{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://davids.house.gov/media/press-releases/davids-votes-against-package-restricts-access-health-care-military-and-their", "Davids Votes Against Package that Restricts Access to Health Care for Military and Their Families", "2024-12-11", "2024", "2024-12", "Democrat", "House", "KS", "Sharice Davids", "D000629", "davids.house.gov", "davids", "https://davids.house.gov/media/press-releases", "scraper", "Today, Representative Sharice Davids voted against an extreme proposal that would restrict access to health care for service members and their families. Since coming to Congress, Davids has consistently supported the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) in a bipartisan manner. While today\u2019s bill included provisions Davids has long championed \u2014 such as improved pay, health care, housing, and child care for service members \u2014 she could not support it because it would ultimately harm military families and jeopardize Armed Forces retention.\n\n\u201cI grew up in a military family \u2013 my mom and grandfather each served for more than 20 years \u2013 so I have a deep, personal commitment to ensuring our service members and their families are treated with the respect they deserve. They need pay raises, quality health care, safe housing, and affordable child care,\u201d said Davids. \u201cBut I also agree with Republican House Armed Services Committee Chair Mike Rogers that politics has no place in decisions that impact our troops\u2019 well-being, which is what we saw today. This bill includes provisions that put Kansas service members and their families\u2019 health at risk, which is unacceptable. We owe it to those who serve to rise above political games and deliver the care, resources, and respect they have earned through their sacrifice and service.\u201d\n\nToday's bill faced criticism from both parties, including Davids and Republican House Armed Services Committee Chair Mike Rogers, who denounced Speaker Mike Johnson for inserting anti-health care provisions into the NDAA, stating, \u201cThis stuff does not belong in our bill.\u201d These provisions, which include banning coverage for gender-affirming care for the children of service members, would unnecessarily involve the government in personal health care decisions for military families.\n\nFor six decades, the NDAA has been a largely bipartisan effort, but Speaker Johnson's actions have drawn widespread criticism for politicizing the process. Organizations like Planned Parenthood, the Human Rights Campaign, Minority Veterans of America, and medical groups such as the American College of Physicians and the American Academy of Pediatrics have voiced their opposition.\n\nLast year, the U.S. House passed a partisan version of the NDAA that included a laundry list of extremist measures, including restrictions on reproductive health care. Davids then pledged to advocate for common-sense, bipartisan policies that protect reproductive rights while expanding pay, child care, and housing support for military families. She and her colleagues worked across the aisle to ensure these critical priorities were represented in today\u2019s bill.\n\nAlong with successfully fighting against restrictions on reproductive health care, today\u2019s bill included Davids\u2019 original bipartisan legislation to award a Congressional Gold Medal to more than 220 \u201cHello Girls,\u201d the first female soldiers to be officially deployed to a combat zone in American history. Other Davids-supported wins include:\n\nService Member Pay: Raising pay for junior enlisted service members by 14.5 percent and by 4.5 percent for all other service members.\n\nHealth Care: Eliminating certain copays for contraceptives, expanding tele-health and mental health care access, enhancing treatment for blast-related injuries, and streamlining medical processing for recruits to reduce backlogs.\n\nChild Care: Helping to eliminate child care waitlists for eligible families and ensuring competitive pay for Department of Defense child care staff.\n\nHousing: Replacing poor unaccompanied housing and barracks, fast-tracking work order submissions and reducing backlogs, and ensuring internet access for those living in barracks.\n\nTo support Kansas service members and veterans, Davids introduced bipartisan legislation \u2013 which passed the U.S. House \u2013 to help eliminate barriers faced when starting a business. She also helped pass the Honoring our PACT Act, which expands Department of Veterans Affairs' health care eligibility to 3.5 million American veterans exposed to burn pits and toxic airborne hazards while deployed.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-07T22:13:55Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://davids.house.gov/media/press-releases/davids-votes-against-package-restricts-access-health-care-military-and-their"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.817654188722372, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}