Political Quotes

“Mr. Chair, today, I rise in support of my amendment, which requires the Secretary of Defense to review and report on the personnel records of military chaplains who suffered retaliation for seeking a religious accommodation for the COVID-19 vaccine. By way of background, the Department of Defense's COVID-19 vaccine mandate violated servicemembers' and chaplains' religious liberty and caused substantial harm to their careers. The DOD's handling of the chaplains' religious accommodation requests was an utter disgrace, involving blanket dismissals instead of dismissals considered on an individual basis. My amendment seeks to account for the injustices suffered by the military chaplains. The primary duty of chaplains is to provide spiritual guidance to our servicemembers. To do so, like every American, they must be free to follow their conscience without facing retribution from the government they swore to defend. This amendment is an important first step to ensuring that those who serve our country can do so without sacrificing their freedoms, to quote the Declaration of Independence, ``endowed by their Creator.'' Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to support this amendment as part of this en bloc package.”