Polk Times

WASHINGTON, D.C. — On July 14, 2023, Rep. Scott Franklin (FL-18), a former House Armed Services Committee member who now sits on the House Appropriations Committee voted for the Fiscal Year 2024 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The bill passed the House by a vote of 219 – 210.

“As a 26-year Naval Aviator, I know our armed forces exist to fight and win wars in defense of America, not to further political ideologies or social experiments,” Rep. Franklin said. “The NDAA we passed today authorizes the resources and programs to do just that – nothing more, nothing less. This bill trims waste and saves taxpayer money. It also gives our men and women in uniform the largest raise in over 20 years, combats the growing threat from China and invests the resources needed to ensure our troops maintain military dominance.”

The 2024 NDAA includes dozens of important GOP priorities.  Key highlights include:

• Does NOT exceed the spending levels set for defense in the Fiscal Responsibility Act
• Saves taxpayers $40 billion by cutting obsolete and inefficient programs
• Penalizes DOD for cost overruns and curtails waste and requires DOD IG to conduct a comprehensive audit of price and cost data
• Creates an Inspector General for Ukraine Security Assistance to provide accountability and complete an audit of ALL aid provided to Ukraine
• Cracks down on unauthorized military personnel record releases and strengthens Congressional oversight of DOD activities
• Gets rid of DOD’s Chief Diversity Officer and guts the Pentagon’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) bureaucracy
• Prohibits any funds for any advisory committee dealing with race, gender, sexual orientation or social justice
• Prevents a DOD “Green New Deal” and other climate change or environmental justice programs 
• Creates a pathway for reinstatement for servicemembers wrongfully discharged during the COVID pandemic
• Provides $9.7 billion for the Pacific Deterrence Initiative to counter China’s malign influence, which is $600 million more than requested by President Biden
• Requires the DOD to identify and mitigate land purchases and other activities by the CCP near U.S. military installations 
• Tightens restrictions to reduce the DOD’s dependence on China

For more information on the FY24 NDAA you can click here. 

Original source can be found here.