U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter, R-GA, sees passage of the National Defense Authorization Act as a good ending to the 2023 legislative year. Not only does the legislation provide U.S. troops with their largest pay bump in 20 years and designates the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force in Pooler, Georgia as the official Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force in the United States – it does a lot more that Carter counts as a big win for Conservatives.
According to Carter, the bill pushes back against “woke ideology being forced on our service members by banning critical race theory (CRT), enhancing service members’ rights, protecting parent’s rights in Department of Defense schools, and more.”
The bill, Carter says, prohibits funding for the teaching, training, or promotion of CRT in the military, including at service academies and DoD schools and guts the Pentagon’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) bureaucracy by putting in place a DEI hiring freeze and cutting and capping the pay of DEI bureaucrats.
According to information from House Republicans, the DEI hiring freeze prevents DoD from establishing any new positions or filling any open DEI positions until the Government Accountability Office completes an investigation of the Pentagon’s DEI programs. The release from House Republicans also says the Act prohibits the display of any unapproved flags, such as the LGBTQ pride flag at military installations, eliminates funding for the DoD’s politically biased Countering Extremism Working Group, and prohibits DoD from contracting with advertising firms like NewsGuard that blacklist conservative news sources.
The Act includes a Parents Bill of Rights to ensure parents of children in DoD schools have the right to review curriculum, books, and instructional materials; meet with teachers; and provide consent before schools conduct medical exams or screenings of students. It also improves training and the capability of military criminal investigative units to prevent and combat child sexual exploitation.
Other highlights:
● Requires all military promotions and accessions to be based on individual merit and demonstrated performance.
● Prevents a Military Green New Deal.
● Enhances the Rights of Servicemembers.
● Builds and maintains the nation’s military readiness.
● Reduces childcare costs for military families, increases mental health resources, ensures. TRICARE beneficiaries have access to their local pharmacy and authorizes funding for the construction of new military barracks.
