Rep. Veasey Statement on Passage of 2015 NDAA
Washington D.C. – Congressman Marc Veasey, TX-33, member of the House Armed Services Committee, released the following statement after the House passed of H.R. 3979, the National Defense Authorization for Fiscal Year 2015:
"Today, I voted in favor of H.R. 3979, the National Defense Authorization for Fiscal Year 2015 (NDAA). This bipartisan bill was created in good faith between both the House and Senate Armed Services Committees and represents our commitment to our military troops, their families, and our national security.
For the Metroplex, this legislation ensures that we continue to fund vital national security programs that are essential to our local economy, provides a one percent pay-raise for our troops, and improves the Department's handling of sexual assault and suicide prevention programs.
Most importantly, the 2015 NDAA restores $818 million in critical cuts that have affected our nation's military readiness. Although this is the first step in ensuring that our troops have the airfields, facilities and other infrastructure they need to successfully complete their missions at home and overseas, the real test will come when we decide whether we will pass a sensible budget that removes any threat to our national security."
Last month, Congressman Veasey wrote a letter to Speaker Boehner urging him to restore any funding cuts that pose a threat to our national security and military readiness. A copy of the letter can be found below.
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November 25, 2014
The Honorable John Boehner
Speaker, U.S. House of Representatives
H-232 The Capitol
Washington, DC 20515
Dear Speaker Boehner,
As we near the end of the 113th Congress, I would like to take this opportunity to implore you, again, to take action on an issue of urgent importance: ending the threat that sequestration poses to our military readiness and national security. While the threat of a more than one trillion dollar, across the board spending cut was postponed until 2016 by the Murray-Ryan budget compromise in late 2013, we should all agree that Congress must take bipartisan and balanced action on this serious problem before the close of the 113th Congress.
Earlier this month, the new commandant of the Marine Corps, Gen. Joseph Dunford reported that "up to half of our U.S. Marine Corps units at their home bases are below required levels of readiness" due to equipment and personnel shortfalls caused by the threat of sequestration. In addition, Joint Chief of Staff Chairman Martin Dempsey calls sequestration the "steepest, deepest cuts at a time I would attest is more dangerous than it's ever been." These serious problems for our defense community are in addition to flight delays, diminished ability by the Centers for Disease control to respond to infectious disease outbreaks, decreased food safety and unacceptable reductions in educational investment at all levels.
Sequestration was intended as an enforcement mechanism to create an unthinkably negative alternative scenario to motivate Congress to address our long term budget debt. However, it is clear that effort failed to motivate Congress and now presents the potential for creating further harm to our nation's defense and economic security.
We must act immediately to create a lasting solution to our nation's budgetary problems and using the Omnibus Appropriations bill as a vehicle to move a long term, bipartisan solution is the best opportunity to accomplish this. While there are many unaddressed priorities before us, we hope that this is an issue that everyone can work together on.
Sincerely,
Marc Veasey
Member of Congress