Friday, the U.S. House of Representatives approved the National Defense Authorization Act by a 219-210 vote.
The legislation came out of the chamber by a near-party-line vote and now heads to the U.S. Senate, where this version is expected to have an uphill climb.
However, House Freedom Caucus members successfully inserted language into the bill that fulfilled conservative priorities, including military abortion policy, the vaccine mandate and taxpayer-funded transgender surgeries.
The abortion issue has been one that U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Auburn) has taken on head-on by placing a hold on military promotions requiring U.S. Senate confirmation until the Pentagon reversed its policy.
During an interview with Mobile radio FM Talk 106.5's "The Jeff Poor Show" on Friday, U.S. Rep. Barry Moore (R-Enterprise) said the bill shows House Republicans had the embattled Tuberville's back on the issue.
"We're not going to tax-fund transgender surgeries for military personnel," he said. "Senator [Tommy] Tuberville has been holding the line in the Senate for paying for abortion travel for military personnel. We stripped that out in the NDAA with an amendment. Now Tuberville has 217 House members saying, 'Hey, we're standing with you, sir.' ... And reinstating soldiers who were forced out by the vaccines. There are some things, Jeff, that are in this NDAA that we can be proud of. I was glad I could vote for it this time. I wasn't able last time. But I was able to support it this time because I have military in my district. I have a lot of family history with military. We want to support our soldiers. We want to give them pay raises. But there are lines in the sand that we simply cannot cross, and funding abortion was one Barry Moore — that I could not cross."
Moore continued, "So, the fact we got it in there, we got it to the Senate now. We'll see how it goes. And we've got an opportunity. It will go back into conference. But I think we sent a solid message to the Senate today: Hey, we can do what they say can't be done. We can pull the conference to the right. We can put common-sense amendments that the American people can support in the NDAA, and it's a win for the American people. It's a win for the House Freedom Caucus. It's a win for our military personnel."
Jeff Poor is the editor in chief of 1819 News and host of "The Jeff Poor Show," heard Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-noon on Mobile's FM Talk 106.5. To connect or comment, email jeff.poor@1819News.com or follow him on Twitter @jeff_poor.
Don't miss out! Subscribe to our newsletter and get our top stories every weekday morning.
