Vicky Hartzler: “Today, North Korea is plotting the next ballistic missile test, Russia is threatening the NATO alliance, ISIS is…”

“Today, North Korea is plotting the next ballistic missile test, Russia is threatening the NATO alliance, ISIS is spreading evil, and China continues their expansion in the South China Sea in defiance of the international community. Our military has never been in such high demand, yet our readiness to confront these threats is at a dismal level. We must confront these challenges by ensuring our defense dollars maximize the military's readiness and lethality. That is why I am offering an amendment to advance these goals by prohibiting taxpayer dollars from funding gender reassignment surgeries and related hormone therapy treatment for members of the military and their dependants. There are many problems with this policy, but funding transition surgeries with tax dollars is especially problematic because the surgery is very costly. Surgical recovery time decreases deployability of our soldiers, and there is lack of medical consensus on the effectiveness of gender transition treatments. Funding transition surgeries means diverting money from other defense priorities. Surgical costs alone can top $1.3 billion over the next 10 years. These resources could fund 13 F-35 aircraft to fight near peer adversaries like China and Russia; 14 F-18 Super Hornets to fight ISIS; or 8 KC-46 tankers needed for long-range strike missions to North Korea. Our spending priorities must match our threat mitigation priorities. We must have soldiers who can deploy if called upon.…”