U.S. Rep. Martha Roby is asking concerned citizens to lend their voices to build pressure on President Barack Obama to sign the recently passed National Defense Authorization Act which would allocate $187 million for the procurement of 28 new Lakota helicopters for the Army Aviation Center of Excellence at Fort Rucker.
The U.S. Senate passed the final version of the annual bill on Wednesday, authorizing defense spending and policy. Roby said Obama had previously threatened to veto the bill and she is therefore calling on citizens to “get on the phones, send an email, recruit friends and family” to pressure the president to sign the bill.
“It’s a good bill that does right by our troops and contains important provisions to support the missions at Maxwell Air Force Base and Fort Rucker,” Roby said. “President Obama has threatened to veto the NDSS. That would set us back tremendously, which is why I’m working to build a coalition to put pressure on the president to sign this bill. If he follows through on this threat, it will be up to us to fight to overturn it, and our work will be cut out for us. I’m ready for a fight, and I need your help.”
If the president vetoes the NDAA, a two-thirds vote from both the House and Senate would be required to override. The 2016 NDAA authorizes spending at levels that would alleviate the worst of the sequestration military cuts, according to Roby.
Specific to Fort Rucker, the Act authorizes the aforementioned $187 million for the Lakota helicopters and $47 million for elementary school improvements. More than $233 million would go toward various upgrades and purchases at Maxwell-Gunter Air Force Base in Montgomery.
The bill also contains authorizations for military personnel, including a pay raise for troops, funding to ensure commissaries stay open, and empowering commanders to permit service members to carry firearms at installations, reserve centers and recruiting centers.
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