For Sen. Tommy Tuberville, voting in favor of the National Defense Authorization Act Wednesday evening, was bittersweet. Tuberville said, while the legislation is an overall positive thing for Alabama and the country, it is lacking in several critical areas.

“I voted for this year’s defense bill for two reasons: because it’s good for Alabama and it’s good for our national security,” Tuberville (R-Auburn) said. “This bill could have been a lot stronger, but Chuck Schumer rigged the negotiation process to prevent conservatives from getting key wins on issues like taxpayer-funded abortion and DEI. We didn’t get everything we wanted this time, but we got a lot.

“And my fellow conservatives in Alabama and across America can be sure that I’m determined to get the rest of it in next year’s bill.”

Tuberville’s yes vote comes after a drawn-out battle with the Department of Defense over military abortion policy, that saw him place holds on hundreds of positions throughout the military, only recently lifting most of them last week.

Due to the Constitution prohibiting “appropriation of money to raise and support armies for a longer term than two years,” Congress passes the NDAA annually. This year’s version of the legislation is 3,000 pages long. It passed the Senate 83-17 and the House vote Thursday was 310 to 118 in favor. The legislation will be signed by President Joe Biden today.

Austen Shipley is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News.

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