Rep. Escobar Explains Why She Voted “No” on NDAA

Texas Representative Veronica Escobar (D) took to Twitter to explain why she voted “no” on the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).

The NDAA is typically approved with bipartisan support. However, because of some opposition from Republican representatives as well as some added measures, it struggled to pass the House.

“Every year that I’ve been in Congress, I have helped craft and – even if the bill didn’t achieve all we worked on – voted in favor of the annual National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). Today, I voted against the FY24 NDAA,” said Rep. Escobar.

The Texas Representative took issue with the changes to the bill suggested by Republicans.

“Unfortunately, despite a number of compromises made to ensure passage of a solidly bipartisan bill out of the House Armed Services Committee, the amendments added on the House floor this week have created a radically different bill.”

Much of the criticism of the narrowly-passed bill is based on the priorities that have been inserted into the bill.

“House Republicans took a carefully-crafted piece of legislation that put our national defense and servicemembers first, and turned it into a product of the extremism that has gripped their party.”

Rep. Escobar accused the House of attacking service members’ “freedom.”

“The House FY24 NDAA is littered with amendments that attack the freedom, well-being, and support we should be ensuring for our servicemembers and their families.”

The bill includes a pay raise for military members, measures to combat China and $300 million toward support for Ukraine. However, the bill also introduced new measures. 

“The final version bears no resemblance to the bipartisan legislation I voted for in committee. It now includes: a back-door effort to enact a national abortion ban, limits to health care, reversals of investments to protect installations impacted by the climate crisis.”

Rep. Escobar criticized Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (R) for his leadership in the House.

“Instead, this bill demonstrates what happens when Republican extremists are empowered by weak party leadership and given free reign to hijack a critical bipartisan tradition. The end result imperils our servicemembers and their families.”

The Texas lawmaker claimed that the new bill could hinder the military going forward.

“This bill will intensify our recruitment and retention crisis, harm our military’s readiness at a time of great global turmoil, undermine our national defense and security, and strip freedoms from the very people fighting for ours.”

“Our nation is strongest when those who serve and their families get the resources and respect they need and deserve. This piece of legislation in its current form isn’t just unworthy of support, but is an example of the dangers posed by political extremism,” concluded Rep. Escobar.

The bill is headed to the Senate for a debate. The Senate will presumably write up their own version of the bill that will result in a compromised version of a new bill.