Sheila Jackson Lee: “I thank the gentleman for yielding. Having had some tenure on this floor, my recollection is that, in many instances…”

“I thank the gentleman for yielding. Having had some tenure on this floor, my recollection is that, in many instances, the NDAA has been a welcomed bipartisan initiative. We have worked together and formulated ways to improve the lives of the men and women of the United States military. Let me just make it very clear that that is what the NDAA is supposed to be, strengthening our ability to be a fighting force. Who do you have as a fighting force? The men and women of the United States military. I take great offense at the suggestion that there are not young people in America who are willing to lay down their lives as our fathers, mothers, and grandparents did. They do want to join the United States military. It is the ability of the military to govern itself within the civilian framework that we should be promoting in the NDAA. It is a terrible shame that Members of color on this floor will be forced to vote on something that takes us back to the dark ages, to not talking about how richly diverse we are. All of these race amendments that have been allowed to come to the floor are literally a disgrace. Did we talk about the diminishing returns when the Tuskegee Airmen took to the skies in the 1940s in World War II and were one of the most successful bombing units ever? Black--my father-in-law, Philip Ferguson Lee.…”