Today, the U.S. House of Representatives voted on and passed the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2015 by a vote count of 227-191.

The controversial bill lived up to its historic hype, as many conservative Republican members voted against the act, which  cuts military pay this time around, and reduces active duty and reserve levels across all branches of the U.S. Military.

Many members have historically voted for the “all-or-nothing” defense bill, even if there are segments of the bill that could be considered counterproductive to the mission of the U.S. Military, which could compromise the nation’s national security.

 

Page 123 of NDAA Bill (Source)
SEC. 402. REVISIONS IN PERMANENT ACTIVE DUTY END STRENGTH MINIMUM LEVELS. Section 691(b) of title 10, United States Code, is amended by striking paragraphs (1) through (4) and in-serting the following new paragraphs:

‘‘(1) For the Army, 490,000.
‘‘(2) For the Navy, 323,600.
‘‘(3) For the Marine Corps, 184,100.
‘‘(4) For the Air Force, 310,900.’’.

take our poll - story continues below

Do you think the 2nd Amendment will be destroyed by the Biden Administration?(2)

• Do you think the 2nd Amendment will be destroyed by the Biden Administration?  

• Do you think the 2nd Amendment will be destroyed by the Biden Administration?*
  • Yes.
  • Yes, but only parts.
  • Not a chance.
• Email*
• Name
  This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Completing this poll grants you access to Shark Tank updates free of charge. You may opt out at anytime. You also agree to this site's Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.

Page 125 of NDAA Bill
As of September 30, 2015, the following number of Reserves to be serving on full-time active duty or full-time duty, in the case of members of the National Guard, for the purpose of organizing, administering, re-cruiting, instructing, or training the reserve components:

(1) The Army National Guard of the United States, 31,385.
(2) The Army Reserve, 16,261.
(3) The Navy Reserve, 9,973.
(4) The Marine Corps Reserve, 2,261.
(5) The Air National Guard of the United States, 14,704.
(6) The Air Force Reserve, 2,830.

 

Florida’s congressional delegation was just about split down the middle on the vote, as even some of the staunches conservatives like Rep. Ron DeSantis and Rep. Tom Rooney joined most of the Democrat caucus, and voted in favor of the bill.

Rep. Dennis A. Ross (R), Senior Deputy Majority Whip, and Rep. Richard Nugent (R), both voted against the bill and stated that they could not vote for a bill that worked against by cutting benefits, and simply “does not do the right thing by our troops.”

The FY 15 NDAA presents a troubling dilemma for me and my colleagues. There needs to be a proper balance of military compensation, training and equipment but this NDAA does not meet that requirement.

Instead, it decreases the military pay raise I helped to pass earlier this year, and puts additional burdens on our service members and their families through increased prescription drug costs. We already ask our military to make incredible sacrifices for the security of our nation. We must look at other areas of the budget before we put more of a financial burden on our war heroes.

“Our men and women in uniform courageously put their lives on the line for our country. Asking them to sacrifice anymore is unacceptable.”-Rep. Dennis Ross (R)

“When the House passed its version of the Defense Authorization back in May, we did right by the troops and I was proud to support it. We spent months carefully drafting that legislation and weighing the priorities. Hundreds of amendments were considered and the bill passed out of committee unanimously. But after closed-door negotiations were held over the last few weeks between the House and Senate, our bill changed in fundamental ways.

This National Defense Authorization no longer does right by our troops. It cuts their active duty pay and their housing stipend. There are savings to be found in our defense budget. But in my opinion, the absolute last thing you go after are the troops, the things that keep them safe, and the families who so faithfully support them back home. You don’t cut that.

As a member of the committee, I am expected to vote yes. And as I member of the committee, I want to vote yes. But at the end of the day, what’s right is right and I just couldn’t imagine looking the troops in the eye and telling them I’d done everything I could to stick up for them.

If nobody speaks up on their behalf, then they’ll get screwed every time.-Rep. Richard Nugent (R)

Yea
Buchanan (R),Castor (D), Ros-Lehtinen (R), Crenshaw (R), DeSantis (R), Diaz-Balart (R)
Wasserman Schultz (D), Webster (R), Murphy (D)

Nay

Deutch (D), Clawson (R), Grayson (D), Wilson (D), Yoho (R), Hastings (D)
Ross (R), Nugent (R), Posey (R)