Eric Schmitt: The NDAA is a win for Missouri. Here’s what I fought for in Washington | Opinion

The National Defense Authorization Act is one of the more important items on Congress’ annual to-do list as it relates to our military and national security. It ensures our troops have the training, equipment and resources they need to continue to be the most lethal fighting force in the world. The NDAA is especially important to Missouri because we have a long, proud military history and we have several critical military installations. With a spot on the Senate Armed Services Committee, I had the unique opportunity to fight for Missouri’s interests and ensure that our military is laser-focused on preparedness and lethality as we face down adversaries like China.

I fought to include multiple amendments that will claw back the focus on divisive diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives in our military. The Department of Defense should solely be focused on enhancing the strength and readiness of our troops to defend our great nation, not implementing useless diversity policies that divide our troops on the basis of race. The numbers don’t lie — recruiting and retention rates are down. It’s estimated that the Defense Department spends millions on diversity. I sponsored measures to require a Government Accountability Office audit on the department’s diversity workforce and to enforce a hiring freeze to prohibit creating new diversity positions. Another amendment of mine requires an accounting report by the Secretary of Defense detailing the costs, hours and resources that the Defense Department currently expends on diversity, equity and inclusion training. I also fought to include an amendment requiring the Under Secretary of Defense to provide a report to Senate Armed Services Committee on the Enhanced Civics Education Program within the Defense Department following concerns that awards in the program are based on “progressive” curricula with topics such as divisive teaching about race relations.

After an abysmal lack of transparency exhibited by the Defense Department, these amendments will provide much-needed transparency on woke nonsense in our armed forces and significantly cut down civilian personnel costs that should be applied towards addressing the threat of China. Diversity, equity and inclusion policies and radical ideology have no place in our military, and these measures will help reset the focus of the Defense Department to military readiness rather than pointless woke initiatives that do nothing to build on the United States’ ability to defend our homeland.

I also fought hard for resources for Missouri’s military installations. That includes $50 million for new family housing construction at Fort Leonard Wood that would enhance quality of life, over $87 million for B-2 Spirit bomber operations at Whiteman Air Force Base, which is a critical piece of our nuclear triad and sustained air dominance, and over $3 billion in nuclear stockpile modernization benefiting the National Nuclear Security Administration Kansas City National Security Campus, another critical piece of our nuclear triad. We were also able to add millions in funding for the 139th Airlift Wing Entry Point at Rosecrans Air National Guard Base in Buchanan County. Additionally, we secured more than $100 million in funding for F-15 Strike Eagle purchases and $1.2 billion for development of the Navy’s new MQ-25 Stingray carrier-based unmanned aircraft system, which are both manufactured at the Boeing plant in St. Louis.

The resources that are going to Missouri from the NDAA are incredibly important not only to our national security, defense and military readiness, but also to Missouri’s economy. Our military installations support thousands of jobs across the state while pouring hundreds of millions into our economy, and I will work to ensure those numbers continue to increase in the future.

Yet another significant aspect of ensuring our troops are prepared to defend our nation includes making sure their families are adequately taken care of. That’s why I made certain that language from my Military Spouse Career Support Act of 2023, sponsored alongside Sen. Jon Ossoff of Georgia, was included in the Senate’s version of the NDAA. This language expands eligibility for reimbursement of qualified licensure, certification and business relocation costs incurred by military spouses. Military spouses’ careers and businesses should not suffer because of their husband or wife’s position in the armed forces, and this provision helps ensure that it won’t.

I successfully fought to include a large number of amendments in the Senate’s version of the 2024 NDAA aimed at supporting Missouri’s troops and military installations, rooting out extremist diversity, equity and inclusion policies, and overall better preparing our servicemen and women to defend this great nation. The United States and our military are better off when Missouri’s military operations are well represented in Washington, and I was proud to lead that fight.

Eric Schmitt represents Missouri in the U.S. Senate.