ICYMI: Congressman Anthony Brown Discusses The Threat Of Extremism Within The Ranks, Need For Action
Statement
In case you missed it, Congressman Anthony G. Brown (MD-04), a member of the House Armed Services Committee and 30-year Army veteran, joined NPR's All Things Considered to discuss the Department of Defenses' latest actions to address extremism within the ranks of the military, and what more needs to be done to counter this national security threat.
Key quotes from the interview are below:
"The Pentagon took a good step forward today. There's no doubt about it. The regulations that prohibit certain extremist active behavior and participation is important, but I don't think it's gone far enough. And the point that I've been making to the secretary of defense, the deputy secretary, my colleagues in Congress is that Congress has to make a really firm, definitive statement that membership in an extremist organization, with or without active participation, but membership, whether it's the KKK, whether it's a gang organization or the Oath Keepers, is enough to disqualify you from participating in the military."
"The data, whether it's the Army Criminal Investigation Division, whether it's certain media outlets that have done surveys of military members, reports by the Department of Defense Inspector General, clearly demonstrate that there is a level of extremism - members who engage in and who are members of extremist organizations that are in the ranks. It doesn't characterize the men and women who serve, the vast majority of whom are loyal, patriotic Americans, but one extremist in the ranks is just one too many."
"The courts have recognized that when the military, whether it's the president through orders, whether it's Congress through statute, restrict the First Amendment right in order to maintain good order and discipline So in this case, if the Congress or the president says, if you're a member of the Ku Klux Klan, if you're a member of the Proud Boys, then you cannot be a member of the military. Imagine the African American service members who constitute more than 20% of the ranks having to serve side by side with a member of the KKK."
Source