Political Quotes

“This is an incredibly important issue in the bill this year. We have several amendments that go after diversity, equity, and inclusion in the military, and it could not be more misguided. We need a diverse military. We need to recruit from all across the country, regardless of race, creed, color, religion, and gender. We need to make sure that we are taking advantage of the talent of all in America. Sadly, we haven't really historically done that. We still have a major challenge. Just to give one example, when you look at the promotions within the military, the statistics have come out, and this is from 2023, not 20 years ago: Every single ethnicity gender is promoted at a lower rate than White men. Now, is it the case that White men are just naturally better at this than anybody else? Absolutely not. Why do we have this disproportionate level of promotion? I don't know for sure, but I think it is worth it to have somebody at the Pentagon trying to answer that question. If you are a Black person, if you are a woman, if you are a Hispanic person, if you are a gay or trans person and you are looking at this and saying, should I sign up for the military, one central question you are going to have is: Am I going to get a fair shot? Historically, all of those groups that I just mentioned have not gotten a fair shot. I challenge anybody on the floor to dispute that fundamental fact.…”