Durbin Calls For Removal Of Provision Banning Gender-Affirming Care For Transgender Children Of Service Members From NDAA
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today delivered a speech on the Senate floor decrying the inclusion of a provision in the Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) conference agreement to restrict gender-affirming care for transgender children of service members.
Durbin began his remarks by highlighting the positive components of the NDAA, which includes Durbin’s READ Reauthorization Act to support basic education programs internationally, while acknowledging that the NDAA could not pass without compromise.
“Congress has passed a bipartisan defense authorization bill every year without fail since 1961, a remarkable feat. In an increasingly partisan Senate, it’s even more remarkable. Every year when the final text comes together, there are inevitably members on both sides of the aisle who like some provisions and dislike others. That’s what compromise is all about,” Durbin began.
“This year’s text is no different. It includes a historic pay raise for junior enlisted troops. It provides continued support for Ukraine’s territorial integrity and Baltic security cooperation. This bill authorizes important military construction projects. It reauthorizes my READ Act to continue quality basic education programs for vulnerable children around the world,” Durbin continued.
Durbin then expressed his frustration at the exclusion of provisions that will make it harder to close Guantanamo Bay, remediate PFAS contamination, and enable DACA-holders to join the military.
“At the same time, it also continues troubling restrictions that make it unnecessarily difficult to finally close the detention center at Guantanamo Bay. It fails to include important provisions I sponsored that would have accelerated PFAS remediation and enabled skilled DACA-holders to enlist in the military to address our recruitment challenges,” said Durbin.
Durbin concluded his remarks on the NDAA by calling out a harmful provision included by Republicans that would restrict access to gender-affirming care for the transgender children of service members.
“But there’s one provision in this conference agreement that troubles me—a provision that would ban certain medical treatments for transgender children of service members. It eliminates the ability of military families to work with medical professionals and make their own decisions about the health care needs of their own children,” Durbin said. “That’s why I am a cosponsor of Senator Tammy Baldwin’s amendment to remove this language from the bill.”
Earlier this week, Durbin joined U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) in introducing an amendment to the FY 2025 NDAA to remove language that would strip away service members’ parental rights to access medically necessary health care for their transgender children. If the House-passed NDAA becomes law, it is estimated that 6,000 to 7,000 transgender children of service members would not be able to access the health care that their parents had approved in consultation with medical professionals.
Video of Durbin’s remarks on the floor is available here.
Audio of Durbin’s remarks on the floor is available here.
Footage of Durbin’s remarks on the floor is available here for TV Stations.
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