{"id":1954756,"date":"2023-06-22T20:34:02","date_gmt":"2023-06-23T00:34:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/defense-bill-that-defunds-dei-provides-compensation-for-vaccine-related-discharges-advances-in-house\/"},"modified":"2023-06-22T20:36:49","modified_gmt":"2023-06-23T00:36:49","slug":"defense-bill-that-defunds-dei-provides-compensation-for-vaccine-related-discharges-advances-in-house","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/defense-bill-that-defunds-dei-provides-compensation-for-vaccine-related-discharges-advances-in-house\/","title":{"rendered":"House Advances Defense Bill Defunding DEI, Offering Vaccine Discharge Compensation"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fdefense-bill-that-defunds-dei-provides-compensation-for-vaccine-related-discharges-advances-in-house%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1954756&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div class=\"post_content\">\n<h2>A Congressional Committee&#8217;s Marathon Effort<\/h2>\n<p>All things considered, adopting a 416-page, near-$1 trillion spending plan with more than 800 amendments over a 14-1\/2 hour span\u2014including more than 11 in deliberative, often heated, debate\u2014is a good day\u2019s work for a congressional committee.<\/p>\n<p>So, there was a bit of congratulatory relief as the clocked crawled toward 12:30 a.m. on June 22 when Chair Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) formally closed the House Armed Forces Committee\u2019s hearing on the proposed $874.2 billion Fiscal Year 2024 National Defense Authorization Act (FY24 NDAA).<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis has been a long day and we have accomplished a lot,\u201d Rogers said after the FY24 NDAA, the United States\u2019 annual defense budget, was advanced to the House floor in a 58\u20131 vote, praising the panel for its bipartisan cooperation in producing a plan that required debate on \u201cless than 50\u201d of the 800-plus amendments.<\/p>\n<p>The defense budget the committee is delivering for full House review, filed as House Bill 2670, will eventually be adopted and shifted to the Senate, which is deliberating its own NDAA version.<\/p>\n<p>Differences in the chambers\u2019 defense budget will be ironed out in summer-long conferencing and, ideally, set for adoption before the fiscal year begins Oct. 1.<\/p>\n<p>Of course, there\u2019s bound to be some significant differences between the defense budget the Democrat-controlled Senate will endorse and the one handed down by the Republican-majority House committee.<\/p>\n<p>That friction will stem from the two dozen amendments passed by the committee in near<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/defense-bill-that-defunds-dei-provides-compensation-for-vaccine-related-discharges-advances-in-house\/\" title=\"House Advances Defense Bill Defunding DEI, Offering Vaccine Discharge Compensation\">-strict partisan votes targeting <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/white-house-releases-list-of-president-trumps-accomplishments-and-it-is-historic\/\" title=\"White House Releases List of President Trump\u2019s Accomplishments \u2013  And It Is Historic!\">critical race theory<\/a><\/a> (CRT); diversity, equity, inclusion (DEI); environmental, social, and governance (ESG) financial scoring; transgender and gay enlistment; on-base drag shows; and, among other \u201cwoke\u201d policies snared in the GOP\u2019s wide net, greenhouse gas regulations.<\/p>\n<p>The committee adopted 11 of 13 proposed amendments that addressed CRT, DEI, and ESG, including a measure that would furnish active-duty parents of children in Department of Defense (DOD) schools a \u201cParents\u2019 Bill of Rights.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In addition, the panel passed onto the House floor seven amendments that seek to redress the \u201cdamages\u201d done to those forced to leave the military for refusing vaccinations; further strengthen service members\u2019 right to refuse; and prohibit the DOD from funding \u201cgain-of-function\u201d research into viruses and bacteria.<\/p>\n<p>There were hours of often repetitive debate over these issues with relatively little discussion on meat-and-potatoes defense matters\u2014submarines and modernizing the nuclear weapons program were mentioned\u2014but those components of the spending plan had been adopted unanimously by the committee\u2019s seven sub-panels June 13-14 and rubber-stamped by the full committee in about 90 minutes.<\/p>\n<p>So the floor, as they say, was wide open to legislate on cultural issues the House GOP has waited to address in an actionable forum after Democrats\u2019 four-year chamber reign was ended in the 2022 midterm elections.