Rep. Russell Fry, R-S.C., told Newsmax on Thursday the defense bill passed by the House will help rebuild the military.
Lawmakers voted Wednesday after fraught negotiations to move forward with 2025 defense budget that raises troops' pay but blocks funding of gender transition care for some transgender children of service members.
The centerpiece of the $884 billion National Defense Authorization Act — which was green-lit by the Republican-led House but still needs Senate approval — is a 14.5% pay increase for junior enlisted service members and 4.5% for other personnel.
"What we've seen under the Biden-Harris administration for the last four years is that recruitment in our military has gone down," Fry told "National Report." "They're not hitting their marks."
Fry praised the bill for increasing military pay and getting rid of diversity, equity, and inclusion programs and critical race theory ideas and funding for transgender surgeries.
"Our military needs to be ready to face the challenges domestically and abroad," Fry said. "You don't do that by playing social justice warrior with our military. This repurposes and kind of recalibrates our military to its original intent and kind of restores that good order."
Fry ripped the 140 Democrats who opposed the bill.
They were "more interested in funding gender reassignment surgeries for minors than protecting our southern border, than protecting the emerging threat of China, than funding a pay raise for our military," Fry said. "They were more focused on critical race theory and transgender issues than they were the readiness of our military to protect this country."
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Sam Barron ✉
Sam Barron has almost two decades of experience covering a wide range of topics including politics, crime and business.
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