Religious Freedom in the Military

Floor Speech

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Mr. COLLINS of Georgia. I appreciate the gentlelady yielding and being a part of this tonight and really bringing something to the forefront that we need to discuss. It is a part of our foundation. It is a part, as you have so rightly shown by that wonderful reproduction of a painting there, that--our values and our founding were founded really on a sense of prayer, and not from a prayer that led to an exclusive Nation, but a prayer that led to an inclusive Nation. I think that is something that we often many times have forgotten in this process.

Tonight, as we talk about this, I want to discuss that on Veterans Day, the President laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Solder in Arlington National Cemetery. As the final resting place for so many men and women of faith, Arlington is, understandably, full of religious symbolism. It is considered this country's most hallowed ground.

Veterans Day gives Americans an opportunity to honor those laid to rest at
Arlington Cemetery, along with those continuing to serve our great Nation. Those interred in Arlington's soil gave their lives to uphold the rights we are blessed to enjoy today.

Sadly, I have become concerned about our servicemembers' ability to exercise their freedoms. Over the past year, a number of incidents have caused many to question if the Pentagon and the VA no longer embrace the religious freedoms its soldiers and patients have bled to defend.

A news report came to light just a few days ago of two military chaplains being harassed in a Veterans Affairs chaplain training program in 2012. The VA health programs employ chaplains to minister to patients receiving care, and these two seasoned officers were looking to attend to the needs of those in VA care.

I want you to understand these are not new chaplains. These are not new to the military environment. They were two who had admirably served in the military as chaplains and gone through this training, which should have been easy because it had been something they had been doing their entire career.

However, their suit claims a VA supervisor repeatedly harassed the chaplains about their Christian beliefs. The supervisor instructed the chaplains not to pray in the name of Jesus, which is an integral component of the Christian faith. Even in the context of a group discussion on faith-based topics, the two chaplains were chastised for reciting Scripture.

As a chaplain myself, I am just amazed at this process at this point--chaplains not able to use Scripture of any faith group. That is the very basis of who we are, no matter what faith background that we come from, and in ministering to those with faith or without faith, it is a structural part of who we are.

The chaplains' spiritual beliefs were belittled on multiple occasions. The harassment by the chaplain's supervisor was so filled with vitriol that one of them withdrew from the program.

The VA is designed to serve members of the Armed Forces during periods of need and hardship. If the VA bars chaplains from expressing themselves, how can we expect servicemembers suffering from private illnesses to come forward?

Unfortunately, this is not an isolated event. There are numerous reports of the DOD and VA permitting open hostility to Christian organizations and those practicing the faith in uniform.

In April, media sources reported that Army soldiers were being briefed that Christian Evangelicals were to be considered extremist organizations in the vein of al Qaeda. Similar briefings have apparently continued, with a similar incident at Camp Shelby in Alabama--get this, not a few months ago, not when this was first done--last month. As one who is a Christian Evangelical, to be described with those in a terrorist organization in the vein of al Qaeda is despicable and should be stopped.

Earlier this year, the Southern Baptist Convention's Web site had issues at Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine bases. The Pentagon has subsequently apologized for the issues, and they said there was never an intent to restrict servicemembers' access to the Web site, but when you look at it from an overall perspective, this still continues to be a concern.

Then we have a gentleman named Mikey Weinstein, who is an ardent critic of Christians practicing in the military. Mr. Weinstein heads the Military Religious Freedom Foundation. Don't let the title of his organization fool you. That is what they want you to think.

Mr. Weinstein believes the phrase ``so help me God'' should be removed from the Air Force Academy's honor oath. This same man requested and received time to speak with top military brass to discuss religious freedom in the military. At what point in time should someone who wants to take away freedom be given the opportunity to go before our highest military officials to plead a case to remove a very constitutional right without the benefit of others getting the same courtesy?

As I continue reflecting on the meeting of Veterans Day, it troubles my spirit to think that leading military personnel may be targeting Christian organizations as a part of a personal agenda.

This country has fought such tyrants. Freedom of religion has been upheld with the blood, sweat, and tears of the U.S. military. Now there appears to be a strain inside the Pentagon and VA whose mission it is to take away the soul of our fighting force.

Are we now to tiptoe on the very soil that entombs the brave men and women who gave their lives for religious liberties and our other constitutional rights? As a military chaplain myself, I pray not.

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