Political Quotes

“Mr. Chairman, I rise today in support of my amendment to require the United States Army to establish gender-neutral fitness standards for its combat fitness test. Last year's defense bill contained my provision that required the Army to create gender-neutral fitness standards for combat military occupational specialties. While I am pleased that the conference adopted increased fitness standards for combat arms in the FY24 NDAA, it removed the provisions requiring these standards to be gender- neutral. This amendment would restore the House's previous language. To be clear, Mr. Chairman, I fully support all Americans, regardless of race, religion, or gender, to serve in any capacity in our uniformed services. We need them, and in the middle of this recruiting crisis, we need all of them. This amendment and conversation are about standards and establishing the standards we need to be successful in combat. I can tell you firsthand that our enemies' bullets do not discriminate between Black, White, or Brown. They don't discriminate between men and women. We are all in the foxhole together, so we need to establish what those standards are to be successful. If you hit them and achieve them, then you are in that combat unit. If you don't, there are other ways to serve. I like to talk about the first female to successfully graduate from the U.S. Army Ranger School. Her name is Kristen Geist.…”