Servicemember Quality of Life Improvement and National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2025

Floor Speech

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Ms. BOEBERT. Mr. Chair, I rise in favor of my amendment, which would prohibit Federal funding for the Countering Extremist Activity Working Group or implement any recommendations from the group.

In 2021, Democrats and the Biden regime unjustly used January 6 to prop up this woke working group to provide cover for unjustly targeting members of our military. The so-called Countering Extremist Activity Working Group has been weaponized and implemented to almost exclusively target Republicans, Conservatives, and Libertarians serving in the military. Yet, by its own metrics, it has been a massive waste of money and time.

The Defense Department continues to spend large amounts of time and money to combat extremism, yet its own analysis of the situation shows that it is entirely unnecessary. In fact, fewer than 100 servicemembers have been subject to discipline due to engagement in extremist activities. That is only 0.005 percent of the approximately 2.1 million Active and Reserve personnel. Clearly, extremism is not the problem that my colleagues on the left and media outlets made it out to be.

The United States military is tasked with one mission: maintaining mission critical readiness to protect the American homeland. Sowing our Armed Forces with divisive rhetoric designed to pit races and genders against one another is not only morally wrong, it poses a very real threat to our national security.

Under the Biden regime, DEI instruction and management has reached new heights that threaten to weaken the bond between America's Armed Forces and its civilian leadership and undermine our military effectiveness and readiness.

All of our men and women in uniform deserve to have the best tools needed to carry out their mission to support and defend the Constitution of the United States. Unfortunately, liberal ideology undermines this mission. In order to stand up to China, Russia, and terrorists, our military needs to project strength, not cultural wokeness. My amendment does exactly that.

I urge the adoption of this amendment, Mr. Chair, and I reserve the balance of my time.

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Ms. BOEBERT. Mr. Chair, I just want to reiterate quickly that this is fewer than 100 servicemembers who have been targeted here, and that is only 0.005 percent of the approximately 2.1 million Active and Reserve personnel serving. Ultimately, wokeness weakens our military.

Violent leftwing extremists stormed the field yesterday at the Congressional Baseball Game. In 2020 they burned down our cities. They say that we are obsessed with wokeness. They are obsessed with January 6, which their Speaker admitted that she did not have our facility properly secured.

Mr. Chair, I yield the remainder of my time to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Mills).

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Ms. BOEBERT. I yield back the balance of my time.

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