Statement of Major General (Ret,) Paul D. Eaton on the National Defense Authorization Act

WASHINGTON,DC (July 26, 2018) – Veterans from around the country have made it clear that controversial, anti-public lands and anti-environmental riders like those attacking sage grouse and the endangered species act,  have no place in the defense bill. And today, the U.S. House of Representatives listened to veterans, voting to pass the National Defense Authorization Act, without a dangerous rider that would have blocked the sage grouse and other species from being eligible for Endangered Species protection for 10 years.

In response, Major General Paul Eaton (Ret), managing director of Vet Voice Foundation, issued the following statement:

“We are happy to see that the House has approved the defense authorization bill and kept the highly contentious sage-grouse rider out in the process. Protecting the greater sage grouse and sage grouse habitat has no impact on the operations of the U.S. military. Those promoting this rider attempted to hijack a bill that should not be a place for partisan squabbles, and instead passed quickly and efficiently for the safety and security of our men and women in uniform. We hope the Senate will vote to pass the bill without delay, and that this process in the future will not be delayed by political motives.”

Major General (Ret.) Paul Eaton served more than 30 years in the United States Army, including combat and post-combat assignments in Iraq, Bosnia and Somalia. As a major general he was assigned to Iraq from 2003 to 2004 as Commanding General of the Coalition Military Assistance Training Team (CMATT), where he designed, manned, trained, and equipped the Iraqi armed forces for the Iraqi Ministry of Defense and the security forces for the Interior Ministry. Prior to that assignment, he commanded the Army’s Infantry \Center and was Chief of Infantry for the Army.