At last week's House Armed Services Committee hearing mark up for the NDAA, lawmakers debated an amendment barring affirmative action in admissions to U.S. military academies.
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NewsTranscript
00:00 Now consider log number 3727R1 by Mr. Banks of Indiana.
00:08 For what purpose does the gentleman seek recognition?
00:11 I have an amendment at the desk.
00:12 Will the clerk distribute the amendment?
00:14 Without objection, the reading of the amendment is dispensed with.
00:17 The chair recognizes the gentleman from Indiana for the purpose of explaining his amendment.
00:21 Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
00:22 This amendment would reform the admissions process at the military service academies
00:26 by focusing on objective criteria and aligning the academies with the Supreme Court's ruling on affirmative action.
00:34 This amendment requires the academies to admit students based on objective whole candidate scores
00:40 based on grades, college entrance exams, extracurriculars, and athleticism.
00:47 And this provision prohibits discrimination in admissions based on race or ethnicity.
00:53 Currently, all the military service academies use race and ethnicity as selection criteria for admissions.
01:00 Not only does this violate the Constitution, it violates the military's longstanding meritocratic principles
01:07 and undermines public confidence in our military.
01:11 The military service academies are elite universities which train and educate the future leaders of our armed forces.
01:18 We need the best and brightest cadets and midshipmen regardless of their skin color or their ethnicity.
01:26 ROTC already recruits from universities where race-based admissions processes are banned.
01:32 Officer candidate schools draw from a similar pool.
01:36 Why shouldn't the service academies do the same?
01:39 For our national security, we must uphold the ideals of our country
01:43 and put hard work and service above all by restoring meritocracy to the service academies.
01:52 I urge your support for this amendment. With that, I yield back.
01:55 All right. Mr. Horsford.
02:00 Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
02:04 I would like to speak against the proposed amendment.
02:07 And I'm just going to speak to the fact that in June, the Supreme Court issued a fundamentally flawed decision
02:14 in the fair admissions versus Harvard case.
02:17 But even within that flawed decision authored by Chief Justice Roberts
02:21 and joined by all Republican appointed justices,
02:24 the Supreme Court created a carve out for military academies based on the quote,
02:29 "potentially distinct interest of taking race into account in their admissions."
02:34 These potentially distinct interests that the Supreme Court alludes to are crucial
02:40 for creating an inclusive and cohesive force that can fight today and tomorrow's battles.
02:46 Today, my Republican colleagues are attempting to go further than what six conservative justices felt comfortable doing.
02:55 This amendment would jeopardize the young talent that looks to serve at our nation's military academies.
03:01 Even in February, when presented with the opportunity to decide on a case specific to the military academies,
03:09 the Supreme Court did not do so.
03:12 Once again, a conservative majority decided not to go as far as this amendment proposes.
03:18 So it's unfortunate that today my colleagues on the other side are attempting to use this
03:24 for whatever reason at the cost of young men and women.
03:27 You know, one of the most honorable things that I get to do in this role is when I get to call
03:36 each of the young men and women, regardless of background, regardless of race,
03:42 and to tell them that they're being formally nominated to the military academies.
03:47 It's the most rewarding part of this job.
03:50 And to those young men and women, I say do not let this backwards amendment be a hindrance to your dreams.
04:00 In my time in Congress, this is what I've enjoyed most, is nominating you to serve in our academies.
04:08 You deserve to be there.
04:11 We want these academies to be open and accessible and inclusive.
04:17 It's an honor that has come with meeting young constituents and learning about the experience
04:22 that have shaped them into the leaders that they are today.
04:26 Many of those lived experiences have been shaped by their lived experience,
04:33 including race and ethnicity, and have made them valuable additions to our academies.
04:40 Since 1978, when the Supreme Court held that colleges and universities can administer race-conscious
04:47 admission policies, our nation's schools, including our service academies, have been made better for it.
04:55 So amendments like these do not address our national security issues.
04:59 They do not promote the economic opportunity and security that joining the service can bring.
05:04 And they definitely don't do anything to unify our nation and honor those who make the sacrifice to serve.
05:12 Instead, these arguments will dissuade young people from applying to our service academies.
05:18 So I urge my colleagues to stop using affirmative action as a cultural wedge issue,
05:23 to pit communities of color against one another, because our nation's greatest strength is, in fact, our diversity.
05:31 While all who apply to our service academies are ready to serve our country,
05:36 it is the whole of the person, the whole of the person, that makes them great leaders.
05:42 Affirmative action is not radical.
05:44 What is radical is denying our young people seeking to serve the opportunity to do so.
05:51 So I urge a no vote on this amendment, and I yield back.
05:54 The gentleman yields back. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Florida, Mr. Gates.
05:59 I'm against DEI in our universities. I'm against DEI in our military.
