Ralph Norman Calls For Dissolution Of All DEI Offices And Personnel In The Defense Department

4 months ago

During debate on the House floor, Rep. Ralph Norman (R-SC) introduced an amendment that would eliminate any DEI offices within the armed forces and Department of Defense.

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Transcript

00:00Thank you, Mr. Speaker. You know, the numbers of those willing to serve in the military

00:08are now down over 30 percent. The military's sole purpose is to provide for the defense

00:15of our great nation. Our military's focus should be the protection of the American people

00:20and our freedoms, not liberals' feelings. Therefore, my amendment would eliminate any

00:26offices of DEI, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, in the Armed Forces and in the DoD. We should

00:35focus on diversity of ideas and opinions, not races and genders. DEI programs tend to

00:42be ineffective and cost the taxpayers more money, and it's been a very real detriment

00:49to our recruitment of our military. In short order, a woke military is a weak military.

00:59Woke ideology undermines military readiness in various ways. It undermines the cohesiveness

01:06by emphasizing differences based on race, ethnicity, and sex. It undermines leadership

01:12authority by introducing questions about whether a promotion is based on merit or quota requirements.

01:20It leads to military personnel serving in specialties and areas for which they are not

01:25qualified nor are they ready. And it takes time and resources away from training activities

01:31and weapons development that contribute to readiness. I reserve the balance of my time.

01:36The gentleman reserves. For what purpose does the gentlelady from Virginia rise?

01:40I rise to claim the time in opposition to this amendment.

01:43The gentlelady is recognized for five minutes.

01:45And I yield two minutes to the gentlewoman from Alabama, a member of the Armed Services Committee, Ms. Sewell.

01:52The gentlelady from Alabama is recognized for two minutes.

01:55As a proud member of the House Armed Services Committee, I take seriously my responsibility

01:59to ensure that our service members get the support they need to keep our nation safe.

02:04But once again, Republicans are pushing poison pill amendments into our bipartisan defense

02:10bill, focusing more on culture wars and division than on our national security. This radical

02:16amendment would eliminate diversity, equity, and inclusion offices at the Department of

02:20Defense and all personnel in those offices. I shouldn't have to remind my Republican colleagues,

02:27diversity is our strength as a nation. Inclusion is proven to be beneficial for military effectiveness,

02:34military readiness, and ultimately, our national security. Yet my colleagues continue to fight

02:39our military leadership as they work to strengthen our armed forces. In the midst of our military

02:46recruitment shortfalls, Republicans are focused on the wrong thing. They're busy telling our

02:52service members and potential recruits that Congress does not value their background or

02:57lived experiences than recruiting the best and brightest to defend our country. This

03:03is not only harmful, but it's also hurtful. Hurtful that our military recruitment, preparedness,

03:10and cohesiveness is at jeopardy and at stake. Our national security and our national defense

03:16deserves better. Again this year, I'm disappointed that we are considering amendments that poison

03:22legislation which would otherwise be bipartisan. I urge my colleagues to oppose this amendment,

03:29and let's get back to the business of being truly bipartisan when it comes to our National

03:33Defense Authorization Act. Thank you, and I yield back the balance of my time.

03:37Gentlelady Reserves? I reserve.

03:39Gentleman from South Carolina is recognized. Mr. Speaker, I agree with my friend across

03:45the aisle. We shouldn't even be dealing with this, to be honest with you. The fact that

03:49money is going to fund this. If you take a car to a mechanic, you don't go to politicians

03:55to find out what's wrong with your car. You go to the mechanic. I'm in the real estate

03:59business. We build houses. If I have a trouble with a house, I go to my carpenters. I would

04:04advise my friends from the other side of the aisle that last year, 160 retired flag officers

04:11wrote a letter to the Armed Services Committee, Chairman Rogers, about the dangers of DEI

04:17and their opposition to it in the military. A hundred and sixty, and I'm sure it would

04:22be far more than this, if you talk to the people that are serving, will point out why

04:26this is so detrimental. The officers wrote this. We respectfully request that Congress

04:33take legislative action to remove all diversity, equity and inclusion programs from the DOD.

04:39Secondly, our military must be laser focused on one mission, readiness undiminished by

04:46culture war engulfing our country. Thirdly, the domestic cultural threat has an innocuous

04:53name of diversity, equity and inclusion. But in reality, DEI is dividing. It's not uniting

05:00our military service, nor our society. DEI principles derive from critical race theory,

05:07which is rooted in cultural Marxism, where people are grouped into identity classes typically

05:13by race, labeled as oppressed or oppressors and victims, and pitted against each other.

05:21Under the guise of DEI, some people are selected for career-enhancing opportunities and advancement

05:27based on preferences given to identity group, based on race, gender, ethnic background,

05:34sexual orientation. It's unbelievable we're even talking about this or funding it. I reserve

05:41the gentle lady from Virginia is recognized.

05:44I yield one minute to Mr. Smith of Washington.

05:48Gentleman is recognized.

05:49Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Well, I do talk to people in the military all the time. And our

05:53military is doing just fine. Now, there will always be people who are opposed to greater

05:59inclusion. We have seen this throughout the military on a wide variety of areas. Way back

06:03when it was opposition to black people serving in the military, then there was a lot of opposition

06:08to gay people serving in the military. And every single time, you had some people in

06:12the military saying, this is going to destroy us. Unit cohesion will fall apart. We can't

06:16possibly treat people fairly in function. And they've all been proven wrong every single

06:20time.

06:21The people I talk to in the military say things are going just fine, that they are in fact

06:26being more inclusive, and the military is as strong as it has ever been. It is completely

06:32wrong for a right-wing political agenda to denigrate our military to try to make the

06:36point that there's some kind of excessive wokeism going on. That is not what the overwhelming

06:41majority of people in the military are telling me and others.

06:45What they are saying is that inclusion does matter. People need to be treated fairly.

06:50And the idea that if the military goes like this and says, we don't see color, we don't

06:54see gender, we don't see any of this, that it'll all just go away and everything will

06:58be fine is absurd. Reasonable diversity, equity, and inclusion works. That's what the military

07:04is doing. Please let them continue to do it.

Ralph Norman Calls For Dissolution Of All DEI Offices And Personnel In The Defense Department

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