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OAN Staff Brooke Mallory
1:38 PM – Tuesday, December 24, 2024
Despite Democrat objections to a provision that excludes coverage of “transgender medical treatments” for children in military families, President Biden signed a defense bill into law on Monday that authorizes pay increases for junior enlisted service members, “aims” to counter China’s growing power, and it increases overall military spending to $895 billion.
“The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) passed in the Senate 85-14, even with the insertion of a…measure that would restrict the use of funds from TRICARE—the health care program for active-duty service members—for ‘gender-affirming care’ [medication and other treatments] for children 18 years and younger of military members,” The Hill reported.
Surprisingly, Biden claimed that the clause is highly opposed by his administration as it “interferes with parents’ roles to determine the best care for their children,” which was not an anticipated response coming from the president.
Biden also noted that he believes it “targets” a group based on gender identity, and that it makes it more difficult for the all-volunteer military to find and keep talent.
“No service member should have to decide between their family’s health care access and their call to serve our nation,” Biden said in a statement.
After an 85-14 vote last Thursday, the Senate passed the bill and sent it to Biden.
Biden reportedly took issue with other provisions in the bill that forbade the transfer of detainees from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to certain foreign nations and back to the United States using funds designated for that purpose. He called on Congress to remove those limitations.
Pentagon policy is set by the annual defense authorization bill, which gives junior enlisted service members a salary boost of 14.5% and a 4.5% increase for others.
In addition, the bill is said to allocate funds to a “more aggressive strategy toward China,” including the creation of a fund that could be used to provide Taiwan with military aid in a manner similar to how the United States has financially supported Ukraine. Additionally, it supports American ammunition manufacturing and makes investments in other cutting-edge military technologies and artificial intelligence (AI).
The defense bill added even more restrictions on Chinese products, ranging from “drone technology to garlic in military commissaries,” to the U.S.’s recent efforts to ban the military from buying Chinese goods.
However, the measure still needs a spending package to support it.
Meanwhile, Kelley Robinson, the head of the Human Rights Campaign, which is the largest LGBTQ advocacy group in the country, says that Biden and Congress “have failed military families.”
“For them, this law is not about politics—– it’s about losing the freedom to make their own health care decisions,” Robinson said on Tuesday.
Additionally, according to Rachel Branaman, the executive director of the Modern Military Association of America, a group that “supports the LGBTQ military and veteran communities,” Biden’s signing of the bill “is in direct opposition to claims that his administration is the most pro-LGBTQ+ in American history.”
“The riders in this bill banning medically necessary healthcare for military youth will create significant hardships for thousands of people who protect us every day. Once again, the needs of the most marginalized and at risk have been ignored in favor of political expediency,” Branaman claimed.
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