Rep. Roy on National Defense Authorization Act Vote

WASHINGTON – On Tuesday, Rep. Chip Roy (TX-21) issued the following statement regarding his vote against the proposed National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021:

This NDAA is yet another reminder of why the American people are so fed up with how things are done in Washington. Once again, the people’s representatives were handed a bill loaded up with problems and told to vote on it with no chance to amend it via regular order.

This bill perpetuates the war in Afghanistan, curbs the reduction of American troops in Germany, maintains the status quo of undeclared wars all over the globe, prohibits the reduction of wasteful military spending overseas.

That is a blueprint for a military that serves the swamp first and America and her troops last.  

But the nonsense doesn’t stop there. And pushes radical leftist social engineering on our warfighters by the creation of a “Chief Diversity Officer” at the Pentagon. Our military should be focused on defending the American people and defeating our enemies, not catering to the diversity mob.

And to make matters even worse, this bill contains potentially ruinous regulatory burdens and mandates for small businesses at a time when they’re already being put through the wringer by lockdown orders across the country. Small business owners need help and the freedom to rebuild, not more destructive regulation from Washington.

Troop pay raises and bonuses are a good thing, as are helping military families, supporting critical research and vital projects. That’s exactly why we owe to our men and women in uniform to pass something that gives them what they’ve earned. Our service members deserve a clear mission, not an NDAA perpetuates the status quo that gives them a raw deal they don’t deserve. 

And the truth of it is, we could fix all of this if Democrat leadership would let us do our jobs by deliberating, voting and amending this bill in the House chamber through regular order and an open process. This ought to be single-issue legislation focused on defense policy. Instead it contains several policy provisions, like Section 230 repeal, that go well outside of that realm. We owe it to the American people to deliberate this on its merits as a standalone bill, as we should do with all of our legislation. That’s what Congress is supposed to do: deliberate.

We could debate and vote on all these things like we’re supposed to, but the last time we had an open amendment vote on the House floor was 2016. That’s unacceptable. 

I’m voting no because I believe that America’s troops and America’s taxpayers deserve better than this disaster of a defense bill, and I urge all of my colleagues to do the same. 

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