Cleveland Reporter

WASHINGTON, D.C. – On July 14, Congresswoman Shontel Brown (OH-11) voted against the extremist, highly partisan National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), H.R. 2670, which passed the House on a largely party-line vote Friday. In an unprecedented action, House Republicans added a number of unacceptable provisions to the NDAA limiting access to reproductive and gender-affirming care and curtailing efforts to increase diversity, equity, and inclusion in the military.

Congresswoman Shontel Brown releases the following statement:

“My extremist colleagues are once again choosing politics over people by prioritizing grievances over good governance. A handful of my colleagues hijacked the originally and historically bipartisan NDAA at the expense of the American people, and our armed services.

“Regrettably, I must oppose this bill, which is dead-on-arrival in the U.S. Senate. I owe it to my constituents to vote no on any legislation that would strip away reproductive healthcare from our servicemembers, eliminate crucial diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, and discriminate against transgender servicemembers.

“Providing for the national defense and supporting our servicemembers is one of my core responsibilities as a lawmaker, and I will not stop working towards that end. It is expected that the House will hopefully revisit a reasonable and responsible NDAA later this year, and I will continue to fight for those who already sacrifice so much in service to our country.”

Original source can be found here.