July 14, 2023

Rep. Val Hoyle Votes ‘No’ on House-passed NDAA, which Includes Unrelated and Controversial Amendments and Fails to Rein in Excessive Pentagon Spending

Hoyle Votes in Favor of Supporting our Military Servicemembers, Healthcare Access, and Increased Privacy Amendments

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, U.S. Representative Val Hoyle (OR-04) voted against the House-passed National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). After the NDAA passed in the U.S. House Armed Services Committee with strong bipartisan support, Rep. Kevin McCarthy and House Republican leaders allowed a series of unrelated controversial amendments on a range of social and privacy issues to come the floor. The base bill also did nothing to rein in billions in Pentagon spending or take tangible steps to stop our country’s involvement in endless wars.

Congresswoman Hoyle supports many of the national security and policy priorities laid out in the committee-passed version of the bill – including a pay increase for military service members and provisions that lower their housing, healthcare, and childcare costs. But the inclusion of unrelated controversial amendments around abortion policy; the removal of diversity, equity, and inclusion programs important to military recruitment and retention; and attacks on common-sense climate change policy made the bill unsupportable.

“It is unacceptable for Kevin McCarthy and House Republican leaders to use poison pills in the NDAA when a real debate on military policy and security is needed. You can’t say you care about our service men and women and then cram a bunch of poison pills into a previously bipartisan bill that they knew would make it difficult to pass. I am concerned about the continued increase in the defense budget without enough focus on supporting our service members,” said Rep. Hoyle.

Rep. Hoyle’s Bipartisan work

Throughout the 118^th Congress, Rep. Hoyle has worked across the aisle on legislation to take back Congress’s constitutional war powers authority. She was disappointed the NDAA didn’t include provisions to restore Congress’s checks on the president.

She introduced a bipartisan amendment to prohibit U.S. involvement in the war in Yemen that has not been authorized by Congress.

She also cosponsored bipartisan amendments to end unauthorized U.S. military involvement in Syria, and to repeal the 1991, 2001, and 2002 Authorizations for the Use of Military Force (AUMFs), which have been misused by presidents of both parties to wage endless wars around the world.

Parts of the NDAA Supported by Rep. Hoyle

She strongly supported a well-deserved 5.2 percent pay raise for military servicemembers, the largest pay raise in 20 years.

She also supported provisions to lower housing, healthcare, and childcare costs for military families; strengthen the Department of Defense (DOD) civilian workforce; and, eliminate contraceptive co-pays for one year for military spouses and families.

She cosponsored a bipartisan amendment to rein in mass surveillance by preventing the federal government from being able to freely purchase Americans’ private data. This amendment passed by unanimous voice vote.

She cosponsored an amendment to protect access to reproductive healthcare for military servicemembers, but the Republican House majority did not allow a vote on this amendment.

Hoyle also supported amendments to require the Department of Defense (DOD) to pass an audit to account for potential waste, fraud, and abuse of U.S. taxpayer money, to help rein in excessive Pentagon spending.

Congresswoman Val Hoyle represents Oregon’s newly drawn fourth congressional district, which includes Benton, Coos, Curry, Lane, and Lincoln counties as well as part of Douglas County. Representative Hoyle serves on the U.S. House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and the U.S. House Committee on Natural Resources. Visit https://hoyle.house.gov/ or follow @RepValHoyle for more information.

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