[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 12]
[House]
[Page 16554]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




               NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT VETOED

  (Mrs. BLACKBURN asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. Speaker, my heart breaks for our military men and 
women who last week watched their Commander in Chief as he vetoed the 
NDAA, the National Defense Authorization Act. This was a bill that 
would give them more pay and better benefits for the job that they are 
doing. He vetoed it, great flourish, called a ceremony.
  He vetoed the bill because he wanted more money for his domestic 
agenda that includes more money for broken agencies like the EPA and 
the IRS. Imagine that.
  In Congress, our first responsibility is to provide for the common 
defense, and the NDAA just does that.
  This year's defense bill passed both the House and the Senate with an 
overwhelming bipartisan majority. It is the most reform-centered 
defense bill in decades.
  It includes pay and benefits for our troops. Did you know 83 percent 
of our military personnel have retired with no retirement benefits? It 
changes that.
  The President vetoed it. It would have given them 401(k)-style 
benefits. The President vetoed it. He should be ashamed of those 
actions. The men and women in uniform deserve better.

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