Political Quotes

“Mr. Chair, in 1988, I joined the Army. I went through boot camp and AIT in 1989 as Private Higgins, an enlisted man. Going through the military police academy in 1989 was quite grueling, and we lost a lot of people. We excluded many young soldiers, men and women. We excluded them because they couldn't perform. The United States military requires exclusion based on performance. That is all we ever cared about. We never had problems with recruiting in the United States Army. We missed by 40 percent last year. Do you know why, Mr. Chair? It is because families like mine that historically have served are not advising our young men and women to join the military now because of this insanity they have to go through and because it is weakness that has become embedded and woven within our DOD and forced upon our young soldiers. You are injuring and you are setting your sons and daughters up for slaughter because war is brutal, and nobody in uniform cares about the gender or the sexual orientation or the skin color of the soldier next to them. All we care about is that they can perform. This is the brotherhood that we forge. It requires discrimination. We discriminate against those young Americans who cannot make it. If they can't make the cut to earn a slot in our unit, then we exclude them from our unit. They go do something else in life. That is fine, but they can't be in the military. So, good Lord, please support my amendment. Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time. Ms.…”