ELECTIONS, POLITICS, & GOVERNMENT
A look inside controversial $895B defense budget supported by Utah’s representatives
Dec 13, 2024, 6:00 AM
Two F-35s from the 388th Fighter Wing at Hill Air Force Base soar above the clouds. Junior enlisted members may see significant raises in the version of the National Defense Authorization Act passed by the U.S. House Wednesday, though critics decry some of the act's language. (R. Nial Bradshaw/U.S. Air Force)
(R. Nial Bradshaw/U.S. Air Force)
SALT LAKE CITY — Junior enlisted service members may get a significant pay raise after the U.S. House of Representatives voted Wednesday to pass the National Defense Authorization Act.
Also included in the bill are several controversial provisions to restrict gender-related medical treatments to children of military service members and a ban on endorsements of critical race theory in Pentagon-run academic institutions and military training. Many Democrats took issue with those provisions. And even some Republicans said the annual defense spending bill could have garnered more support without them.
Related: Cox’s $30.6B budget targets Social Security tax, nuclear power, school safety
Utah’s Republican representatives all voted in favor of the package. Rep. Blake Moore — a leader of the House GOP conference — said the act “takes meaningful steps to support (Hill Air Force Base’s) mission, improve the lives of our military personnel and their families, and strengthen deterrence against adversaries like China, Russia and Iran.”
Rep. Burgess Owens celebrated the diversity, equity and inclusion provision. He said they “(put) an end to this painful and disruptive woke chapter” in military history, while Rep. John Curtis celebrated an amendment he sponsored that prohibits the defense secretary from knowingly allowing companies that boycott U.S. ally Israel to sell in commissary stores or military exchanges.
Read the full story at KSL.com.