06:04 And for sure, I'm against DEI in the universities that exist to serve our military.
06:11 And one of the worst incarnations of this DEI is race-based admissions.
06:18 We should not have race-based admissions anywhere in the United States of America.
06:23 And while the Supreme Court deferred that question, it's deferred to us, the policymakers.
06:29 And our policies are best served when we have a system that is based on merit.
06:35 Diversity is not the greatest strength of this country. Merit is.
06:40 We are stronger because we've had the most meritorious ideas, the most entrepreneurial businesses,
06:45 the best weapon systems, the bravest people.
06:49 There are a whole lot of pretty effective fighting forces throughout the time in human history
06:55 that were highly capable and highly lethal and weren't highly diverse.
07:00 Not a lot says that that's the dispositive question on the battlefield.
07:07 At the same time, while it's an honor for us to go and nominate folks to our service academies,
07:14 it's an incredible honor, it's a stain on that honor when admissions isn't based on merit alone
07:23 and on achievement alone. The reason it's an honor is because what you're telling a young person
07:28 in your community is that their patriotism is worth a half-million-dollar investment
07:34 from the U.S. taxpayer to advance their leadership opportunities and their service to the country.
07:39 That's not because they're the best suited for it, but because we've embraced some race-based
07:46 admission standard. I think it's indeed a stain on that honor.
07:49 I support Chairman Banks' amendment to get rid of race-based admissions at our military academies.
07:55 I think he's done a great job rooting out a lot of DEI as chairman of our military personnel subcommittee.
08:02 I urge our Armed Services Committee to adopt the amendment. I yield back.
08:06 Chairman yields back. Chair recognizes Ms. McClellan.
08:10 Thank you, Mr. Chair. About 60 to 70 percent of students who enroll in our military academies
08:17 are nominated by members of Congress. That gives, when you look at the numbers of who they appoint,
08:28 it is disproportionately white. Right now, 74 percent of the nominations went to white students,
08:39 even though 54 percent of the eligible student pool was white.
08:44 Only about 8 percent went to Hispanic students, even though they make up 22 percent of the eligible pool.
08:55 And only 6 percent went to black students, even though that population is about 15 percent of the eligible pool.
09:06 Do you really believe that merit is that disproportionate to the population?
09:16 If so, we've got a bigger problem that we need to address.
09:22 And what this amendment does, again, says you can't consider it at all.
09:29 Does that mean that when I do my military service academy day, I can't go target students at Virginia State University?
09:40 Would that be construed as making a decision based on race?
09:45 Does that mean that I can't focus on trying to recruit more people to apply who are black or Hispanic?
09:57 We've got a problem in America we don't want to talk about.
10:02 But burying our head in the sand and weaponizing DEI to score political points is not going to fix the problem of race in America.
10:15 Focusing on making sure that our armed services reflect the diversity of the country it protects
10:24 and that the officer corps reflects the diversity of the country it protects will make us stronger and will make us safer.
10:34 And amendments like this are counterproductive and, quite frankly, offensive.
10:39 I yield back.
10:40 The gentlelady yields back.
10:42 Chair recognizes the gentleman from Georgia, Mr. Scott.
10:44 Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
10:46 Ms. McClellan hit on some of my points in that we all get to a point and make recommendations.
10:52 And I will tell you in my recommendation process I never look at the race of the candidate,
10:58 but I do ask how many I had apply based on race.
11:06 And I get very few applicants that are African American, and it bothers me.
11:13 I want you to know it bothers me.
11:15 And I say this only to bring back that reapportionment may have something to do with this
11:22 and the way the districts end up being so skewed one way or the other from the standpoint of who we see in our pools.
11:32 I would suggest to you that we ought to take a look at who -- there are a lot of members of Congress that don't take the nomination process serious.
11:43 And, Mr. Horsford, you said it's one of the biggest honors you have is calling your -- for me, too.
11:48 It is.
11:49 But we have members of Congress that don't even recommend or make nominations to the military academies.
11:55 And I would just suggest to you that that's -- I think those people need to be called out.
12:00 And I think that if we look at who's not making the nominations, that we would find a correlation there.
12:11 And I don't want to make accusations.
12:14 I want you to know it bothers me that I don't have more African American applicants going through the process.
12:24 And when my son was playing high school football and I was on the -- talking to the coaches, I tried.
12:32 And I think we can do better, but our pool's got to be bigger.
12:38 I don't agree with it being the deciding factor, but I do agree that we need to do what we can to have more applicants.
12:47 And so with that, I'll yield.
12:50 But I do think we should take a look at who's not actually making nominations to the academies, and that may solve some of the problems.
12:56 The gentleman yields.
12:57 Chair recognizes Ms. Sherrill.
