Announcement By the Acting Chair

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. BURLISON. Mr. Chairman, I urge all of my colleagues to support this amendment to eliminate the diversity and inclusion deputy inspector general to prohibit the establishment of new diversity, equity, and inclusion positions within the DOD and to prohibit the Secretary from filling any vacancies for DEI positions.

For years, the left has forced radical and unpopular ideas into our very institutions that are under the cover of DEI policies.

DEI initiatives and policies are not about making everyone feel like they belong. It is a smokescreen. Instead of uniting us, it is about dividing us. It is about dividing our country into separate groups that are based on identity, and conforming to a radical agenda that replaces our shared American identity instead with a tribalism, with a tribal collectivism.

And you know what? It is a disgrace to our political and military leaders who have allowed this to occur in the Department of Defense. You see, the DOD's mission is not that. Its mission, instead, is to provide the military forces that are needed to deter war and ensure the Nation's security.

Dividing our troops and the DOD employees by race and identity does nothing but distract from the mission of addressing real and imminent threats to the U.S. national security. In reality, woke indoctrination serves as only one of these very threats.

DEI in the military breeds hostility among the enlisted by focusing on identity-driven grievances instead of bringing people together, instead of unity. It undermines that shared American identity and a patriotic love of country that compelled our dedicated servicemembers to join in the first place.

The U.S. military is one of our last great merit-based institutions that is still standing. Millions of selfless patriots serve our country, but their service is exploited by the wokeness and the religion of DEI.

Instead of judging our servicemembers based on merit, they are judged by identity. Instead of having a unified body of men and women who are ready to defend our Nation, we have a group of people who are fragmented into the belief of their gender identities.

Instead of men and women in the armed services being trained in readiness, their time is wasted learning whatever new woke ideology comes out of leftist universities. This is not acceptable, and we have to stop this madness before it is too late. That is why I filed this amendment.

This amendment repeals the DEI inspector general at the DOD and prohibits the establishment of new DEI positions. Specifically, it prohibits the Secretary from establishing any new DEI positions at the DOD.

The DOD will not be able to fill any DEI vacancies that might come up. This amendment simply eliminates these unnecessary taxpayer-funded positions, and that is it.

I urge my colleagues to adopt this amendment, and I reserve the balance of my time.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. BURLISON. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from the great State of Texas (Mr. Roy).

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source