Sheila Jackson Lee: “As a senior member of the Committees on the Judiciary, on Homeland Security, and on the Budget, I rise in strong…”

“As a senior member of the Committees on the Judiciary, on Homeland Security, and on the Budget, I rise in strong opposition to the Administration's seemingly callous veto of the William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 and proudly announce my intention to vote to override this reckless veto. I take this action because I disagree with the President that preserving monuments and memorials and naming military installations for the defenders of slavery who took up arms against the United States to achieve their aims is more important and a higher priority than providing the funding, resources, and support to the nation's military and civilian defense person, one of the nation's most respected institutions and its most diverse and representative. Other than his pique at being on the short end of what is by his own account an Electoral College landslide and being routed by seven million votes in his failed bid for reelection, there is absolutely no basis for the erstwhile Commander-in-Chief to veto the bipartisan NDAA and deny our servicemembers a long-overdue pay raise and hazard duty pay many of whom live in or are from my congressional district. It is cruel, shameful, and heartless for a Commander-in-Chief to deny to more than 100,000 federal employees the paid family leave child care, housing and health protections authorized by the FY2021 NDAA or to withhold from our veterans the benefits that they need and deserve.…”