13:02 Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
13:04 I attended the Naval Academy, and I just want to make it incredibly clear to all of the children out there who are considering applying to our service academies
13:16 and certainly to all of the people at our service academies and then the people who go on into the fleet that a lot of what I'm hearing here on this committee is in no way reflected in the fleet.
13:26 Because what I'm hearing here has such a horrible, corrosive effect on morale and how you might feel as a black member of our military.
13:36 You might feel unwanted.
13:37 That's kind of what I'm hearing across the aisle is that that is not who we want to make up our military force.
13:46 And so to all of them, I just want to say to all of the people that are considering service that that's not what I hear reflected in our military.
13:55 In fact, I had the real pleasure recently of speaking to the commanding officer of a group that is training future leaders.
14:04 And what he said to me really resonated with me.
14:06 He said, "We are losing our qualitative military edge in many ways against many of our adversarial militaries."
14:16 And yet the one area where we remain stronger than any other nation on Earth is our people.
14:23 It is our people that make us the greatest military on this Earth.
14:28 And he said, as he's training young leaders, that if you want to be a leader, he said, "Look, we train leaders here.
14:34 And if you want to be a leader in our military, you need to be able to lead people who are a different race than you are, who are a different gender than you are,
14:42 who express a different religious identity than you do, and who express their sexuality differently than you do.
14:48 And if you cannot lead those people, then you have no place in our military."
14:52 So I think it's important for people to hear throughout our military that many people value your service,
14:59 despite what you may be hearing occasionally from this committee, and I yield back.
15:05 Mr. Jimenez.
15:08 Thank you.
15:09 And I'm going to vote in favor of this for a number of reasons.
15:14 And I'm Hispanic, and this country has given me, you know, so much.
15:22 And it's not because I'm Hispanic.
15:24 It's because of what I can do.
15:27 I find it offensive to me personally that somehow you think I need a helping hand.
15:36 I don't need a helping hand.
15:38 I can do it all by myself.
15:42 DEI, diversity, yeah, I think diversity in America is great.
15:46 Inclusion is great.
15:47 Equity, there's the problem, all right, because equity allows you to be inequitable.
15:55 You can do anything you want in the name of equity, and that's not the American way.
15:59 The American way is actually, hey, go out, get an education, work hard, and you know what?
16:06 You'll be rewarded at the end, no matter who you are.
16:09 And so for me, I don't care who's in that, you know, fighter.
16:14 I don't care what color, gender, et cetera they are.
16:16 I just want them to be the best.
16:19 And to say that somehow I've got to give some group a leg up, I find that also offensive
16:26 because everybody here can compete.
16:29 Anybody in the United States can be anything they want to be.
16:33 You can't be a colorblind society if you are color conscious, if that drives your decision.
16:43 That means that you're not a colorblind society, and we need to get to a colorblind society
16:49 where everybody knows that they can get to wherever they want through their own, you know,
16:54 sweat equity, intelligence, studying, you know.
16:59 So I just, again, I just find it amazing that, you know, we need help.
17:04 I need help.
17:05 You need to give me a helping hand.
17:06 Thank you very much.
17:07 I don't need your helping hand.
17:08 Thank you, and I yield back.
17:09 The gentleman yields.
17:10 Chair recognizes Ms. Slotkin.
17:13 You know, I think it's important, given that this amendment is trying to overturn what
17:18 the Supreme Court enshrined a year ago, what Justice Roberts enshrined a year ago,
17:23 which was keeping a reflection of diversity in receiving applicants and approving applicants
17:29 into our service academies, where that came from.
17:33 And I would offer that everyone who served in uniform on this committee has served under
17:38 one of the 35 people, the 35 four-star generals, who wrote a letter, an amicus brief, to the
17:44 Supreme Court.
17:46 Joe Dunford, Bill McRaven, Dick Myers, Mike Mullen, Hugh Shelton, people who served and
17:51 were nominated and appointed under both Democratic and Republican administrations, 35 military
17:56 leaders who told the Supreme Court in no uncertain terms that if the court constrained our ability
18:02 to recruit and retain a diverse officer corps, it would damage our ability to fight and win
18:07 our nation's wars.
18:09 Those retired officers wrote, "History has shown that placing a diverse armed forces
18:14 under the command of a homogeneous leadership is a recipe for internal resentment, discord,
18:19 and violence.
18:21 By contrast, units that are diverse across all levels are more cohesive, collaborative,
18:26 and effective."
18:28 So the author of the amendment and others who are supporting it, who have not served
18:33 and led in these exact scenarios, are four-star leadership, making this recommendation, and
18:39 Justice Roberts listened to those leaders and even acknowledged their amicus briefs
18:44 specifically in the Supreme Court opinion, eliminating racial considerations for most
18:49 admissions in our military academies.
