Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of the bipartisan National Defense Authorization Act, and I urge my colleagues to support the bill and my five amendments included in the bill. My State of North Carolina is home to eight military bases and more than 800,000 Active Duty military servicemembers and veterans. The NDAA will give these servicemembers a 2.7 percent pay raise and add a crucial level of accountability by taking the prosecution of sexual assault and other crimes out of the chain of command. I urge support for my amendment requiring the military to consider the benefits of using electric vehicles for students at military installations. Increased use of electric vehicles by our military will help accelerate our transition to clean energy and create good-paying jobs in districts like mine. This bill also includes my amendments to express concern about the safety of Afghan women and girls and to require the Secretary of Defense to appoint an official to assist the State Department with continued evacuations from Afghanistan. We must do better for the people who helped our troops. I urge my colleagues to support this act.”