Authorizing Defense: Senator Scott yes, Congressman Duncan no

Senator Scott Secures Critical State & National Wins in Annual Defense Bill

WASHINGTON — Today, U.S. Senator Tim Scott (R-S.C.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs and member of the Committee on Foreign Relations, issued the following statement after final adoption of the Conference Report to accompany the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2024:

“Whether it’s the border crisis here at home or our adversaries flagrantly attacking our troops and allies around the globe, we’ve witnessed first-hand the dangerous repercussions of President Biden’s weak leadership on the world stage. This year’s NDAA takes critical steps to restore American leadership, bolster our southern border, curb the influence of foreign adversaries like China and Russia and support our brave men and women in uniform and their families. 

“South Carolina serves as a vital training ground for and home to so many of the selfless Americans who serve this nation. From the Low Country to the Upstate, this bill invests in South Carolina’s military facilities and supports our critical defense industry, ensuring our state continues to serve an important role in our national security at home and abroad.” 

Provisions in the FY2024 NDAA championed by Senator Scott include:

• Increasing pay for service members by 5.2%;
• Combating the influence of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) on U.S. higher education by requiring the Secretary of the Treasury to report gifts and grants given to U.S. universities from entities in the Chinese military-industrial complex;
• Ending China’s unfair advantage by requiring the Department of State to oppose any effort to label China as a ‘developing nation’ at international organizations or in future treaties;
• Preventing the mismanagement of taxpayer funds by requiring the examination of U.S. diplomatic language programs to ensure foreign service officers receive the training they need to advance America’s interests around the world;
• Requiring the Department of State to explore alternative methods to fill numerous, long-standing vacancies at U.S. embassies, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa—an issue Senator Scott raised with Secretary of State Antony Blinken that hinders our ability to collaborate with African partners and counter China and Russia’s expanding influence;
• Creating a new fellowship within the Fulbright Program for the study of nonviolent civil rights movements, in honor of civil rights icon Congressman John Lewis;
• Requiring the Secretary of State to notify Congress when the security clearances of senior members of the Department of State are suspended or revoked, to prevent another security lapse like the one that occurred with the most-recent U.S. Special Envoy for Iran; and
• Historic level funding for the Department of Defense Historically Black Collegesand Universities (HBCU) and Minority Serving Institutions Program. 

South Carolina specific provisions included in the FY2024 NDAA include:

• $66 million in funding to complete new barracks at Fort Jackson;
• $20 million in funding for the Aiken County National Guard Readiness Center;
• $4.37 million in funding to complete the National Guard Readiness Center at Joint Base Charleston;
• $7.9 million in funding for an automated multipurpose machine gun range at the McCrady Training Center in Columbia, South Carolina; and
• $2.7 billion in funding to support the Savannah River Site, including $1 billion for plutonium modernization activities and $1.6 billion for operations and maintenance. 

CNN says military personnel will get a raise here.

Congressman Jeff Duncan Votes ‘NO’ on the National Defense Authorization Act

Washington, D.C. — As the House debated the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that is the authorization act for the United States military, Representative Jeff Duncan voted NO and released the following statement:

“My constituents did not send me to Washington to vote in favor of taxpayer-funded abortions,” said Congressman Jeff Duncan. “I voted NO on the NDAA because I’m fighting to ensure not $1 tax dollar funds abortion, to defund all woke Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) policies, and to ensure no tax dollars ever are used to fund drag shows.”

“The NDAA should ensure our warfighters are trained to kill the enemy, not make up preferred pronouns. It should ensure we have a fleet of planes, tanks, battleships, and drones that can suppress any evil actor that may threaten America or our way of life. Instead, we were told to vote for an NDAA that funds Joe Biden’s agenda to make our military woke and to make citizens pay to murder a baby through abortion.

“Lastly, I refuse to support the NDAA’s extension of FISA to allow Biden’s FBI to continue spying on Americans without a search warrant. We need serious reforms to FISA to protect the rights of every American. Over the last seven years, we have seen an unprecedented set of FISA abuses against former President Donald Trump. What the FBI did to Donald Trump is emblematic of what they can do to every American unless we severely roll back the warrantless wiretapping authorities of FISA.”

“I remain committed to reining in government overreach, encroachment on your civil liberties, and attempts to treat our military like a liberal social program.”

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Background: The FY24 NDAA was opposed by stalwart conservatives in the House, conservative think tanks, and Americans who hold to traditional values and believe our military should be trained to kill the enemy instead of be trained in gender studies.

Heritage Action said “The FY24 National Defense Authorization Act should provide our Armed Forces with the tools and resources needed to deter conflict and require the Department of Defense (DoD) to focus solely on its fundamental mission of safeguarding our nation's security. The FY24 NDAA conference report fails to adequately fulfill these responsibilities and further undermines the integrity of our military. The American people should not be forced to fund a Pentagon that facilitates abortion, enables sex reassignment surgeries, and promotes the corrosive influence of Critical Race Theory and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion initiatives. Unfortunately, many of those necessary policy changes were stripped from the final conference report.”

The House Freedom Caucus said “The Washington Swamp is destroying Americans’ way of life and Republicans must fight for conservative policy wins to change the status quo. The House and the Senate should have had a true conference negotiation on the FY24 NDAA—as the House voted to do. It is unacceptable that a predetermined deal reached by the “four corners” behind closed doors has been air-dropped into the process to undermine many of the most critical House GOP positions.”

The Eagle Forum said, “We are very disappointed in the final version of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2024…. Using our nation’s military, the Biden administration is propping up the abortion industry, disenfranchising women, and breaking standing law.”

FreedomWorks said “While the language in NDAA is being framed as a short-term extension, it’s actually a 16-month extension. That means that this extension of FISA will perpetuate the FBI’s warrantless search of Americans’ communications for another 16 months. The use of FISA to warrantlessly search Americans’ communications isn’t a theoretical notion. The intelligence community conducts more than 200,000 searches of Americans’ communications annually. FISA has been used to wrongfully spy on donors to a congressional campaign, individuals engaged in lawful First Amendment activities, journalists, and members of Congress without a warrant.”