18:54 I just think that if we're trying to understand how to lead the best fighting force in the
18:59 world, we need to listen to the people who have actually led the best fighting force
19:03 in the world.
19:04 That's the collective three- and four-star generals of the last 35 years.
19:09 They're represented in this brief, and I recommend that everyone check themselves before
19:18 voting for this amendment.
19:20 The idea that the system right now is based exclusively on merit with the numbers that
19:26 we have in our officer corps does not reflect reality.
19:30 So if you want to do something that protects the strength of the military, listen to the
19:34 three- and four-star generals, listen to Chief Roberts, and I strongly urge my colleagues
19:40 to oppose this amendment.
19:43 The gentleman yields back.
19:44 Chair recognizes Mr. McCormick.
19:47 Thank you, Mr. Chair.
19:49 We all have our own unique experiences that form who we are and what our opinions are
19:55 of this very controversial topic.
19:58 I'm no stranger to that myself.
20:00 Most of you know that I was in the military for over 20 years myself, and my first experience
20:05 was applying for a scholarship for the Marines, which I lost to my high school buddy, who
20:11 happened to be African American, because he was better than I was.
20:14 He got the scholarship, not me.
20:16 And the only person left in the military that's still around after all these years, because
20:20 I'm getting old now, is a guy named Brian Kavanaugh, who's now a three-star general,
20:24 who happens to be African American because he got promoted faster than I did because
20:27 he was better than I was.
20:29 There's my two experiences in the Marine Corps.
20:33 What's interesting, as a Marine officer and instructor who taught at Morehouse College,
20:37 who taught at Spelman, who taught at Clark Atlanta, and Morris Brown before it was defunct,
20:43 my experience was very difficult to keep my cadets in the ROTC unit when they went to
20:49 do internships at Koch, and they were offered huge sums of money because everybody wanted
20:53 to recruit them.
20:54 Everybody wants diversity.
20:56 It's good for business, and it's good for the military, too.
20:59 I want diversity in the military, and I think we should recruit accordingly.
21:04 I really do.
21:06 Absolutely put your focus on that and try to recruit the best people out there, because
21:10 you're going to be competing against Coca-Cola and some of the best IT people and the best
21:16 salespeople out there, because diversity is good for business, and it's good for the military.
21:22 But what I would hate to see is that somebody looks at my friend Calvin Austin or Brian
21:28 Kavanaugh and says, "Man, you're there because you were a quota, not because you were that
21:34 good."
21:36 I want to see that they believe that these guys were better than me, that they deserved
21:41 it because they're just that good.
21:44 And that's been my experience, and that's what I want to make sure that when we say
21:48 we believe in merit, I believe these guys are better.
21:51 I believe that they are the best, and I believe that's why they got recruited, they got the
21:56 scholarship, and they got the promotion that they deserved.
22:00 I don't think there's anything wrong with supporting a merit-based system based on that.
22:04 As a matter of fact, I think it would be really good if we focused on making people feel more
22:07 patriotic about their country, about the flag, so they believe that they wanted to join the
22:11 military instead of thinking that it represents the worst of us.
22:15 So I think our efforts should really be focused on going out there and recruiting the right
22:19 people, recruiting diversity, making people feel good about this great country of ours,
22:24 and that it's worth defending.
22:26 And that will be our best recruiting tool of all.
22:28 Thank you.
22:29 With that, I yield.
22:30 The gentleman yields.
22:31 Chair recognizes Ms. Sewell.
22:33 Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
22:35 I take great personal pride in nominating students from my district each year to the
22:41 military service academies.
22:43 An effort to undermine the ability of members of Congress to select academic candidates
22:50 in their districts, the districts that I know best.
22:54 I know my district better than anyone.
22:56 And to suggest that I don't is harmful.
23:01 Selection is already rigorous, merit-based process.
23:06 Suggesting that a candidate's score and the merit are not at the core of the process is
23:12 misleading.
23:15 I think one of our colleagues said it best.
23:17 Merit and race are not mutually exclusive.
23:22 And I really want to lean in to something that our Republican colleague from Georgia
23:29 said.
23:30 We should all be trying to do better outreach in trying to find the very best candidates
23:38 to attend our military academy.
23:42 When the Air Force Academy class is only 4% black, you can't tell me that our military
23:49 or our service academies spend too much time, too much money, or too much attention on diversity.
24:00 We only can win when we have the very best players on the field.
24:05 And there is no way you can tell me that 4% minority or 4% black represents the very best
24:14 that we could do.
24:16 I submit to you it does not.
24:19 And given the level of vitriol in our comments today, I can only think that it will set back
24:28 my efforts to try to recruit the very best and brightest from my district.
24:35 And that is truly worrisome to me.
24:40 And not only is this amendment harmful, I think it's hateful.
24:46 And I urge my colleagues to oppose it.
