Political Quotes

“Madam Chair, I represent a district that over 90,000 Active-Duty military members and their families call home. As a former Navy helicopter pilot, military spouse, and now mom to children who serve, I am proud to be a voice for our military community here in Congress. One of the aspects I am most passionate about advocating for is improving their quality of life, particularly their living conditions. To put it plainly, housing for our single, unaccompanied servicemembers is abysmal, and it is completely unacceptable. In September 2023, the United States Government Accountability Office found a variety of living conditions were negatively affecting servicemembers' quality of life, such as sewage overflow, mold and mildew, broken windows and locks. I have seen it for myself and so has my staff. The week I was sworn into office, I took my entire team to Virginia Beach and drove them around Naval Air Station Oceana to show them the conditions we ask our unaccompanied sailors to live in. We visited condemned barracks and other barracks that were decades old and had very little maintenance and upkeep. We saw rusted bathrooms, moldy ceilings, and dirty carpets. To think of the conditions that we ask these often young, unaccompanied sailors to live in, I think of college dorms. I am also a mom to four children who are college aged, and we have done many college tours recently and visiting dormitories on campuses.…”