WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor (FL-14) released the below statement after voting to send the Fiscal Year 2024 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) to a bipartisan conference between members of the U.S. House and Senate:

“After MAGA Republicans in the House politicized this year’s NDAA by adding extreme policy riders that hamper our national security and harm our service members and their families, I voted to move the must-pass defense bill to bipartisan conference with the Senate.  We cannot allow extreme MAGA chaos to reign in Congress or in our armed services, yet Republicans in Congress are blocking the annual defense appropriations bill and GOP Senator Tuberville (R-AL) and Senate Republicans continue to block important military promotions.  America now stands without Senate-confirmed leaders of its Navy, Army, and Marine Corps for the first time in U.S. history, and over 300 other top-level military positions remain unfilled due to Sen. Tuberville’s intransigence.”

“I’m hopeful the NDAA conference will produce a bipartisan report that invests in our nation’s men and women in uniform and their families, promotes innovation and technology, supports our alliances and strengthens our military readiness.

“I will continue to push for important provisions I championed in the original FY24 NDAA that would have directly helped MacDill Air Force Base service members and families, including pay raises and improvements in on-base housing, health care and child care access.

“The Congress has enacted a bipartisan NDAA conference report for over 60 years. Numerous military authorities will expire if the NDAA is not enacted. I encourage my colleagues to put People Over Politics, work together in good faith and leave their culture wars at the door.”