Media

House Republicans demonstrated on Thursday their support for restoring funding to a U.S. military that could shrink to its lowest size in decades as global threats rise.

WASHINGTON — Lawmakers are pushing back against a Navy review to potentially ban the sale of tobacco products on Navy and Marine Corps facilities, saying it violates servicemembers’ “rights.”

Last month, Cmdr. Tamara Lawrence, a Navy spokeswoman for the secretary, confirmed Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus is taking a new look at tobacco use across the service. A Navy official, who spoke to Stars and Stripes on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak on the topic, said one option on the table is banning tobacco sales on Navy bases and ships.

An appropriations request submitted to a Congressional committee would block the use of defense dollars to shutter Fort Bragg's 440th Airlift Wing.

The request, submitted by North Carolina U.S. Reps. Renee Ellmers, David Price, Richard Hudson and Mike McIntyre, would "prohibit funding for the inactivation, relocation or any other measure that would disrupt the mission, personnel or aircraft of the 440th Airlift Wing," according to Hudson's office.