Democrats voted against the bill, which had left the House Armed Services Committee with a near-unanimous vote weeks ago before Republican priorities were included in it during a heated debate late at night this week. full on.
The final vote was 219-210: four Democrats supported the Republicans and of these four were against. The bill, as written, is expected to fail in the Democratic-majority Senate.
Attempts to cut US funding to Kiev amid the Ukraine-Russia war were rejected, while Republicans added provisions to halt diversity initiatives at the Defense Department and restrict access to abortion.
The abortion issue has had the support of Sen. Tommy Tuberville, Republican of Alabama, who has been singularly stalling the Senate confirmation of military officers, including the new commander of the Marine Corps.
“We continue to obstruct the Biden administration’s ‘progressive’ agenda,” said Rep. Lauren Boebert, a Colorado Republican.
With the politicization of defense spending, the nation’s military finds itself unexpectedly drawn into disputes over race, equality, and women’s health care, issues that now top the GOP priorities amid growing national divisionism.
During a particularly tense moment in the debate, Democratic Rep. Joyce Beatty of Ohio, former chair of the Black Legislative Caucus, cited the great difficulty in reaching consensus as Republicans undermine gains for women, Black people and others. in the armed forces.
“They’re setting us back,” Beatty said of an amendment by Rep. Eli Crane, R-Ariz., that would bar the Defense Department from requiring participation in race training to hire, promote or retain someone.
Crane argued that Russia and China do not require diversity measures in their military activities and neither should the United States. “We don’t want our military to be a social experiment,” Crane said. “We want the best of the best.”
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Associated Press writers Farnoush Amiri, Stephen Groves and Mary Clare Jalonick contributed to this report.
FOUNTAIN: Associated Press