<\/p>\n<p>And they made no apology for it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s not us who are trying to use this as a wedge issue to politicize the military,\u201d Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) said. \u201cWe were trying to remediate an existing harm, and that we have an obligation to do that when we hear from our constituents. So please, debate us on the merits. We appreciate that.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4637648\" style=\"width: 600px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\">\n    <a href=\"https:\/\/img.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/uploads\/2022\/08\/02\/rally-against-critical-race-theory-CRT-2.jpg\"><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><\/noscript><\/figcaption><\/a><br \/>\n  <\/figure>\n<h2>Defunding DEI, CRT Programs<\/h2>\n<p>Only two of 13 proposed amendments related to CRT and DEI failed to garner 30 votes necessary to advance through the 59-member panel, which includes 31 Republicans.<\/p>\n<p>Three of four proposed Gaetz amendments addressing CRT and DEI were adopted. They ban CRT from DOD programs; require DOD to document in a report \u201cthe actual cost\u201d of CRT training; and \u201ccodify\u201d recent comments by Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Mark Milley banning drag shows on military installations and DOD money from being used in promotions involving drag queens.<\/p>\n<p>Gaetz\u2019s bid to repeal the FY21 NDAA provision creating a DOD Diversity Officer position failed in a 30\u201329 vote. Rep. Mark Alford\u2019s (R-Mo.) proposed amendment to defund a DEI Inspector General position fell short by the same tally.<\/p>\n<p>Alford\u2019s proposed amendment to eliminate the Pentagon\u2019s \u2018Working Group on Extremism in the Military,\u2019 however, was approved in a 31\u201328 vote.<\/p>\n<p>Two Rep. Jim Banks\u2019s (R-Ind.) measures advanced in the same <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/ocasio-cortez-requests-earmarks-for-two-hospitals-that-perform-abortions\/\" title=\"Ocasio-Cortez Requests Earmarks For Two Hospitals That Perform Abortions\">party-line votes<\/a>. One would require DOD to \u201cstudy the impact of President Biden\u2019s executive order on preventing and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/us-regulators-say-they-already-have-power-to-crack-down-on-ai-misuse-warn-firms-to-comply-with-laws\/\" title=\"US Regulators Say They Already Have Power to Crack Down on AI Misuse, Warn Firms to Comply With Laws\">combating discrimination based<\/a> on gender identity or sexual orientation on our female service members\u201d and the other would \u201cprohibit DOD from paying any civilian or military employee\u201d engaged in DEI activities \u201cat higher than the GS 10 level,\u201d which is equivalent to an Army captain and Navy lieutenant.<\/p>\n<p>Rep. Richard McCormick\u2019s (R-Ga.) measure prohibiting DOD from contracting with \u2018Global Misinformation Index\u2019 fact-checkers slipped by in a 30\u201328 vote.<\/p>\n<p>Also adopted were Rep, Mike Waltz\u2019s (R-Fla.) amendment banning the teaching of CRT in any DOD program; Rep. Ronny Jackson\u2019s (R-Texas) measure prohibiting DOD from funding its Defense Advisory Committee on DEI or create one \u201crelated to\u201d ESG; and Rep. Cory Mills\u2019s (R-Fla.) proposal requiring the Secretary of Defense to submit a report within 90 days on how Defense Advisory Committee on DEI members were selected, and also sunsets the committee by Sept. 30, 2024.<\/p>\n<p>Throughout the marathon day, Democrats chafed at the tedium Republicans employed in sifting through laws, regulations, and rules to find traces of CRT\u2014it is not formally encoded into any DOD curriculum\u2014and aspects of DEI programs to challenge in amendments using the same talking points repeatedly.<\/p>\n<p>At one point, which would prove early in the process, Rep. Steven Horsford (D-Nev.) expressed pre-emptive exasperation at the pending array of near-same amendments and asked Gaetz if his amendment banning CRT was adopted, why proceed with other CRT-related measures?<\/p>\n<p>Gaetz indicated he would proceed as planned.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo it\u2019s your intent to use this hearing today not to talk about national security, not to talk about preparedness, but to spend an inordinate amount of time talking about a wedge issue that your side is choosing to use in this hearing? Rather than [discuss] housing health care, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/biden-administration-will-use-semi-permanent-soft-sided-structures-to-house-migrant-children-trump-was-blasted-for-tent-cities\/\" title=\"Biden Administration Will Use \u2018Semi-Permanent, Soft-Sided\u2019 Structures To House Migrant Children. Trump Was Blasted For \u2018Tent Cities.\u2019\">mental health services<\/a>, child-care in the hearing today?