24:49 I want to yield the rest of my time to the gentlewoman from Virginia.
24:55 Thank you, Mr. Chair.
24:57 I think something that the gentleman, Mr. Jimenez from Florida, said underlies a real
25:04 misconception that that side of the aisle has about what equity is and what it isn't.
25:12 Equity is not about giving someone a leg up.
25:17 Equity is recognizing that for 350 years, black men and women had a boot on their neck.
25:29 That for 350 years, black men and women weren't given access to the American dream.
25:41 For 350 years, black men and women were denied the ability to build generational wealth,
25:49 were denied the ability to educate their children, were denied the ability to be chosen for merit.
25:58 Equity is about first recognizing that fact and then doing something about it.
26:05 And unfortunately, my colleagues on the other side of the aisle think that when laws changed,
26:17 a magic wand got rid of the inequity.
26:21 It didn't.
26:23 It didn't.
26:26 But we can use -- we have tools at our disposal we can use to address it in our education system.
26:33 In every system.
26:37 And what this amendment does is say we're not even going to allow you to consider what barriers
26:44 somebody had in their way and whether they can be overcome.
26:50 Because you fundamentally don't understand what equity is all about.
26:55 And I hope at some point we can fix that.
26:59 Thank you.
27:00 I yield back.
27:01 Chair recognizes Mr. Fallon.
27:05 Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
27:06 You know, I have to say that our greatest strength in this country, greatest country history has ever known,
27:12 isn't diversity, it's equal opportunity.
27:16 And talent, skill, and ability comes in all shapes, sizes, and shades.
27:20 And I was writing some notes a few minutes ago and wrote about I think it's ironic in some sense
27:26 because we seem to have the same goal, just two different pathways.
27:31 And then I heard one of my colleagues talk about the fact that there are some members of this committee
27:38 that don't want Americans of certain extractions to feel welcome in the military.
27:43 And then my heart started racing and I got angry and my blood started boiling
27:48 because that is a condescending, lazy, and wholly inaccurate, ludicrous, and absurd shot.
27:54 That has no bearing whatsoever.
27:56 I agree that we should be looking at the whole person and their experience, not their pigmentation.
28:03 Because let's be very honest here, this country I think is far more classist than it has anything to do with racial issues.
28:12 For instance, you could have somebody that came from a very wealthy background,
28:20 pampered, given all the opportunities and advantages, and they might happen to be African American.
28:25 And you could have somebody, and there are folks like that, and there are other folks
28:28 that have come from abject poverty, broken homes, abusive families, that could happen to be white.
28:34 And in that particular instance, if you look at the whole person's experience, that's fine.
28:39 But it shouldn't be that, in that case, the African American shouldn't be given any advantage
28:45 over that particular person that happens to be Caucasian.
28:50 It's about their life experience.
28:53 And we do root for the underdog in this country.
28:57 And so when I heard vitriol and hateful in this committee, I haven't seen vitriol, I haven't seen hate.
29:05 I've seen love of country, I've seen disagreements on occasion, and I've seen a lot of respect across the aisle.
29:11 So I think that we should sharpen our comments and not devolve into some of these other committees that we all see,
29:19 of which I sit on one.
29:24 I know this is a delicate topic, and we should learn from the past.
29:31 But one of my colleagues made a very good point, too, that if you want to recruit from all segments of our society,
29:40 you're not going to fight for a country or serve a country if you don't believe in it,
29:43 if you don't believe that it is on balance good for the world.
29:47 And you see it a lot, particularly on these college campuses of late, that there's not a love of country,
29:53 there's a hate of country.
29:54 You're not going to get anybody that's suspect that has those kinds of suspicions about the United States of America
30:02 to sign up and serve.
30:05 So promoting patriotism is one way to solve this issue as well.
30:16 Mr. Chairman, I yield.
30:17 Chair recognizes Mr. Vesquez.
30:21 Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
30:23 And I want to talk just briefly here on a success story of diversity in our military.
30:31 I'm not sure if you're all familiar with the Navajo Code Talkers,
30:34 which is a program that between 400 and 500 Native Americans helped win a number of decisive victories in World War II
30:40 in the Pacific Theater, not because perhaps they won some type of meritocracy,
30:45 but because they spoke languages that enabled us to encrypt messages that gave us an advantage against the Axis powers,
30:52 which was incredibly important.
30:54 Now, this primarily includes the Navajo, but it also includes the Lakota, the Meskawi, the Mohawk, Comanche,
31:00 Tingit, Hopi Cree, and Crow soldiers.
31:03 They were chosen to serve our military based on the merits of who they were and the language that they spoke.
31:09 Now, I would argue that when we talk about diversity in our armed forces,
31:13 it also has to do about gelling together with folks that represent a diverse nation together,
31:19 that can speak similar languages, that share different experiences, that offer different opportunities.
