Speaker Kevin McCarthy Appoints Tennessee Representative to NDAA Conference Committee

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA-20) named Tennessee U.S. Representative Scott DesJarlais (R-TN-04) to serve as a conferee on the House-Senate Conference Committee to resolve “bicameral differences” in the Fiscal Year 2024 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).

The NDAA is the primary authorization for funding the U.S. Armed Forces and Department of Defense (DoD).

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Tennessee U.S. Rep. Andy Ogles Updates from Inside the ‘Raucous Chamber’: ‘What’s the Pathway to Peace’ in Ukraine?

Tennessee U.S. Rep Andy Ogles (R-TN-05) joined The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy on the newsmaker line Friday for a broad-ranging interview covering everything from FBI Director Chris Wray’s “tap dancing” to the prospects of our Tennessee Army reservists being sent to the Ukraine.

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Though the Military Vaccine Mandate Is Overturned, Unvaccinated Troops Still Risk Reprisal

While the Biden administration has officially reversed the military COVID-19 vaccination mandate, servicemembers who escaped discharge for refusing the vaccine still risk retaliation and could be booted anyway, experts told the Daily Caller News Foundation.

Ongoing class action lawsuits thwarted the military’s efforts to discharge thousands of troops who objected to the mandate before the 2023 National Defense Authorization Act, which President Joe Biden signed into law Friday, overturned it. However, servicemembers may risk reprisal even after the deadline passes for the Department of Defense (DOD) to implement the repeal, staining the records of thousands of servicemembers for the remainder of their careers, experts explained to the DCNF.

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Florida U.S. Rep. Greg Steube Vows Justice for Troops Punished for COVID-19 Vaccine Refusal

Florida Republican Rep. Greg Steube is vowing to introduce legislation to obtain justice for those punished for refusing to comply with the military’s COVID-19 vaccination mandate.

“I intend on filing my own bill,” Steube said on the John Solomon Reports podcast Wednesday. “I am … not naive” about prospects for passage of such a bill in a Democrat-controlled Senate, he said, “but thankfully, the House has the power of the purse, and … when we do the appropriations process over the next year, we can put riders on appropriations bills to tell the Department of Defense how they’re going to give relief to these individuals.”

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Congressman John Rose Praises the Ending of Armed Forces Vaccination Requirement in National Defense Authorization Act Passage

Tennessee Congressman John Rose (R-TN-06) released a statement Thursday following the passage of the James M. Inhofe National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2023, the primary authorization for funding the U.S. Armed Forces and Department of Defense (DoD), in the House of Representatives.

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Marsha Blackburn and Mark Green Provide Update on Their Federal Legislation Designed to Save National Guard Soldiers’ Jobs

FRANKLIN, Tennessee – U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and U.S. Representative Mark Green (R-TN-07) provided an update on the status of their federal legislation aimed at saving the jobs of National Guard soldiers who refused the COVID-19 vaccine as part of a press gaggle held at an event supporting Tennessee Senate Majority Jack Johnson’s re-election campaign.

Blackburn and Green have both sponsored legislation in the U.S. Senate and U.S. House, respectively, that will pull the funding from enforcement of the COVID-19 vaccine mandate on National Guard soldiers.

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Biden, Congress Seek to Chip Away at Gun Rights with United Nations Arms Treaty, Military Red Flag Law

handgun with ammo

Congressional Democrats and the Biden administration are attempting to nibble away at the Second Amendment from both within and without the U.S., gun rights advocates warn, as Congress seeks to pass a red flag law for military members and the president eyes signing on to a United Nations arms treaty.

Red flag laws that would apply to military members were slipped into the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) passed by the House of Representatives last week with the help of 135 Republicans.

Red flag laws are “essentially bypassing due process,” Gun Owners of America’s Director of Outreach Antonia Okafor told the John Solomon Reports podcast on Wednesday. “It is going from one person who says they accuse you of being a danger to yourself, or to somebody else, and then going to a judge that then gets reasonable suspicion, right, that you are a danger to yourself or somebody else.”

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Democrats Turn National Defense Authorization Act Into Partisan Issue That Barely Passes House, Rep. DesJarlais Says

  Democrat infighting nearly prevented passage of the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act in the House of Representatives Friday, U.S. Rep. Dr. Scott DesJarlais (R-TN-04) said in a press release. The annual defense policy bill, which for 58 years has passed with bipartisan support, instead passed in the House on a party-line vote. It survived only because of concessions to far-left socialists, insisting on the elimination of programs critical to defending the United States from Russia, China, Iran and other adversaries, the congressman said. The House on Friday approved the bill after adopting a progressive amendment including a prohibition on deploying lower-yield nuclear weapons and a ban on sending new prisoners to the Guantanamo Bay detention center, Roll Call said. The final vote on the fiscal 2020 bill was 220-197. No Republicans supported the typically bipartisan measure that traditionally has earned more than 300 of the 435 available House votes. A video of DesJarlais addressing the House on the matter is available here. “The legislation simply doesn’t provide our military men and women with the resources needed to adequately protect the homeland and could negatively impact facilities in and around the Fourth District of Tennessee, including Arnold Air Force Base,…

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Blackburn on Senate Passage of NDAA:  This Bill Secures Big Wins for Tennessee Military Community

  This week Republican U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee voted to fund the United States Military in Fiscal Year 2020, via the National Defense Authorization Act. The NDAA funds crucial projects that will directly impact military communities in Tennessee. Blackburn is a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. “Tennessee is honored to be home to multiple military bases,” Blackburn said in a press release. “The sacrifice our members of the military make in service to our country can never be repaid. It is essential that we provide our men and women in uniform with the support they need to protect the United States and to provide for their families. This bill, which I worked on alongside my colleagues in the Senate Armed Services Committee, seeks to meet that goal.” The FY 2020 NDAA meets President Trump’s requested budget of $750 billion to fully fund the military. It also provides men and women in uniform with a 3.1 percent pay increase – the first since 2010, according to Blackburn’s press release. Blackburn secured funding for projects that will have a direct effect on military communities in Tennessee and on the mission of the Armed Forces to protect and defend…

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