Wyden explains no vote on defense authorization bill

Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., released the following statement Monday on the passage of the National Defense Authorization Act, explaining why he voted against it:

“After Republicans in Congress spent almost $2 trillion in tax breaks that are overwhelmingly skewed to multinational corporations, they’re now pushing through legislation that green-lights billions more for open-ended military commitments,” Wyden said.

“While I applaud the Senate’s rejection of Donald Trump’s ZTE giveaway and I support pay raises for our troops, one item I am deeply concerned about is this bill will allow Trump to recklessly barrel ahead with dangerous, new nuclear weapons by removing Congress – and the American people – from the equation.

“In addition, I simply cannot support a process that approves more than $700 billion for military spending without an opportunity to vote on important amendments related to nuclear weapons, sexual assault in the military, presidential war powers, cybersecurity, and Buy America for important national security industries, among others,” the senator concluded.