Vicky Hartzler: “Thank you very much, Representative Collins. Well said. The oath that you talked about, I want to expound on it a little…”

“Thank you very much, Representative Collins. Well said. The oath that you talked about, I want to expound on it a little bit so people understood that what Mikey Weinstein did has had an effect. The Air Force Academy actually removed a poster portraying the words of the Academy oath, and the committee is considered removing the phrase ``so help me God'' from the honor oath recited by all incoming cadets. This is the same oath. Let me read it. This is the oath that every cadet gives when they come into the Air Force Academy. It is also the same oath of office for officers and the same oath that Members of Congress say. This is what they want to remove the ``so help me God'' from: Having been appointed as an Air Force Cadet in the United States Air Force, do solemnly swear or affirm that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office of which I am about to enter. So help me God. It is a time-honored oath. This is a serious decision to enter the service of the country, whether it is in the military or whether it is as a Member of Congress, and to have them question whether we should remove that or not is despicable.…”