Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2024

Floor Speech

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Ms. JACOBS. Mr. Chair, I rise today in a unique position to oppose this bill, especially section 8146.

I am proud to represent San Diego, the largest military community in the country. I am also proud to serve as one of the youngest Members of this body and the youngest woman on the House Committee on Armed Services.

I am in a unique position to understand the importance of access to reproductive healthcare, including abortion and fertility care for our servicemembers and their dependents, because, as a young woman, reproductive care is my healthcare. That is the case for the 1.62 million women of reproductive age in the military health system, too, not to mention our LGBTQ+ servicemembers, who already have difficulty accessing necessary care. This care is essential to our health, well- being, freedom, economic security, and empowerment, and for our national security, too.

That is why I am thankful for DOD's policy that covers the travel and transportation costs for abortion and fertility care, a policy that is consistent with the law. This is so important now that nearly half of all servicewomen are stationed in States with abortion restrictions because our servicemembers have little say in where they are stationed. They can't freely take days off work, and many can't afford to travel thousands of miles and pay out of pocket to receive the care they need and deserve.

DOD's policy took important steps to address those barriers and make our military more accessible and inclusive. That is why I will proudly fight for our servicemembers, who have fought so much for all of us here today. The least we can do is ensure they have their necessary healthcare.

For this reason, at the appropriate time, I will offer a motion to recommit this bill back to committee.

If the House rules permitted, I would have offered the motion with an important amendment to this bill. My amendment would strike section 8146.

Mr. Chair, I include in the Record the text of my amendment.

Ms. Jacobs moves to recommit the bill H.R. 4365 to the Committee on Appropriations with the following amendment:

Strike section 8146.

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Ms. JACOBS. Mr. Chair, I hope my colleagues will join me in voting for the motion to recommit.

Before I yield, I will also mention that while I am opposed to this bill in general, I am very proud of a bipartisan amendment that we were able to get into the en bloc that would set aside $5 million in additional funding to recruit and retain direct-care staff in CDCs.

I have heard time and again that staffing shortages are the main driver of our military childcare crisis. In my community that has sacrificed and served so much for us, recently, more than 4,000 military children were waiting for childcare spots at San Diego's military childcare centers. This amendment will help military families access the care they need so they can focus on the mission instead of wondering where their kids are placed or taken care of.

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Ms. JACOBS. Madam Chair, I thank Congressman Gaetz for his partnership on this important issue.

Many of us have this idea of American exceptionalism--that America is set apart from the rest of the world.

Well, that is certainly true when it comes to cluster munitions and not in the way that we want.

America is an outlier. We are one of the few countries that hasn't become party to the Convention on Cluster Munitions, and that is a grave mistake.

These weapons maim and kill indiscriminately. In 2021, the Landmine and Cluster Munitions Monitor found that over 97 percent of casualties from cluster bomb remnants were civilians; and two-thirds of those were children.

That is because these bomblets are small, colorful, and interesting shapes, so to children they look like toys. So when kids find these unexploded bomblets stuck in trees or in the water or simply on the ground and try to pick them up and play with them, they can lose a limb or their life in the blink of an eye.

Unfortunately, there is no amount of guardrails or promised precautions for cluster munitions that are enough. These weapons are unpredictable, and the human cost is far too high to justify.

Now, let's be clear. This isn't about one country. This is not about Ukraine. This is about protecting civilian lives and ensuring our national security all over the world because sending these weapons anywhere makes us complicit in unavoidable civilian harm and creates blowback that undermines our national security.

Our partners and allies look to us and expect us to do the right thing to protect the marginalized, defend human rights, and strengthen democracy. This reputation is what allows us to build and maintain international coalitions that further our goals.

If other countries don't look up to us and don't expect us to do the right thing, we will be alone on the world stage.

I urge my colleagues from both sides of the aisle to avoid all of these horrific consequences and support our bipartisan amendment to ensure that no funds can be used to transfer cluster munitions.

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