Political Quotes

“I cannot believe I am up here having this debate, particularly at this critical time for our military--$1.4 billion in 2022 for money spent on diversity, equity, and inclusion. A woke military is a weak military. The military's sole purpose is to provide for the defense of our great Nation. Our military's focus should be the protection of the American people and our freedoms, not liberal feelings. Therefore, my amendment would eliminate any offices of diversity, equity, and inclusion in the Armed Forces and the Department of Defense. Woke ideology undermines our readiness in a variety of ways. It undermines cohesiveness by emphasizing differences based on race, ethnicity, and sex. We recently had 160 retired flag officers write a letter to Speaker McCarthy and House Armed Services Committee Chair Rogers about the dangers of DEI and the opposition to it in the military. The officers wrote: ``We respectfully request that Congress, pursuant to its constitutional powers `to raise and support Armies' and `to provide and maintain a Navy,' take legislative action to remove all diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs from the Department of Defense.'' Another one: ``Our military must be laser focused on one mission: readiness, undiminished by the culture war engulfing our country.'' DEI is dividing, not unifying, our military and society.…”