Announcement By the Acting Chair

Floor Speech

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Ms. STRICKLAND. Mr. Chair, this amendment will eliminate the inspector general position responsible for overseeing diversity and inclusion efforts in the military.

My colleagues across the aisle must understand the full purpose of this office. Number one, it is tasked with supporting effective, evidence-based programs on diversity and inclusion. Number two, it is responsible for responding to extremism and criminal gang activity within our Department of Defense.

This amendment eliminates the investigators who are responsible for weeding out criminal efforts in our government, the same investigators who keep our military accountable to the people we serve.

Mr. Chair, is it my colleagues' intent to support these criminal activities? Because eliminating the deputy inspector position is exactly the message this sends to our department and the American people.

Researchers at the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism looked at three decades of extremist attacks in the U.S., and they found that a military background is the most commonly shared characteristic among extremists who committed or plotted mass casualty attacks from 1990 through 2022.

Offenders with military backgrounds were 2\1/2\ times more likely to be classified as a mass fatality perpetrator than extremists who don't serve in the Armed Forces.

Through December 2021, 120 individuals with U.S. military backgrounds were identified as participants in the violent failed coup on January 6.

This is unacceptable. For our safety, for the security of our military, the U.S. must make it a priority to root out extremism in our Armed Forces. Eliminating this office and deputy inspector general sets us back.

The NDAA that we passed out of committee was broadly supported in a bipartisan manner. This suite of amendments attacking DEI and validating extremism, undermines our safety and our security.

Instead of putting housing, childcare, military families and their needs first, my friends across the aisle are choosing to fail them. I strongly oppose this amendment.

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Ms. STRICKLAND. Mr. Chairman, Congress must support an inspector general position that ensures military equal opportunity programs work and sounds the alarm when extremism takes root in our military.

What we are seeing here today is a small group of MAGA extremists holding the NDAA hostage in their efforts to politicize the Department.

I urge my moderate colleagues across the aisle who don't want to fire criminal investigators, who don't want to tell our servicemembers that they don't belong, who don't want to leave military families high and dry to please vote ``no'' on this amendment. Use your conscience.

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