A retired Army chaplain is disappointed that Congress failed to include an amendment in the National Defense Authorization Act aimed at protecting faith-based service contractors.

Col. Ron Crews, executive director of Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty, recently wrote an op-ed for FoxNews.com expressing his disappointment that Congressman Steve Russell’s (R-Oklahoma) amendment, which would have nullified an executive order issued by President Obama in 2014 that basically prohibited faith-based Christian ministries from having contracts with the military, was stripped from the final version of the bill.

“His executive order meant that any ministry that believes in Scripture and holds a biblical view concerning marriage is no longer qualified to provide services to the military,” Crews explains.

He is disappointed that lawmakers yielded to President Obama.

“The president had already threatened to veto the bill if that amendment remained,” the Alliance executive notes. “So I am disappointed in the House and Senate leadership for making this decision, and that is what I wrote about.”

But Crews is hopeful that the Russell Amendment can be resurrected under Trump’s leadership.