The $900 billion national defense funding act that won approval Wednesday and Thursday in the Senate and the House did not have the support of two Repulican congressmen in Oklahoma.
Reps. Josh Brecheen and Kevin Hern were in the “no” column when the House approved the measure that would allocate $152 million to various operations at Oklahoma’s five military installations. The huge defense appropriations measure won approval on a 310-118 vote and Brecheen and Hern were among the 118.
Brecheen issued a statement explaining his vote after the House approval, calling it a “compromise” National Defense Authorization Act. He said he voted “no” because the Act maintains taxpayer funded abortion travel, taxpayer funded transgender surgeries and radical climate alarmism.
“I could not in good conscience vote for this NDAA that continues the broken status quo,” said the eastern Oklahoma congressman.
“The conservative NDAA that I voted for back in July, which the House passed, contained true reform that would fight back against the social engineering that the Biden Administration is injecting into our military. The NDAA that passed today maintains Biden’s demoralizing social experiment with our troops that harms our military readiness.”
Rep. Brecheen said the Act also continues the unconstitutional FISA 702 program, which has led to the warrantless surveillance of Americans, and even includes $600 million for Ukraine.
Fourth District Congressman Tom Cole, whose district includes Tinker Air Force Base and Fort Sill voted for the measure.
“Indeed, this bill is not perfect — it does not go as far as I would have liked in some areas — but it represents a good-faith compromise that must be reached in divided government,” he said after the vote.
“However, with the threats we face in today’s world, it certainly addresses the need to modernize our military, ensure we have the battleships and aircraft needed in future conflict and strengthens our strategic deterrence, missile defense and hypersonic missile systems.”
Congresswoman Stephanie Bice had much the same thought about the Act, admitting the bill “was not perfect” but she felt the legislation was critical to supporting our national defense.
“When it comes to Sec. 702 of FISA, I agree that critical reforms are needed to ensure that we are protecting the privacy of American citizens. However, this legislation includes a 5.2% pay raise for our servicemembers, the largest in 20 years as well as a Parents’ Bill of Rights at DoD schools, and protections against teaching, training, or promotion of CRT in the military.”