Press Releases

WASHINGTON—Today, U.S. Representative Brittany Pettersen (CO-07) released the following statement after voting against the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2024:

“The Republican party has once again been hijacked by extremists at the expense of the American people. They co-opted a crucial bill that authorizes funding for the military–which has had bipartisan support for the last 62 years–to advance their radical partisan agenda.

“Our service members and their families sacrifice everything to protect us and our country, yet Republicans in the House chose to include provisions in the National Defense Authorization Act to strip freedoms and health care from women and LGBTQ+ Americans serving in uniform. Their restrictions on abortion care will strand soldiers without critical services and could have serious health impacts on the people we are relying on to protect our country. The bill’s attacks on women and transgender service members, as well as the destruction of efforts to promote diversity and equality will have devastating effects on the military’s recruitment and retention crisis.

“Republicans are choosing to fight culture wars instead of supporting and equipping the brave individuals who defend us in actual wars. While I support many of the provisions in the bill, I could not vote yes on the full legislation because when you weaken the rights and freedoms of our service members, you weaken our military readiness and ultimately the security of our nation.”