From
Congresswoman Kay Granger
Texas Insider Report: WASHINGTON D.C.--
There are many challenges that our country faces at home and abroad. This new Congress was elected last November to provide leadership and govern effectively on behalf of the American people. Members of both parties need to work together to get results particularly when it comes to ensuring that our military is ready to combat the diverse threats that our nation faces and making sure that our service members and their families are taken care of.
Last week I shared with you some highlights of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2016 which passed the House on May 15 2015. After months of bipartisan input I was pleased that this legislation passed out of the House Armed Services Committee to the House floor with only one dissenting Democrat vote. However
I was later disappointed to see House Democrat Leadership urge 143 of their members to vote against this bipartisan national defense bill on the floor of the House.
In doing so House Democrats voted against increasing troop pay and benefits against strengthening cyber defenses against reinforcing the mission to defeat Islamic State in Iraq and Syria terrorists and against other bipartisan non-controversial provisions. The NDAA even funded our national defense at and above President Obamas request.
House Democrats had a chance to join with House Republicans to deliver a strong victory for our military their families and the American people. Instead they chose to play politics by demanding more domestic spending for a variety of programs that have nothing to do with our nations defense. I think we can all agree that political theater is one thing that Washington has enough of already.
The American people elected their representatives to Congress to address serious challenges facing our country. These challenges have no easy solutions and will require thoughtful leadership. You can be certain that I will continue to lead on these important issues.
