Racine Sun

The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) 2022 was passed by the House on Dec. 7, and Rep. Bryan Steil voted in support of it.

"Proud to vote in support of our nation's annual defense bill to strengthen our military and keep America secure. God bless our troops," Steil tweeted.

On Dec. 7, the House of Representatives approved the annual defense bill for 2022. It was voted against by 51 Democrats and 19 Republicans. The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) will allocate $768 billion for national security purposes, $740 billion of which will go to the Department of Defense.

The approval of the NDAA this year was stalled due to discussions over the budget, whether Biden should impose sanctions on Russia, and how to "punish" China for their genocide against Uyghur Muslims. This bill is also supposed to address the increasing issues of sexual assault in the military, which was one of the high-profile issues that Congress had to deal with this year. 

"The sexual assault reform provisions that we have in this bill are the most transformational thing that has been done in this committee in my 25 years of serving. As we all know, for years we have dealt with the reality that sexual assault is not being adequately dealt with in the military," Democratic Congressman Adam Smith, the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, told the Rules Committee. 

However, according to Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, "This bill does not reform the military justice system in a way that will truly help survivors get justice."

The NDAA must still be approved by the Senate. The final version of the NDAA did not include some controversial provisions that were up for debate, such as requiring women to register for the draft.