Huffman Votes Against 2015 Defense Authorization

WASHINGTON­—Congressman Jared Huffman (D-San Rafael) today voted against the Fiscal Year 2015 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The bill contained a total of $577.1 billion in discretionary defense funding, nearly twice the level of pre-9/11 national defense spending. The NDAA included $495.9 billion for the Department of Defense (DOD) base budget, $63.7 billion for the Overseas Contingency Operations account, and $17.5 billion for the Department of Energy national security programs.

"Yet again, the House voted to pass a deeply-flawed defense authorization bill that ignores common-sense cost savings and insists on buying weapons and vehicles that the Pentagon doesn't even want. Instead of closing the shameful Guantanamo Bay Detention Center, the NDAA gives away thousands of acres of public lands to a massive mining corporation with ties to Iran and doubles down on nuclear weapons platforms, which make us less safe," Huffman said. "After the longest war in our nation's history and with critical domestic needs unmet, we should be reducing our military spending, not dragging out the war in Afghanistan, launching a costly new unauthorized war, and forcing the Pentagon to spend billions on weapons and bases it says it no longer needs."

Huffman opposed several provisions in the bill, including:

• Afghanistan – The NDAA endorses a residual and expanded presence in Afghanistan of 10,000 troops.
   
• Nuclear Weapons – Continues buildup, development, and investment in long-range nuclear warheads.
   
• Guantanamo –Continues the prohibition on the transfer of detainees.
   
• Arizona Copper Mine - Resolution Copper Mining LLC—a joint venture of BHP Billiton Ltd. and Rio Tinto Plc, a company with connections to the government of Iran—would receive 2,422 acres of U.S. Forest Service land to explore a copper deposit. Local tribes in Arizona have opposed the project for its proximity to culturally-significant sites.

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