31:25 Now, when we operate in places across the world, we need folks who speak the language of the countries that we operate in.
31:31 We need folks who are going to lead troops and lead in those missions, in those places,
31:36 because they can speak the language and they understand the culture
31:39 and they know how to deal with those appropriately cultural experiences.
31:44 And so I would argue that diversity makes us stronger.
31:48 Now, the Navajo Code Talkers were not honored until 1968.
31:52 They were not honored until 1968.
31:55 Most of them are gone today, but we honor their service because they helped us win the toughest war
32:00 this country has ever fought, and it was because diversity made us stronger,
32:04 and that continues to be the story today.
32:06 We just have to look at it from that perspective of different races, different experiences,
32:11 different ethnicities that make this country stronger.
32:14 So I oppose this amendment. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
32:16 The gentleman yield.
32:18 The chair recognizes the gentleman, Mr. Alford.
32:23 Thank you, Mr. Chair.
32:26 I love this discussion that we're having.
32:29 I think it's important.
32:32 Some of you have probably seen on Instagram a post of a line drawing that's done in pen and ink,
32:39 and you're asked to look at this drawing and you see initially a tree,
32:45 but then when you look closer you see two old people kissing.
32:53 I think that's where we are with race relations in America right now.
32:58 We have the same picture but different perspectives and different lenses that we're looking at,
33:04 and when we're asked to see something a different way, there might be a hesitancy towards that,
33:08 but the image is definitely there.
33:11 And so I don't want to take away anything from any of the arguments made by the other side of the aisle.
33:17 Ms. McClellan, I have the utmost respect for you.
33:22 I think there is a disparity in our military academies right now,
33:26 but I don't think it's disproportionate to necessarily who we represent.
33:32 In the 4th District of Missouri, I represent 772,047 people,
33:37 and I don't care if they're Democrat, Republican, independent, agnostic,
33:41 they all get the same service from our offices.
33:44 And so it's the same with our military academy appointments.
33:47 The greatest pleasure that I have had as a freshman congressman
33:52 is to be able to call up the six individuals this year
33:56 and tell them that your life is going to be changed forever
34:00 because you are going to a military academy.
34:04 We have very skilled panelists on our panel.
34:08 Frank Cavuto, a lieutenant colonel, U.S. Air Force, retired;
34:12 Andrew Swedberg, lieutenant colonel, U.S. Army;
34:15 Perry Johnson, commander, U.S. Navy;
34:18 and Steve Holmes, captain, U.S. Coast Guard;
34:22 and Grace Townsend, working with our office, who's also a veteran,
34:25 who coordinates this.
34:28 Not one time has race ever come up,
34:34 and I don't even know the race of the individuals when I call them.
34:39 I've looked at the information.
34:40 I've looked at the recommendations from the panelists.
34:45 But it's based solely on are they mentally fit, are they physically fit,
34:52 do they have the gumption to stick with it,
34:56 to be a good investment for our taxpayers of this half-million-dollar education.
35:09 I think this is something that we have to look at.
35:11 I agree with Mr. Scott.
35:13 How do we increase minority participation?
35:16 We're struggling all the time.
35:18 We've got these great academies that we're trying to get people into,
35:23 and we struggle sometimes getting people to even file these applications.
35:27 Maybe that's on us to do a better job.
35:30 I'm going to take the information that we are talking about here today,
35:34 and I'm going to try to do a better job of that.
35:38 I want to say something in regards to what Ms. Sherrill says.
35:44 Ma'am, I don't know you,
35:46 but the intimation I got from your statement was that some on our committee
35:51 do not want black Americans in our military.
35:57 And I'm sorry if I misunderstood that,
35:59 but I want to make one thing very clear if anyone's out there listening right now
36:03 or watching.
36:05 I don't care what color you are or where you're from.
36:09 We want you and we need you in our military.
36:14 We have only 9% of American young people right now
36:17 having any interest in joining the military,
36:20 and we are up against some serious foes in the future.
36:25 We've got to get our act together as Americans.
36:28 We've got to be able to see both drawings inside that Instagram post.
36:36 We've got to do better as a nation.
36:38 Thank you.
36:39 I yield back.
36:40 Chair recognizes Mr. Ryan.
36:43 Thank you, Mr. Chair, and I recognize that this is an extended discussion,
36:47 but, one, I think it's important, and, two,
36:49 I want to be clear who introduced this topic and who decided to bring this up.
36:54 I think that is also important.
36:56 It's incredibly disappointing, having served,
36:59 having graduated from one of our service academies,
37:01 now representing one of our service academies,
37:04 that rather than focusing our collective time on the real wars happening
37:08 and that our troops are preparing for--God forbid they have to go into them--
37:12 we are continuing to fight culture war BS.
