Congressman Maxwell Frost Statement on National Defense Authorization Act
WASHINGTON D.C — Today, Congressman Maxwell Alejandro Frost (FL-10) released a statement following the House conference vote on H.R. 2670, the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) of 2024.
In a statement, Rep. Frost says:
“Passage of this NDAA once again signals the American people losing at the hands of the defense lobby.
“While Democrats held the line and fought hard to strip out harmful attacks on minority communities and people of color, key fiscal accountability measures have been purposefully left out, leaving taxpayers holding the bag.
“Let's be clear that adequate funding to ensure our national defense is entirely different from writing a blank check at the cost of Florida's taxpayers when, for the sixth year in a row, the Pentagon has failed their annual audit.
“It is shameful that bipartisan amendments like mine – which would have helped usher true transparency and accountability as we fight to end wasteful spending of taxpayer dollars by defense contractors looking to line their own pockets at our expense – were rejected in this conference report.
“I am, however, encouraged to see that the final version of the NDAA is moving forward without Republican led attacks on abortion care and reproductive freedom, and without hateful attacks on our LGBTQ+ community which would have included provisions to ban gender-affirming care, drag shows, and books featuring trans representation.
“And I am encouraged to see bipartisan support for the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative to strengthen our ally’s defense against Russian aggression.
“For our military servicemembers and their families, I am also grateful to see a 5.2% pay raise go to our folks in uniform and to support the loved ones who make their service possible.
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