Illinois’ US Reps. Bost and Davis vote for national defense bill, Miller votes no
Four of Illinois’ five Republican U.S. representatives in Congress voted Tuesday night for this year’s national defense bill.
The $768 billion plan includes a 2.7% pay increase for servicemembers, reforms criminal justice for sexual assault cases and calls for an independent review of the United States’ mistakes in Afghanistan. A measure to require women to register for the draft was removed. The annual defense bill outlines and authorizes spending.
The bill passed 363 to 70, with 19 Republicans and 51 Democrats voting against it. It’s expected to pass the Senate next and then head to President Joe Biden.
From Illinois, GOP U.S. Reps. Mike Bost, Rodney Davis, Darin LaHood and Adam Kinzinger voted for the bill, while U.S. Rep. Mary Miller voted against it.
Miller said she voted against the bill because “to this day, no one in the Biden Administration has been held accountable for the withdrawal in Afghanistan,” and she opposed new diversity training requirements.
Miller also disagreed with the Pentagon’s separate COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA, would prohibit the military from dishonorably discharging members who refuse the vaccine.
Bost said he voted for the bill to support “over 22,000 men and women who live and work at Scott Air Force Base.” The base sits in Bost’s 12th Congressional District.
“Being a true representative means fighting for your constituents, and there is no bigger constituency in my district than the dedicated men and women at Scott Air Force Base,” Bost said.
Davis said he voted for the bill because Republicans were able to achieve some of their policy goals, such as not requiring women to register for the draft, and because he says it supports Scott Air Force Base and pushes the Biden administration “to account for their disastrous retreat from Afghanistan.”
“A vote against this NDAA does the opposite and amounts to defunding our military,” Davis said. “If anything, voting no on a negotiated NDAA that is likely to become law is the radical position to take.”
Three Illinois Democratic representatives from Chicago voted against the bill: Danny Davis, Jesus “Chuy” García and Jan. Schakowsky. Joining them in voting no were U.S. Reps. Cori Bush of Missouri, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and other members of “The Squad,” a group of progressive Democratic lawmakers.
“We live in a dangerous world, with new threats emerging each and every day, and I couldn’t in good conscience cast my vote with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and the rest of ‘The Squad’ to weaken the hand of our military,” Bost said.
Davis said the act also includes a $10.2 million project for the 183d Wing of the Illinois National Guard in Springfield. The money would pay for a new civil engineering complex on base.
“The men and women in the 183rd deserve up-to-date resources to continue providing exceptional emergency response and support services,” LaHood said in a news release.
Bost, Davis and LaHood have all announced plans to run for reelection to Congress in 2022. Miller has said she plans to run for a second term, but has not said where. She was drawn out of her current 15th Congressional District during redistricting in Illinois following the most recent U.S. Census.
