Xavier Becerra: “I thank the ranking member for yielding, and I thank both the ranking member and the chairman for their work on this…”

“I thank the ranking member for yielding, and I thank both the ranking member and the chairman for their work on this particular set of amendments that have been put together en bloc. I want to just say that I have an amendment here that I hope that we can not only use in the future, but I hope it is one that will help America continue to seek out the best and the brightest to service in our military, both in the ranks of our troops and also as our officers. As we all know, one of the great privileges we have as Members of Congress is to nominate the future leaders, the officer corps of our military. Through the military academies that we have, we have an opportunity to train young men and women to be our future leaders in our military but, more importantly, our future leaders of America because many go on beyond military service to become future leaders in the civic world. So this amendment makes sure that our military academies have an opportunity to go to every corner of our country to find the best and brightest. {time} 1530 Some areas have been harder to reach out to than others. Working with our Members of Congress through the nominations process, we hope that the Pentagon and military services, with their academies, can reach out to all those young people who are ready to serve. I thank both the chairman and the ranking member for making this amendment part of the en bloc series of amendments. Mr. McKEON.…”