Support for Our Servicemembers in the Ndaa

Floor Speech

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Mr. CISNEROS. Mr. Speaker, last week, we passed a National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2020. Working with my colleagues for over 20 hours on the House Armed Services Committee to mark up this bill in the late hours of the night and the early hours of the next day was all worth it.

Mr. Speaker, with the passage of this year's NDAA, we have fulfilled our duties to ensure our military's readiness, strengthened our national security, and eased our servicemembers' transition to civilian life.

I am proud to have helped secure 17 floor amendments for the NDAA, with more than half of those offered on a bipartisan basis. These provisions supported programs that are critical to servicemembers living in the 39th Congressional District.

A major priority of mine is ensuring that our servicemembers have the support they need when they transition back to civilian life. I was proud to colead the bipartisan Work for Warriors provision with my colleagues, Representatives Paul Cook, Elissa Slotkin, and Mark Takano.

The Work for Warriors model has a proven track record of helping our veterans find jobs, providing job placement assistance to unemployed Guardsmen, Reservists, military spouses, and veterans to not only help them provide for their families, but also facilitate their successful transition back to civilian life.

Another priority of mine was to improve the quality of healthcare for servicemembers, especially mental health programs and women's healthcare services. I am proud to have secured a number of provisions that take care of military families by expanding military housing and improving access to healthcare services.

Specifically, I was proud to work with Congresswoman Chrissy Houlahan to expand transition assistance for women servicemembers. This will ensure our servicewomen are better equipped with the healthcare resources they need as they leave military service.

Also, I am hopeful that the amendment my colleagues and I included to address sexual assault at all levels of our military will help our servicemembers and veterans receive the respect and justice they deserve. The high rate of sexual assault in the military is unacceptable and needs to be addressed immediately.

Even though DOD spends millions on sexual assault prevention programs, the number of assaults has jumped dramatically since 2010. We owe it to our servicemembers and veterans to determine why the current programs have been failing, and we need to create a new, effective approach to this problem.

Because, in exchange for their service, our Nation took on the responsibility to care for each servicemember's health, both physical and mental, that is why I prioritized provisions to address the suicide epidemic currently facing our servicemembers and veterans. We are losing servicemembers and veterans to addiction and suicide at alarming rates. It is unacceptable that this epidemic is only getting worse.

I worked with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to secure language that will help prevent servicemembers from reaching at-risk status and ensure that at-risk servicemembers are identified and able to receive the care they deserve.

Also, I am proud to have supported an amendment with Congresswoman Jackie Speier to protect our transgender servicemembers. As a Navy veteran, I was saddened by our government's willingness to discriminate against individuals who had the courage, spirit, and commitment to serve our country in uniform.

Anyone who has the bravery to serve our country should be allowed to do so, and I stand firmly against the administration's ban on transgender servicemembers. I will continue to fight against this hateful and bigoted policy until the President and his administration understand that transgender servicemembers have the right to their dignity, and they have the right to serve.

Finally, I would be remiss if I didn't mention that the NDAA reaffirms our constitutional authority over the use of military force. With this provision, Congress reasserts our congressional authority and its duty to our country and our servicemembers, and it makes clear to the President that there is no current authorization to use military force against Iran. We understand how Iran destabilizes the region, and it is our responsibility in Congress to ensure that the U.S. does not enter into a conflict without a strategy.

In closing, while I have said much on what this House has accomplished with this bill, I would like to end with this: I thank our servicemembers, civilian military personnel, and all the national security professionals who support our Armed Services in my district, in our country, and around the world. It is an honor to represent them in Congress to ensure the promises made here are kept for our servicemembers and our veterans.

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