Republicans Choose Culture War Over National Security

Floor Speech

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Ms. SLOTKIN. Mr. Speaker, later today we will begin voting on the NDAA, the National Defense Authorization Act, the Pentagon budget.

Moving this legislation forward has almost always been a bipartisan issue in Congress. It takes on the responsibilities of funding our military. It protects our national security. It has been a bipartisan effort for nearly six decades.

But last night, after midnight, Republican leadership decided to bring to the floor dozens of partisan divisive amendments. If adopted, these amendments would transform this bill and transform our military. It is quite literally a wish list of the rightwing extremist colleagues on the other side of the aisle.

There is an amendment to end all affirmative action in our officer corps, something even our Supreme Court refused to do just a few weeks ago. There is an amendment to full stop, end all aid to Ukraine, at the very moment we are expanding NATO and working on protecting democracy abroad on behalf of all democracies.

Another one that they passed was a divisive amendment that prevents female servicemembers in the military from accessing the reproductive care that they need and they deserve. Plain and simple, last night, they chose culture war over national security, and they are doing so as part of a clear effort to prevent every single American woman from accessing care. It is part and parcel of a larger campaign to impose a nationwide ban on abortion.

Last night, like I said, in the dead of night, the Freedom Caucus passed this amendment to stop the military from paying for a bus ticket or a plane ticket for any woman who needs an abortion, and it is proof of this bigger plan.

In addition to this amendment that passed last night, we have amendments in the Appropriations Committee that are the same thing.

We have a single Senator, Senator Tuberville, who is holding and blocking 250 military promotions right now, the head of the Marine Corps, the head of the Army, the head of the Navy, because he objects to the fact that a woman might get a paid bus ticket to get an abortion.

If blocking these nominations continues, we will have no Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, no commandant of the Marine Corps for the first time in 134 years, no Army chief of staff. His colleagues, who claim to care about national security, are letting him get away with it. Now, they have used this bipartisan bill in order to make their point.

Forty-six percent of Active Duty servicewomen are stationed in States that now either ban or very severely restrict abortion. They have no choice. They are based there. They have signed up to serve their country. They have been put on a base in Texas or Alabama. That is not their choice. That is their duty.

The authors of these amendments are not set on just letting the reversal of Roe sit and having States make their own decisions. The authors of these amendments are from Alabama and Texas, which ban abortion, including in the case of rape or incest.

Why is this important? It is important because we need to hear what people are telling us. They are telling us that they will not stop with the reversal of Roe that happened a year ago. They will not stop when States like Michigan organize to make sure we have protections for women who want abortions. They want every single American, starting with our servicemembers, to live under the same rules that they choose in their States. We need to hear what they are telling us and act accordingly. They are choosing politics over our women in uniform, choosing politics in the Senate over our national security.

So, please, I have never in my life, as someone who served in the CIA, who served in the Pentagon, thought about voting against this bill. I believe in it. It is about paying our military and getting them what they need. Please keep your culture war baggage out of national security.

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