WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Ohio Congresswoman Shontel Brown (OH-11) (pictured), a Warrensville Hts. Democrat whose 11th congressioDal district includes most of Cleveland, voted against the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), H.R. 2670, which passed the House on a largely party-line vote. In an unprecedented action, House Republicans added a number of provisions to the NDAA, angering some Democrats critics say the measure limits access to reproductive and gender-affirming care for the nation's military and curtails efforts to increase diversity, equity, and inclusion in the military.

The annual defense policy bill passed the House of Representatives on Friday afternoon after Republicans added provisions on abortion and transgender surgeries —  The legislation passed 219-210 and now heads to the U.S. Senate for review

Rep. Brown, one of three Blacks in Congress from Ohio, all of them women,  released the following statement relative to the controversial issue:

"My extremist colleagues are once again choosing politics over people by prioritizing grievances over good governance. A handful of my colleagues hijacked the originally and historically bipartisan NDAA at the expense of the American people, and our armed services.Regrettably, I must oppose this bill, which is dead-on-arrival in the U.S. Senate. I owe it to my constituents to vote no on any legislation that would strip away reproductive healthcare from our service members, eliminate crucial diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, and discriminate against transgender servic members."

The congresswoman went on to say that "providing for the national defense and supporting our service members is one of my core responsibilities as a lawmaker, and I will not stop working towards that end. She added that "it is expected that the House will hopefully revisit a reasonable and responsible NDAA later this year, and I will continue to fight for those who already sacrifice so much in service to our country."

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