The House of Representatives has taken "reasonable steps" through its passage of the National Defense Authorization Act to ensure that the weapons and troops needed to keep the country safe at a time when President Joe Biden and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin are "politicizing the military," Sen. Tom Cotton said Sunday.
"To hear Democrats complaining about a partisan defense bill, this happened when Nancy Pelosi was speaker as well," the Arkansas Republican said on "Fox News Sunday." "We worked it out every year to pass the defense bill."
The NDAA passed in the GOP-controlled House by a mostly partly line vote after several conservative amendments were included on diversity issues, abortion, and more that Cotton said Sunday "should not be happening in the military."
The Senate may take on the bill this week, Cotton said, adding that he hopes the measures added in the House stay in it.
"The military should not be paying for abortion tourism or sex change operations, but buying weapons we need to defend our nation and support our troops," Cotton said.
He also rejected arguments from Democrats that using taxpayer funds to pay for abortions for military members is a readiness issue.
Under the current provisions, he said a woman can ask for paid leave and travel expenses to obtain an elective abortion, but another soldier could ask for leave to go to a parent's funeral and would not have any expenses paid.
"That is an insane policy," said Cotton. "The military should not be paying for abortion tourism."
Cotton on Sunday also talked about the cocaine found earlier this month at the White House, and the Secret Service's failure to track down where the drugs came from.
"The Secret Service is in trouble and probably needs new leadership," he said. "What if this was anthrax? The Secret Service barely conducted interviews. I don't think they interviewed the president's son, a known addict … the president could demand everyone submit to a drug test and identify anyone who used cocaine in these last few months. This seems like another Biden cover-up."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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