37:17 It's disappointing, especially given the comments my colleagues have made
37:21 reminding us of the Supreme Court's explicit carve-out.
37:25 You heard from Mr. Horsford and Ms. Slotkin compellingly,
37:28 but I think it's important to reiterate.
37:33 Certainly not a radical conservative Justice Roberts
37:37 calling out a "distinct interest."
37:41 So what is that distinct interest?
37:44 I think we can all agree and acknowledge that implicit in that was national security,
37:49 keeping our country safe, keeping Americans safe,
37:51 creating the most lethal fighting force on the planet.
37:54 What goes into that?
37:56 That's the work of this committee, as we know--training, equipment.
38:00 But cohesion, which some of my colleagues have mentioned, is so critical to that.
38:06 And foundational to cohesion, I believe,
38:08 as did all the senior ranking officers mentioned by Ms. Slotkin,
38:13 is an officer corps reflective of the troops that they're going to lead in harm's way,
38:19 whose trust they have to earn.
38:23 My colleagues who have served in uniform, regardless of party,
38:27 you know when you look your soldiers in the eye
38:29 and you have to ask them to do something incredibly dangerous and risky,
38:32 it is about trust.
38:34 That's not exclusively built, of course, on any one factor,
38:38 but to take any factor away from the ability to build trust and cohesion
38:43 will absolutely do harm to our national security.
38:49 For example, right now in the Army,
38:51 Black and Latino troops represent 38 percent of our enlisted service members in the Army.
38:58 Through much work in progress now, 20 percent of our officer corps in the Army are Black and Latino,
39:05 17 percent of general officers.
39:07 As many have said, that has not happened by accident.
39:10 It's happened with work and a commitment to have the troops being led
39:16 by those who can identify with them across multiple dimensions.
39:23 I believe, and I think many of my colleagues as well,
39:25 not only is this the morally right thing to do,
39:28 but it practically and materially strengthens our force out of many one
39:35 to the points about patriotism is something I think we can all agree upon as Americans.
39:39 So this, again, in closing, is a deliberate decision in introducing this amendment
39:44 to take us backwards to a time where we were much further from the goals outlined in our Constitution
39:52 that I fought for and I think many of us did as well.
39:55 I strongly urge my colleagues to oppose this amendment.
39:58 With my balance of time, I want to yield it to my Naval Academy colleague, Mr. DeLuzio.
40:06 Thank you, Mr. Ryan.
40:07 I'll add, and I associate myself with your remarks and so many others in opposition to the amendment.
40:12 One piece of this, and I say this as a Naval Academy grad
40:16 but also someone who interviewed applicants to the Naval Academy before my time in Congress
40:21 and like my colleagues here, I have the great honor now of nominating folks.
40:25 People come to seek out an Academy appointment from different walks of life,
40:29 from different backgrounds, from different wealth in their homes.
40:33 They may have experienced sexism or racism or whatever else they might have gone through,
40:37 and that matters to their ability to succeed.
40:41 It matters to whether they might not have had the same advantages of others but have the potential to succeed.
40:47 And one piece of this in particular in the amendment that I think goes quite in another direction
40:53 of locking in advantage is the requirement in the amendment that 30 percent,
40:58 at least 30 percent of the composite score for admissions has to be standardized testing
41:02 when we know that the wealth of a child's family is strongly determinative
41:08 and correlates with their SAT scores in particular.
41:11 So it's locking in advantage for rich kids that others just don't have that same opportunity
41:16 and might be able to succeed if they're given a chance.
41:18 With that, I yield back, Mr. Chairman. Thank you.
41:21 Chair recognizes Mr. Beese.
41:24 Mr. Chairman, thank you very much, and I'm glad that we're having this discussion.
41:28 We need to. I think that is obviously the reason why we're here.
41:34 And I just want to touch on one of the most influential names in politics died last year,
41:43 and it didn't get a lot of coverage in the media, but Kevin Phillips died,
41:48 and he was Richard Nixon's key man on race, and he had a quote that I think that we're still living with today
41:58 because although we're past a lot of the bad things that happened during the '60s,
42:02 we're certainly dealing with a lot of the after effects of it.
42:05 And he said the whole secret of politics is who hates who.
42:12 And that's why we're discussing this.
42:17 You know, my good friend from North Texas, Mr. Fallon, he talked about football
42:23 and about how it's pure meritocracy in football,
42:26 but I remember when Mr. Fallon was playing football, and people didn't think that his quarterback could play in the NFL,
42:35 and his quarterback went to go play in the Canadian Football League
42:38 because there was still this mentality that blacks did not have the intelligence to play NFL football.
42:47 And I think from the ranking members all of a sudden, it may have been just Warren Moon.
42:51 He may have been out there all by himself, but that was like it,
42:55 and that was something that was--people think that that was a long time ago.
