{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.welch.senate.gov/welch-statement-on-the-ndaa-2/", "Welch Statement on the NDAA", "2025-10-10", "2025", "2025-10", "Democrat", "Senate", "VT", "Peter Welch", "W000800", "www.welch.senate.gov", "welch", "https://www.welch.senate.gov/category/press-release/page/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.) released the following statement on the Senate\u2019s passage of the annual National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA):\n\n\u201cThe use of our brave troops by President Trump and Secretary Hegseth for political theater\u2014militarizing American cities against the wishes of citizens and governors, declaring wars without congressional authorization, parading around generals for a campaign rally\u2014is a nightmare our founders would not have tolerated.\n\n\u201cMy Republican colleagues voted down amendment after amendment that would have protected the military from these abuses by President Trump\u2014including amendments to limit the President\u2019s ability to use the National Guard for police work and requiring the consent of elected state governors before deploying in American cities. They even rejected a commonsense amendment to stop the Defense Department from spending hundreds of millions on President Trump\u2019s vanity project to refurbish the 747 jet \u201cgifted\u201d by Qatar\u2014at the same time that he is gutting veterans\u2019 care.\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s why I voted against this Republican business-as-usual defense authorization bill.\n\n\u201cWhile I will continue to stand up for American democracy and fight inefficient giveaways to defense contractors, I still worked to make sure this year\u2019s NDAA included provisions that reflect American values and the priorities of Vermonters. I also made sure it included new provisions to take care of our troops\u2014the Vermonters and Americans from every state that have dedicated their lives to our defense. This NDAA misses the mark, but I am grateful for our troops and veterans\u2014including those targeted by the anti-LGBTQI+ and anti-DEI provisions in this bill.\u201d\n\nThe Senate\u2019s FY 2026 NDAA included policies led and championed by Sen. Welch, including:\n\nElimination of Burn Pits: The bill included Senator Welch\u2019s bipartisan WIPE Act, which would finally eliminate open-air burn pits and push the Defense Department to use safer and more efficient incineration systems for waste disposal when our troops are deployed around the world.\n\nWar Crimes Accountability: Senator Welch\u2019s provision would push DOD to comply with its legal commitments to retain records of alleged war crimes.\n\nAgent Orange Cleanup: Senator Welch\u2019s provision would push the Defense Department to ensure America follows through on its responsibility to continue cleaning up Agent Orange around former U.S. bases in Vietnam, where children are still born with preventable disabilities and diseases.\n\nICE Detentions by the Military: The bill\u2019s language would ensure the Defense Department\u2019s facilities and U.S. troops can focus on fighting wars instead of President Trump\u2019s mass deportation agenda.\n\nRule of Law at the Defense Department: The Senate included language underlining that the uniformed Judge Advocate Corps is bound by law and their oath to the Constitution to continue providing independent advice\u2014free from political pressures and the whims of President Trump.\n\nSupport for Ukraine: The bill includes language to sustain and bolster U.S. military and intelligence support for Ukraine\u2019s resilient defense against Russia\u2019s invasion.\n\nMaking the Defense Budget Work for Vermonters\u2014the Senate\u2019s FY26 NDAA also included measures championed by Senator Welch with direct financial impact on Vermonters:\n\nFair Pay for State National Guards: The bill includes the Guarding Readiness Resources Act, ensuring National Guard units are reimbursed directly when responding to local emergencies, such as reimbursements to the Vermont Guard for their help during the historic flooding in Vermont.\n\nDOD Cyber Training with Academia: The NDAA supports programs implemented by Norwich University, such as cyber workforce civilian training and the Cybersecurity Model Maturity Certification, ensuring that DOD has access to skilled cybersecurity professionals and bolstering Vermont\u2019s tech leadership.\n\nRepublicans were not willing to call up Senator Welch\u2019s amendments to the NDAA that would have:\n\nStopped spending of Americans\u2019 taxpayer dollars on President Trump\u2019s frivolous vanity project, refurbishing the used 747 gifted to him by Qatar.\n\nStopped DOD from hiring individuals convicted of felony assault on a law enforcement officers, including the hundreds of individuals convicted for their violent attacks on police officers at the Capitol on January 6th.\n\nProhibited the costly expansion of facilities at Guantanamo (Cuba) for ICE detentions and deportations, extending the life of a prison camp that was designed to deprive detainees of legal rights to counsel.\n\nProhibited annexation of the West Bank by Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu\u2019s extremist government and prevented the deployment of US troops to Gaza.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:32:54Z"]], "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://www.welch.senate.gov/welch-statement-on-the-ndaa-2/"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.1961960699409246, "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"}