Rep. Mary Peltola played defense Friday after she cast a controversial vote against funding the U.S. military earlier in the day.
“Today I took one of the most difficult votes I’ve ever had to take. The defense bill on the floor today was not the same bipartisan bill that came out of committee. House leadership let the most extreme members of Congress load it up with amendments designed to create political attack ads while removing access to health care for millions of Americans who are employed by the Department of Defense, and their families,” Peltola said of her vote against the National Defense Appropriations Act.
On numerous occasions in her few months in office, Peltola has put herself on the record in favor of extremist measures relating to transgenders and the use of puberty blockers for children, and today she voted against very minor congressional sideboards put on the military budget to prevent taxpayers from having to pay for things like “gender changing” surgeries for members of the military.
“I will always support our brave servicemen and women. I also believe that they are equal citizens, just like the rest of us. That means they have the same rights to privacy and choice in their medical decisions that any other American should have,” Peltola said.
In fact, members of the military have very different standards and are not the same as civilians, as much as Peltola would like them to be.
“When the U.S. military is a party to cases centering on First Amendment rights to free speech, free press, and free exercise of religion, the Supreme Court generally defers to the government’s interest and discretion, permitting the military to restrict the rights of service personnel in ways it does not permit in civilian contexts, writes Elizabeth Beaumont in a paper on the differences between military freedoms and civilian freedoms.
The military justice system, for instance, would violate someone’s constitutional rights if that person was a civilian. Legal rights of service members are narrower than those of civilians.
“We shouldn’t be pitting pay raises that they deserve against the reproductive freedoms that they also deserve. That is a false choice, created for purely political reasons, and I look forward to negotiations with the Senate’s version of the bill where this issue will be discussed further. I will advocate strongly to return to the bipartisan, policy-focused bill that came out of committee, and will gladly vote for a bill that fully protects our troops and their families,” Peltola explained.
Republican candidate Nick Begich took issue with Peltola’s vote:
“Mary Peltola had an opportunity to support our national security and our military families with much deserved pay raises. She voted No. She says she chose to vote against the bill because it didn’t fit her social agenda, but national defense is about keeping America safe,” Begich said.
“Several Democrats crossed the aisle to vote for this bill. Mary wasn’t one of them. If she wanted to weigh in on these matters, she shouldn’t have missed over 30 amendment votes on the NDAA,” Begich said. “When elected, Alaska’s service members and families can count on this: I will show up for them.”
The National Republican Congressional Committee also disagreed with Peltola.
“Today extreme Democrat Mary Peltola voted against the National Defense Authorization Act, going on record to block funding for the United States military. Voting against pay raises for our troops and the safety of our country over taxpayer funded late-term abortions and woke transgender ideology is extreme and dangerous,” the NRCC said.
“Mary Peltola is following an extreme and dangerous agenda led by the fringe elements of her party that is entirely out of touch with the American people. She needs to answer for why she is willing to put our national security risk for her woke agenda,” said NRCC spokesman Ben Petersen.
Oh Mary, thank you ever so much for your defensive explanation for your lack of concern for national security and the very men and women who have sworn and oath to protect us . All of this over as you say, women’s health care, and I don’t know where that comes from because killing babies has got nothing to do with women’s health care. In my view.
Anyway, I digress, I’m in with Nick and will be voting for him in 24.
Go Nick go…
Nick is no better than Mary. He just has not shown his true colors yet. If he gets in, you’ll get to see who he really supports.
We have only once chance to beat Peltola and that’s Begich. You don’t have to like him (I do) but if we don’t get him in there you’ll be calling her Senator Peltola.
Seems Mary objects to spending money on fighting as opposed to social justice.
Be a sight bit easier to respect her if she just owned her squad cred instead of trying to parse it.
You’re a hard left acolyte, Mary. Be brave enough to own it.
I’ve asked before, will do so again:
Mary voters, is this really what you voted for? Is she really what you wanted?
