Murphy Co-Sponsors NDAA Amendments to Protect Service Members from Military Court Injustice, End Vaccine Mandates

Washington, D.C. – Rep. Greg Murphy, M.D. (NC-03) has co-sponsored numerous amendments to improve H.R. 7900, the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2023. As a member of the Congressional Justice for Warriors Caucus, Rep. Murphy is proud to support three commonsense amendments to the NDAA to help prevent the military court system from committing injustices against U.S. service members.

Rep. Murphy has also co-sponsored amendments to the NDAA to rescind the COVID-19 vaccine mandate for all service members within 30 days of passage, expand military retiree and disabled veteran compensation, and conduct a feasibility study for a dual jetty system at Oregon Inlet, NC.

"The NDAA is a hugely important piece of legislation for our military-heavy district," said Rep. Murphy. "While the NDAA provides essential funding for our military, authorizes pay raises, and plays a vital role in the safety and security of the United States, the 1,316 page bill is far from perfect and there is a lot that can be improved. I'm glad to support these commonsense amendments to safeguard veterans from military court injustice, eradicate vaccine mandates, expand veteran benefits, and so much more."

Rep. Murphy has sponsored/co-sponsored the following amendments to the FY2023 NDAA:

• Murphy amendment 827
  • Feasibility study for dual jetty system at Oregon Inlet, North Carolina.
• Gohmert amendment 448
  • Removes certain records from investigation reports for service members exonerated from wrongdoing under the following situations: Service member is subject to non-judicial punishment for the offense to which the record pertains; or is pardoned for the offense to which the record pertains.
• Gohmert amendment 450
  • Grants SCOTUS the ability to review a service member's writ of certiorari regardless of ruling from the Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces. The current standard is substantially more restrictive and grants more SCOTUS access to Guantanamo detainees than our veterans. A writ of certiorari is a request that the Supreme Court order a lower court to send up the record of the case for review.
• Gohmert amendment 454
  • Grants unanimous jury verdicts for military courts to bring them in compliance with the SCOTUS decision in Ramos v. Louisiana that requires all verdicts to be unanimous under the Due Process provided by the Constitution.
• Johnson amendment 497
  • Requires the Secretary of Defense to rescind the Covid vaccine mandate for members of the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Space Force within 30 days.
• Bilirakis amendment 97
  • Provides eligibility to certain military retirees for concurrent receipt of veterans' disability compensation and retired pay or combat-related special compensation.
• Bilirakis amendment 98
  • Allows combat-disabled uniformed services retirees with fewer than 20 years of creditable service to concurrently receive, without reduction, veterans' disability compensation and retired pay or combat-related special compensation.
• Perry amendment 119
  • Makes Stellate Ganglion Block (SGB) therapy treatment available for active duty servicemembers and Veterans suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
• Stauber amendment 1125
  • Requires the DOD to report every 60 days on the number of religious and medical exemptions for the COVID-19 vaccine requirement requested and denied, the reasons for such denials, the number of members denied an exemption who complied with the requirement, and the number of members denied such an exemption who did not comply and were separated.

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