Washington, D.C.—Yesterday, Congressman Cloud voted in favor of the revised National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).  Congressman Cloud has been very open to his opposition of the House-passed version of the NDAA in recent weeks due to its inclusion of language that would require women to register for the draft, establish red flag laws infringing on service members’ right to bear arms, and its lack of accountability for President Biden’s botched Afghanistan exit. 

Fortunately, this bill has undertaken drastic improvements as many problematic provisions have been removed. For example, the provisions requiring women to register for the draft and establishing red flag laws were removed.  

Moreover, this bill included several new improvements. For starters, this bill prohibits a dishonorable discharge, and retroactively restores honorable discharge status, for service members who are discharged for refusing to take the novel COVID-19 vaccine.

This bill also requires the DOD to establish uniform standards to allow for a COVID-19 vaccine exemption. This would allow our military to maintain many of our well-trained soldiers in the force who are not convinced in taking the novel COVID-19 vaccine. 

Additionally, the bill now establishes an independent commission to investigate the entire Afghanistan project, including the withdrawal debacle.

This bill doesn’t go as far as Congressman Cloud would have liked, however, with the removal of many of the provisions that gave Congressman Cloud cause for concern, he found it to be worthwhile for our military and our country as a whole. 

America faces a critical moment in history with the threat of China and Russia expanding their influence on the world. America must rise to the challenges this presents us.

Work must still be done, and Congress needs to take great consideration as to how President Biden’s proposed agenda could affect our military readiness.  “Funding our national defense is one of the main constitutional duties of Congress. Our military must receive the proper funding it needs to secure our nation,” Congressman Cloud said. “Conservatives fought for the removal of many worrisome provisions and I’m thankful to see that fight paid off with nearly all being removed.” 

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