After the U.S. Senate recently passed a spending package without a House provision to stop military-funded abortions for service members, U.S. Sen. Katie Britt (R-Montgomery) criticized the ongoing attempt by the Biden administration to "undermine life on the taxpayer dime."
The U.S. Senate recently approved the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) without including several House amendments that would have cut funding to specific "woke" policies.
Earlier this month, the House Freedom Caucus succeeded in introducing amendments removing DEI training, vaccine requirements and abortion funding from the Department of Defense (DOD) from the NDAA.
The NDAA passed the House of Representatives. However, the Senate passed its version of the NDAA on Thursday without including the controversial House amendments. Senators voted 86-11 on the bill, authorizing nearly $886 billion in defense spending for the 2024 fiscal year, including a 5.2% pay raise for servicemembers.
The Republican-majority House and the Democrat-controlled Senate will now go to a conference committee to reach an agreement.
U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Auburn) has taken on the DOD abortion issue head-on by placing a hold on military promotions requiring U.S. Senate confirmation until the Pentagon reversed its policy to fund out-of-state abortions for servicemembers who live in states with abortion restrictions.
Tuberville and others have suggested that the DoD proposals would be illegal, running afoul of the Hyde Amendment.
The Hyde Amendment prohibits any federal money from being used to fund abortions.
"The Biden Administration's radical policy is a clear attack on the longstanding, bipartisan laws that prevent hard-earned taxpayer money from funding abortions. If the parent or sibling of a military service member dies, they are charged leave time and must pay for their own expenses to attend their funeral," Britt said in a statement to 1819 News. "However, if they want to have an elective abortion at eight months of pregnancy, the Biden Administration wants to give them weeks of paid leave and pay for their travel costs with taxpayer dollars. While Senate Democrats continue to back this extremism, the American people can plainly see that politics – not sound policy or even plain common sense – is driving the Administration's actions.
"Senate Republicans were able to block our Democrat colleagues from codifying the Administration's policy in our version of the Fiscal Year 2024 National Defense Authorization Act. As the House and Senate go to conference on the NDAA, it is more important now than ever that the facts are told about what President Biden is doing to undermine life on the taxpayer dime.
She continued, "As a member of the Appropriations Committee, I was also proud yesterday to vote for and successfully advance a measure that preserves the Hyde Amendment for another fiscal year. I will continue to defend life at every turn."
A spokesman for Tuberville also told 1819 News the senator's resolve on the DOD nominations has not changed and will continue until the DOD reverses its policy or the Democrats bring a clean bill to the floor to amend the policy.
To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email craig.monger@1819news.com.
Don't miss out! Subscribe to our newsletter and get our top stories every weekday morning.
