On the recordJune 27, 2018
My amendment indicates that no funding in this act shall be used or otherwise made available by this act to end Reserve Officers' Training Corps, ROTC, programs at HBCUs, Hispanic- Serving Institutions, and Tribal Colleges and Universities. I want to emphasize this program because so many of us have these colleges in our congressional districts. Those ROTC programs provide training to college students to prepare them for future service in the branches in the U.S. military, the Army, Air Force, and Navy. Coming from the State of Texas, I can assure you, Mr. Chairman, with my interaction with so many in the United States military, those who have said that it is a pathway to leadership and success, I know how important these programs are. The Army ROTC alone provides $274 million in scholarship money to more than 13,000 students. It is interesting to take note of the fact, as it relates to African Americans and Hispanics, the leadership that has come from these programs: Andrew P. Chambers, lieutenant general, retired; George A. Alexander; Colonel Claude A. Burnett; Colonel Derrick W. Flowers; Colonel Senodja Sundiata-Walker, currently serving as the chief of program support branch. These are all individuals who have been the beneficiaries of ROTC programs at HBCUs, Hispanic-Serving Institutions, and Tribal Colleges and Universities. Mr. Chair, I ask my colleagues to support this amendment, and I reserve the balance of my time.
