If the House Doesn’t Act, You Could Be Funding This ‘Irresponsible Use of Taxpayer Dollars’

A couple of weeks ago, the House of Representatives passed the National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2018 without incorporating a policy that ensures that limited military resources are not be used for sex-reassignment surgery and other gender transition efforts for service members. This week, the House will vote on the Make America Secure Appropriations Act, which will provide a large increase in funding for the Department of Defense.

Taxpayer dollars need to be protected from funding sex-change surgery and hormone therapy efforts intended to change a person’s gender, which are non-essential. Estimates for these efforts, including the amount of time lost for the transition process, are about $3.7 billion over the next 10 years. This is an irresponsible use of taxpayer funds.

With the costs estimated for sex-reassignment surgery and hormones, the military could purchase 22 F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Planes, which cost $166.7 million each, or 116 Chinook helicopters, which cost $31.8 million each, or 3,700 Tomahawk missiles, which are $1 million each or a new Destroyer for the Navy, which would be about $3.5 billion. Spending billions of dollars on sex-reassignment surgeries and hormones when the military has other priorities that would actually ensure its effectiveness in war, and America’s safety is irresponsible. Active-duty service members, whose gender transition efforts will undermine their deployability and military service, should be prohibited from having taxpayer-funded hormone therapy and sex-reassignment surgery.

Increasing funding for the Department of Defense while taxpayers are on the hook for sex-reassignment surgery and hormone therapy intended to change a person’s gender is a distraction from the military’s purpose and undermines readiness, recruitment and retention. Tell your representative to vote against funding the Department of Defense so long as the Obama-era military transgender policy is in place by calling your representative at (202) 224-3121, or email your representative.

If the Make America Secure Appropriations Act is rejected the current military funding level would be maintained through a Continuing Resolution. {eoa}