After months of closed-door negotiations, Congress has released the long-awaited final text for the Fiscal Year 2025 National Defense Authorization Act (FY25 NDAA). Thanks to the work of our allies on the Hill and your many phone calls and emails, the final bill is a win for women, families, and the future of the nation.
This outcome was anything but certain. Earlier this summer, the Senate announced that their version of the NDAA included a provision that would require women to register with the Selective Service for a potential draft. The “Draft Our Daughters” language has been a policy goal for many in D.C. for years, one that Concerned Women for America has long fought against. While its proponents argue that it’s simply a matter of equality, including women in the draft is yet one more agenda item taken straight from the gender ideology playbook. It is a denial of the differences between the sexes and an insult to the inherent dignity and intrinsic value of women.
As soon as the Senate released their version of the bill, Concerned Women for America Legislative Action Committee (CWALAC) got to work to ensure that that provision was removed. And now we can say that, thanks in part to our meetings on Capitol Hill and the outreach done by you, our incredible network of women, the final version of the NDAA does not include the “Draft our Daughters” language.
The NDAA is not just a success for what was left out. It includes several provisions that will go a long way toward improving the lives of servicemembers. One of those provisions is a permanent ban on transgender medical treatment for minors, language that CWA supported in earlier drafts of the bill. Since 2016, TRICARE, the military’s health program, has covered the prescription of puberty blockers and other hormone treatments for those suffering from gender dysphoria, regardless of age. The language in the NDAA changes that by banning any coverage of “medical interventions for the treatment of gender dysphoria that could result in sterilization” for those 18 and younger. While farther-reaching language, banning hormone care for all trans-identifying service members, was dropped from the final package, this is an important step towards fixing an egregious government-funded program.
The NDAA also takes steps to remove the corrosive diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs from the Pentagon by placing a hiring freeze on any new DEI-related positions. The military is no place for people to be promoted or hired on any other basis than merit and competency. America depends on having a warfighting force that is capable of defending the nation and its people, and removing the influence of DEI is a critical part of ensuring that that is the case.
To push back against the recent, rampant growth of antisemitism, the bill prohibits Department of Defense (DOD) commissaries from selling goods provided by companies that have or are currently engaged in a boycott of Israel. The Pentagon should not be facilitating any kind of activism that financially hurts our greatest ally in the Middle East.
No bill that can be successfully agreed on by both the Senate and House will be perfect, and the FY25 NDAA is no exception. Several provisions that CWALAC lobbied for, such as a reversal of the DOD’s policy that pays for service members to travel in order to obtain abortions, were unfortunately left out of the final text.
But the critical wins that the bill does include will ultimately make the military stronger. By rejecting gender ideology and defunding overtly political programs detached from anything to do with national security, this NDAA will help to refocus the military on its central duty – ensuring the safety and protection of all Americans.