Political Quotes

“Mr. Chair, I thank my colleague for his service. Mr. Chair, I rise as a proud graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point and a representative of the academy today. Whether my colleagues want to recognize it or not, particularly those on the far right, we have an increasingly growing diverse force. As Mr. Kim said, unit cohesion, we can all agree, is essential and critical, both in the heat of battle and in training and preparation. This amendment would unequivocally, as you heard from retired military officers across the world, weaken unit cohesion. Even the considerably--to be generous--conservative Supreme Court has recognized the distinct interests of these service academies in the Court's recent decision that came down just a few weeks ago. We have made great strides at the academies with a focus and bipartisan commitment for decades. West Point has gone from 20 percent to 36 percent cadets of minority backgrounds, and the Naval Academy from 19 percent to 37 percent, but we still have work to do to achieve unit cohesion.”