Ne Colorado News

WASHINGTON – Congresswoman Yadira Caraveo, M.D. (CO-08) on July 14 passed her two floor amendments to the National Defense Authorization Act, but voted against the final package after Speaker McCarthy allowed through poison pill amendments that spoiled the normally bipartisan defense spending bill. 

“Every year this Congress successfully passes a bipartisan package in support of our servicemembers and our national security interests here and abroad. Sadly, Mr. McCarthy is now bending to the will of his most extreme Members with this poison-pill-filled package that limits abortion care, decreases troop readiness, and hurts our national security,” said Congresswoman Caraveo. “I’m hopeful that when this package goes to conference, cooler heads in the Senate will prevail and the final outcome will be a commonsense package we can all support, including a healthy pay raise for our servicemembers.” 

Caraveo’s passed NDAA amendments included: 

1. A provision allowing transitioning service members to learn about agriculture through the Transition Assistance Program (TAP)

· TAP is a program that helps active-duty servicemembers transition into civilian life by providing resources for jobs, housing, etc. 

· In statute, the program must provide two days of instruction regarding a topic selected by the member. This amendment would require that there be a topic that includes preparation for agriculture, which would help connect transitioning soldiers to resources at the USDA and bolster our agricultural workforce.

2. A provision requiring the Secretary of Defense to conduct a report on the transition process for service members with healthcare backgrounds and the number of transitioning service members that join the Medical Reserve Corps. This follows after a similar effort Caraveo undertook in the Colorado House.

Congresswoman Caraveo strongly supports many of the provisions in the base text of the National Defense Authorization Act that passed out of Committee, including:

• A 5.2% pay raise for servicemembers
• Eliminating TRICARE copays on contraception for one-year
• Support for mental healthcare for our servicemembers and efforts to decrease wait times for care
• Improving access to childcare for families of servicemembers by expanding the in-home childcare pilot program
• Infrastructure funding to replace poor and failing barracks
• Investments to strengthen our defense against threats abroad and support key friends and allies

But while the National Defense Authorization Act is normally a bipartisan package, Speaker McCarthy unfortunately bowed to pressures from the most extreme members in his Conference and allowed through poison-pill amendments that are non-starters for the rest of the Congress. Those non-starters include limiting abortion for US servicemembers, striking necessary funding for Ukraine.

Original source can be found here