to our adversaries that Republicans care more about scoring political points than giving our servicemembers the certainty of government funding process completed on time."

Congresswoman DeLauro's full remarks are here.

A summary of the bill can be found here. A fact sheet of the bill is here.

The text and accompanying report of the legislation, before action on the House Floor, is available here.

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