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n<p>The amendments are merely props for Republicans to \u201cdominate the time on wedge issues that are about dividing our nation. You want to talk about race. You want to talk about equity and inclusion. We\u2019ve had many hearings about this,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd at a time when our military service members and their families are putting their very lives in danger, for you to use this time to divide the nation and divide our military is inappropriate.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Gaetz and fellow Republicans were not swayed.<\/p>\n<p>He agreed with Democrats\u2019 contention that the amendments were partisan and the defense budget had become \u201cpolitically weaponized.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI could not agree more. It has been politically weaponized by the left,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd to my colleagues, questions about whether or not I intend to use this hearing to go after the diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives and critical race theory in the military? The answer to that question, is unequivocally \u2018yes.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe will spend as many hours as it takes to \u2018de-wokify\u2019 this military,\u201d Gaetz continued. \u201cAnd so, yeah, we\u2019re going to be going after DEI, and we\u2019re going to be going after critical race theory. And I think that\u2019s what our military deserves. It\u2019s not divisive for us to do that. What was divisive was to use the prior National Defense Authorization Act to establish these programs.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_5268925\" style=\"width: 600px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\">\n    <a href=\"https:\/\/img.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/uploads\/2023\/05\/16\/id5268925-Rally-1-1200x795.jpg\"><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><\/noscript><\/figcaption><\/a><br \/>\n  <\/figure>\n<h2>A DOD \u2018Parents\u2019 Bill of Rights\u2019<\/h2>\n<p>Sponsored by Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), the proposed DOD \u2018Parents\u2019 Bill of Rights\u2019 advanced in a 31\u201328 party line vote with Democrats claiming the measure was unneeded and solely driven by a hardline conservative agenda.<\/p>\n<p>A similar measure, with the support of 12 Democrats, was adopted by the House Armed Services Committee in 2022 but failed to gain traction in the Senate. The proposal\u2019s 2023 version failed to garner any votes from panel Democrats.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLast year, we were introduced to the same amendment by my colleagues. I voted in good faith for that amendment at the time, but after looking into this further, here\u2019s the thing: Parents can already do that,\u201d said Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-Calif.).<\/p>\n<p>The DOD\u2019s policy mandates parents may access their students\u2019 records and has \u201cseveral parent handbooks\u201d that address privacy, medical information, grading, curriculum, parent-teacher conferences, and the handling of violence in schools, he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo really, my colleague [Stefanik] has asked me to pass an amendment that provides rights that our service-member parents already have,\u201d Carbajal said. \u201c I feel that my colleague knows this and instead, is focused on bringing more culture wars, book bans, and fear-mongering into the DOD schools. I have come to realize that this amendment is a Trojan horse; a disguised push to snuff out free discussions of ideas or differing experiences in language.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Smith mocked Republicans\u2019 contention the amendment was designed to enhance parental access and tra<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Adopting a 416-page, near-$1 trillion spending plan with 800+ amendments in a 14.5-hour session, including heated debates, is commendable for a congressional committee. As the clock neared 12:30 a.m. on June 22, there was a sense of relief and congratulations among the members.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":509,"featured_media":1954757,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[543],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1954756","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-epoch-times"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1954756","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/509"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1954756"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1954756\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1954757"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1954756"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1954756"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1954756"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}