Hyde-Smith votes to send defense policy bill to White House

U.S. Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.) today voted to send President Trump the FY2021 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), a military and national defense policy measure that builds on his promise to rebuild the U.S. Armed Forces.

The NDAA, a Senate-House compromise agreement, authorizes $740.5 billion in funding to fulfill the requirements of the President’s National Defense Strategy.

“This is strong legislation to continue rebuilding our military and national defense strategies,” Hyde-Smith said.  “The policies in this bill support Mississippi’s national defense interests, including benefits for servicemembers and their families, investments in cutting-edge technologies, and authorizing additional shipbuilding funding.”

“This final bill is by no means perfect, but it does advance many strong policies while doing away with progressive Democratic provisions to gut defense funding and use the military for social engineering experiments,” she said.

Items of interest:

• Approves a 3 percent pay raise for members of the Armed Forces
• Supports military family readiness by advocating for high-quality, accessible child care, and the employment of military spouses
• Authorizes $23.4 billion for shipbuilding, and continues investment in the next generation of ships, planes, tanks, and weapons.
• Strengthens U.S. strategic alliances, including the United States-Israel Security Assistance Authorization Act of 2020 that Hyde-Smith cosponsored in February
• Invests in research and development on equipment and weapons platforms to secure U.S. military supremacy
• Encourages innovative technological development to restore, maintain, or expand U.S. comparative advantages over China and Russia for key capabilities and technologies
• Improves fiscal responsibility by making the Pentagon budget and management processes more transparent and accountable to Congress and the American people
• Directs the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to complete a comprehensive study of insulin affordability and the impacts higher costs have on treatment programs. (Senator Hyde-Smith cosponsored an amendment to include this provision, which follows similar legislation introduced last November.)