Mary is pathetic just like Murkowski. I agree with Tom Buzard.
She’s weak and pacifist.
Need to kick Mary to the curb including her mentor, Joe Biden.
Mary Peltola: Access to abortion for military members and funding for transitioning for military members and their families trump actual warfighting capability. And she has the audacity to call that support for political attack ads rather than a return to the actual mission of killing people and blowing things up. What a worthless woman, assuming I have the definition accurate. Cheers –
Heaven knows we couldn’t possibly fight a war if we can’t get abortions and cut off our testicles.
/s
Peltola hates the military, Whites, energy producers, …….virtually anything that doesn’t carry a radical Native agenda to the table.
.
She is going to be really campaigned against here in Alaska. Her type of hate won’t be tolerated by Alaskans.
Excellent comment. And absolutely true.
Very true statement and vets.
Well! Didn’t must read Alaska just publish a report of the pentagon mismanaging billions of dollars. Maybe she read the mrak report. Today we not only face problem with employees with poor work ethics we also face employers (managers and supervisors or superiors) also with poor work ethic developments too. Under a Republican House, the defense will get their money. Peltola vote is in the minority. Still! Why are they giving money to peoples with issues before they correct their issues.
She’s more concerned about the transgender female being able to abort it’s baby in the foxhole while under fire. (You figure out which gender it was originally; it’s a moving target and changes daily.) It baffles me that someone with 7 kids can be in favor of unfettered, publicly-funded abortion.
It doesn’t apply to her.She can have as many children,grandchildren,great grandchildren as she wants.It’s YOU who needs to have an abortion or have your child testicles removed.Vote this woman out!
C’mon Mary, fess up! You didn’t vote for the spending Bill because it didn’t include transgender surgery money, transgender mental councilling and more money for diversity classes. All things that most of your constituency don’t give a rat’s ass about!
Time to scale back the military industrial complex. Fair vote but for the wrong reasons.
Things that make you go hmmmmmm
Showing her true colors.
She seems more Offensive to me
If Kelly Thishbaka was our Congress Women, we all know how she would have voted.
Sarge – Kelly ran for Senate not the house seat. You’re welcome.
Mary doesn’t know anything but NO , does not support most Alaskans Values. Be sure to Vote NO for her the next time she runs for Congress.
Guess what folks. Her supporters dont give a rats ass how she votes.
They are still flying her flag high in the air cuz she a native woman who likes her fish and her family and her culture.
You can rant and rave all you want but she WILL be reselected with rigged choice plus the democratic party cheats their donors out of money and there simply arent enough people who care.
All the money Biden is dumping into rural Alaska will keep her AND lisa in DC.
Her and Buzzy are the most arrogant bunch ever since she set foot in Pelosi’s office.
I think it’s possible to beat her IF the GOP can get its head out of its backside.
But that’s a giant IF.
Mary Peltola, I am SO glad to know that it is impossible to be “an extreme member of congress” if you are a wooden-headed, Leftist puppet. One whose definition of “fish” means closing down industry, “family” means making families out of sodomites, and the “freedom” means the freedom to mutilate children, both inside and outside of the womb.
Didn’t she vote Yes for billions to Ukraine? We are not sending our best and our brightest to DC.
I would call the Republican amendments offensive. McCarthy and his Putin loving conservatives have never served in the military and are harming our military.
I spent time on active duty from mid 70’s thru mid 90’s. When active duty decided they wanted to get an abortion they went in town and paid for it themselves.
All you folks talking about voting Peltola out better be sure you sign on to ending ranked choice voting. That is how she got there, and like Murky, will probably stay there. RCV must go.
RCV AND the electronic ballot machines need to go!
Not a Peltola fan, but the vote in this matter I agree with. The republicans were attempting to do what the democrats have done for decades and that is take extreme positions that do not matter on necessary issues to use for future retaliation. The defense bill should have contained nothing but defense issues, not social issues that had nothing to do with national defense. So, in that regard are agree with her no vote.
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