On the recordJuly 13, 2022
As the gentleman from California said, nobody in uniform wants civilian casualties. We work very diligently to make sure that there are not civilian casualties, but this almost assumes that we don't, that we actually don't care about civilian casualties when it couldn't be further from the truth. Mr. Speaker, what this does is add more bureaucracy and takes the focus off of what servicemembers need to do in very difficult circumstances, when oftentimes the difference between life and death, between the servicemember's own life and those of his or her troops who are following him into combat, it is a moment to make a decision. Mr. Speaker, at that moment, when lives are on the line, when American lives are on the line, in the face of our enemies, in the face of terrorists, what the gentleman from California would have those servicemembers do is take that moment to figure out if the decision they are making is optimal or not. Or in the case where I watched servicemembers who pulled the trigger, come back, and the first thing they had to do was go to the JAG and explain why they returned fire. Mr. Speaker, those moments cost American lives. That is what this amendment is going to do, and that is why I adamantly oppose it. I ask my colleagues to oppose it.
