Ribble Condemns NDAA Veto, Offers Solution

Statement

U.S. Representative Reid Ribble today released the below statement following President Obama's veto of the National Defense Appropriations Act:

"This is where the rubber meets the road and we see where President Obama's priorities lie. At a time when our country faces unprecedented threats from ISIL, Iran, and increasingly from Russia, the President is vetoing a national defense authorization bill that fulfilled every single one of his administration's requests," Ribble said. "His reason? He is willing to risk our troops in order to try and force Congress to give him more money to spend on his other priorities in exchange for keeping our nation safe."

The National Defense Authorization Act, which passed with broad bipartisan support in both houses of Congress, carries groundbreaking bipartisan agreements on acquisition reforms, cutting waste, and expanding needed benefits to our troops. More importantly, it gives the President new tools he could begin using today to defeat ISIL, counter Russia, and disrupt Iran's dangerous activities in the Middle East.

While the President is vetoing legislation crucial to our national defense in an attempt to extract more spending for his domestic priorities, Representative Ribble has been leading the conversation on balancing domestic versus defense priorities by introducing H.R. 2884. Ribble's bill would amend the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 to eliminate the "firewalls" between defense and nondefense discretionary spending limits. Essentially, it would allow the percentages of domestic versus defense spending to change each year to reflect our changing needs without breaking the overall sequestration budget caps. Our nation faces enormous challenges, both at home and abroad, and the people's elected representatives have a responsibility to ensure that tax dollars are spent where they are needed most--H.R. 2884 would restore their right to do so.

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