Utah Rep. Blake Moore celebrates final passage of defense authorization bill in the House

U.S. Rep. Blake Moore (R-UT) is celebrating the House passage of the 2023 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) on Dec. 8. Moore called the 350-to-80 floor vote in the House a personal victory as well as a win for his bi-partisan colleagues.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Utah Rep. Blake Moore is celebrating the House passage of the 2023 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), calling it a personal victory as well as a win for his bi-partisan colleagues.

“This bi-partisan legislation is the culmination of the hard work of my team, my colleagues and the (House) Armed Services Committee,” Moore said after the 350-to-80 floor vote in the House.

It continues the 62-year-long tradition of overcoming partisan divides to put forth a bill that supports military members, their families and the warfighter.”

The House vote on Dec. 8 passed the compromise authorization package and sent the NDAA to the Senate, where lawmakers are expected to approve it next week.

The NDAA for fiscal 2023 is a must-pass bill setting policy for the Pentagon and its subordinate armed services.

The 2023 NDAA authorized $858 billion in military spending, more than $40 billion in addition to President Joe Biden’s requested amount.

Defending that increase, Moore called that president’s defense budget request “inadequate.”

It includes a 4.6 percent pay hike for military members; at least $800 million in additional security assistance for the Ukraine to resist the ongoing invasion by Russia; support for Taiwan amid tensions with China; and funding for purchases of weapons, ships and aircraft.

On a personal level, Moore noted that the NDAA package also includes provisions that he and his staff pushed for, especially financial support for Hill Air Force Base and Utah’s defense community.

Those provisions include funding for depot modernization; improvements to the Utah Test and Training Range in the West Desert; better housing for airmen at Hill AFB; full funding for the Sentinel (Ground Based Strategic Deterrent) system being developed locally by Northop-Grumman; and other Utah priorities.

“One significant win that my Republican colleagues and I successfully fought more than 18 months for is a permanent repeal of the COVID-19 vaccine mandate by the Department of Defense,” Moore boasted.

Republicans argue that mandate — first put in place by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin in August 2021 with encouragement from the Biden White House — has worsened a recruiting crisis in the military by forcing out thousands of people who declined to be immunized.

Roughly 98 percent of members of the armed forces have been vaccinated, according to the Pentagon.

“After more than two years of our service members being subjected to inconsistent vaccines mandates,” Moore explained, “we are grateful to right this wrong and restore hardworking service members to their posts and livelihoods.”

Moore added that this is a perfect example of why elections matter.

“Republicans winning back the (House) majority gave us the leverage to make critical reforms like this possible,” he said.

Republican were also successful, according to Moore, in defeating Democratic attempts to make climate change a top priority for Pentagon officials and to prohibit state National Guard units from deploying to the southern border in response to the ongoing immigration crisis.

It is imperative that America’s defense prowess is maintained across the world,” Moore argued, as a member of the House Armed Services Committee. “This is a strong step forward in ensuring our continued dominance on the global stage.”

On Dec. 7, the White House declined to say whether President Biden would sign the NDAA when it reaches his desk if it includes the provision to rescind the military COVID-19 vaccine mandate.

Administration officials said that the president continues to support a mandate, but is leaving the door open to its repeal.

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