Key quotes from Senator Kim’s remarks include: 

“I come to the Floor with great urgency because Speaker Johnson sought to politicize this important National Defense Authorization Act by inserting a dangerous provision after the Armed Services Committees in both the House and the Senate came to bipartisan agreement. This kind of action undermines trust in negotiations and sets a dangerous precedent for what is widely considered the last true space of traditional bipartisan legislation.

“Let’s be clear – Section 708 would harm those who serve by denying healthcare for military families. By banning TRICARE from covering gender affirming care for minors, we are standing in the way of military families and the healthcare their doctors have prescribed. We are putting politics into a bill where it simply does not belong.”

“We shouldn’t play politics with our national security. We shouldn’t target transgender youth and further spread fear into a community that has seen so much hate directed towards it.

“We should pass an NDAA that supports our servicemembers and their families – all of them. Without politics or prejudice.”

As a Member of the House of Representatives, Senator Kim served as Ranking Member of the House Armed Services Military Personnel Subcommittee, where he worked to deliver for servicemembers and their families. 

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