Rep. Roy statement on voting to sustain President Trump's NDAA veto
Rep. Chip Roy (TX-21) issued the following statement after voting to sustain President Trump's veto of the National Defense Authorization Act Monday evening:
As I said when I first voted against this bill, it is a blueprint for a military that serves the swamp first and America and her troops last.
This bill perpetuates the war in Afghanistan, hamstrings the president's reduction of American troops elsewhere, maintains the status quo of undeclared wars all over the globe, prohibits the reduction of wasteful military spending overseas.
It pushes radical leftist social engineering on our warfighters by the creation of a "Chief Diversity Officer" at the Pentagon. Our military should be focused on defending the American people and defeating our enemies, not catering to the diversity mob.
To make matters even worse, this bill contains potentially ruinous regulatory burdens and mandates for small businesses at a time when they're already being put through the wringer by lockdown orders across the country.
Small business owners are already being destroyed by tyrannical lockdowns, adding more destructive regulations from Washington will only make the problem worse.
Troop pay raises and bonuses are a good thing, as are helping military families, supporting critical research and vital projects.That's exactly why we owe to our men and women in uniform to pass legislation that gives them what they've earned.
Our service members deserve a clear mission focused on destroying America's enemies. Instead, this NDAA perpetuates a status quo that gives them a raw deal.
We could debate and vote on all these things like we're supposed to, but the last time we had an open amendment vote on the House floor was 2016. That's unacceptable.
President Trump was absolutely right to veto this legislation and I was happy to vote against overriding his veto. Congress should go back to the drawing board and fix this. America's troops and America's taxpayers deserve better than this.