[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 100 (Thursday, June 13, 2024)]
[House]
[Pages H3984-H3985]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          NDAA DISAPPOINTMENT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
New Jersey (Ms. Sherrill) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. SHERRILL. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to share my deep 
disappointment in what my colleagues on the far right have done with 
this year's National Defense Authorization Act.
  Instead of building on the bipartisan work we achieved in the Armed 
Services Committee, they have loaded up the bill with MAGA culture war 
amendments and refused to allow a vote on amendments that would improve 
the quality of life for servicemembers, their families, and the 
American people.
  For centuries, a cornerstone of the American people's trust in our 
military has been reinforced by laws like the Posse Comitatus Act, 
which provides a guarantee that our Armed Forces are there to protect 
them, not police them.
  There are dangerous gaps in the laws that govern National Guard 
deployment. Every year since the former President first abused these 
laws to suppress protests in Washington, D.C., I have introduced an 
amendment to make sure that any future President cannot skirt these 
important laws.
  If elected to another term, Donald Trump has promised to be a 
dictator on day one and has outlined his intent to weaponize the 
military and law enforcement to go after his political opponents. I 
can't say I am surprised that this year the House is refusing to even 
debate this amendment.
  I am also deeply concerned by the turn this bill took when it comes 
to our servicewomen. When I was first commissioned 30 years ago at the 
Naval Academy, there were many who argued against women serving in 
leadership positions. People circulated James Webb's op-ed titled: 
``Women Can't Fight.'' They said women couldn't withstand the g-force 
of F-15s like men could.
  In fact, the Chief of Naval Operations at the time said women 
wouldn't be serving on submarines in his lifetime and received a 
standing ovation from the brigade of midshipmen.
  By the time I graduated, things were changing. My class of 1994 was 
the first eligible to serve in most combat roles, so I got my wings. I 
became a helicopter pilot and helicopter commander, and I flew missions 
across the globe.
  It is that opportunity that allowed me to eventually become a Member 
of Congress, the fact that I was given the opportunity to lead, serve, 
and climb the ranks in pursuit of a shared mission. It is because of 
that progress that we finally have the first woman Chief of Naval 
Operations and member of the Joint Chiefs. We have the first female 
commander of an aircraft carrier, my classmate, and the first woman 
superintendent of the Naval Academy.

  Today, I see my Republican colleagues trying to take us backward, 
offering amendments to strip women's ability to serve in combat roles, 
to make our military less inclusive for Black, Brown, and LGBTQ 
servicemembers, and to repeal the Pentagon's policy that allows 
servicewomen to be reimbursed for travel to get an abortion.
  Frankly, it is like we are living in The Upside Down. These policies 
will not make our military stronger. It will make it harder to recruit 
and retain talented Americans who simply want to serve our country, 
just like I did.
  Today, after the fall of Roe, we are sending servicewomen and their 
families to serve in States with draconian abortion laws, States like 
Texas, which has the 49th worst reproductive care in the Nation.
  These are orders. They don't have a choice of where they want to 
serve. If

[[Page H3985]]

we are going to tell them to serve in Texas or Florida, we should, at a 
bare minimum, ensure that they have the baseline reproductive care and 
rights that they deserve.
  We send servicewomen overseas to risk their lives for their country. 
We should not be sending them to Texas or Florida or Idaho to risk 
their lives giving birth.
  That is why I offered an amendment to codify the DOD's travel policy, 
an amendment to ensure that military service providers know the care 
they are legally obligated to provide servicewomen and their families, 
an amendment to ensure that servicewomen know the care they are 
entitled to regardless of where they are stationed, and an amendment to 
ensure that the military can provide emergency care to servicewomen, 
including medically necessary abortions. It is why I offered an 
amendment to lift restrictions on the DOD, so military facilities have 
the freedom to perform abortions.
  Guess what? All of these amendments were ruled out of order by my 
far-right MAGA colleagues on the Rules Committee. In the greatest 
deliberative body in the world, my Republican colleagues wouldn't even 
bring these up for a debate or a vote. They would rather tuck their 
plans away in Trump's Project 2025 or a speech to the Susan B. Anthony 
List rather than debate them on the merits or go on the record with 
their votes.
  Mr. Speaker, I know, as a veteran, that we must do better for 
servicemembers and military families, but today's bill has once again 
been hijacked by the far right, not to improve our military or national 
security, but to drive an agenda that makes America look small, attacks 
women, and ultimately will be detrimental to the greatest fighting 
force in the world.

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