42:58 People think that was in the '50s and '60s.
43:00 No, in the 1980s, people didn't think that blacks had the intelligence to play quarterback
43:07 and that we couldn't read offenses, and people had to start talking about that and discussing it.
43:12 NFL had to put in protocols, and that's all we're asking the military to do
43:16 is just look at ways how they can increase diversity.
43:20 What worries me about this amendment the most, honestly,
43:22 is to me it looks like this could also hurt people that live in more agrarian societies
43:27 and in more rural states.
43:29 If we're looking at these composite scores and things like that,
43:32 because you think it's only going to hurt black people
43:35 and that it's not going to affect your election, your electoral outcome, but it certainly could.
43:42 The other reason why I'm going to oppose this amendment--again, we need to study our history more.
43:50 Back during the Vietnam War, one of the things that the Viet Cong would do routinely
43:59 is that they would send messages out telling black soldiers, "Why are you fighting?
44:05 Why are you out here?
44:08 You're going to go back to America and be told to sit in the back of the bus.
44:12 You're going to go back to America and be told that you can't marry whoever you're dating.
44:18 You're going to go back to America and be told all these things."
44:22 And there was real concern on the Republican and Democratic side, both aisles,
44:28 that that message was going to resonate
44:34 and that this communist influence was going to be spread into the United States
44:39 because we could not handle our own act good enough at home.
44:45 We don't want to go back to that because I guarantee you if something goes down--
44:48 and hopefully we'll never see anything on the scale of Vietnam or World War II ever again.
44:54 Hopefully that won't happen.
44:57 But I guarantee you that we're not going to be having this discussion
45:00 because all of us, Republican and Democrats, that are sitting in this room,
45:04 whether we're in office or out of office, just like I mentioned before in previous discussions
45:10 about the Negro soldier in the 1940s that the military begged Frank Capra to produce
45:15 to try to get blacks to become more involved because we were living in the middle of discrimination.
45:20 If something goes down, we're not going to even be having this discussion.
45:24 We're all going to be on the same page.
45:26 We're going to be like, "Well, how can we get more black officers?"
45:28 Because the people in European communism or China communism,
45:34 they're using this rhetoric saying that there aren't enough black officers,
45:37 and so why should black people be fighting this war?
45:39 That's what's going to happen.
45:41 So let's just be realistic. Let's be honest and admit that this is about politics.
45:47 I want to yield the balance of my time to Mr. Hortzworth of Nevada.
45:51 Thank you. I just want to point out that no one on the other side has refuted the U.S. Supreme Court's decision,
45:57 which was led by Chief Justice Roberts,
46:00 providing for this potentially distinct interest exclusion regarding our military academies
46:06 and what your amendment would do to overturn your Supreme Court's decision on this issue.
46:13 Secondly, no one is lowering the bar to get into the military academies.
46:19 We know it's rigorous, and it's becoming more rigorous.
46:22 I've had applicants who have been denied and have tried two or three times and gone to prep academies.
46:29 Gentlemen's time has expired. Ms. Escobar is recognized.
46:32 Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
46:34 I would like to associate myself with the remarks of my Hask Democratic colleagues on this issue.
46:42 I have yet to hear a problem articulated by the other side of the aisle
46:50 with regard to why we need this workaround for a Supreme Court decision.
46:57 What I have heard some of our colleagues on the other side of the aisle say
47:01 is that you embrace diversity.
47:06 I've heard a couple of you say you embrace diversity, you want to see that diversity.
47:11 One of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle even said he's looking for ways in his own district to increase diversity.
47:20 This would have the opposite effect.
47:23 This would not address those challenges articulated by those colleagues on the other side of the aisle.
47:31 This would only make that challenge far greater.
47:36 I think it is really unfortunate that we are having to spend so much time talking about this issue
47:46 of how we eliminate or actually how we work around a decision by the Supreme Court
47:53 that is in place in order to ensure that our service academies create the diversity
48:01 that represents our great nation and that will open doors for all of our future leaders in different parts of the country.
48:11 I represent an incredible community that is 85% Latino, that is economically disadvantaged,
48:20 and the young people in my community have very different opportunities or lack thereof
48:28 than people their age in other communities.
48:32 We have to recognize the inherent inequity that exists in our country
48:37 and instead of trying to move the clock backward, we should be leaning in
48:45 and seeking avenues and ways to ensure that every great young woman and man in our country
48:55 has the opportunities that some of you have articulated you'd like to see expanded.
49:02 I'd like to yield the remainder of my time to my colleague Stephen Horsford.
49:08 Thank you to my colleague from Texas.
49:11 I just wanted to reiterate and I hope we all agree, and I would love to work with my colleagues on the other side,
49:20 to figure out a way that we can all improve our outreach, our engagement,
49:26 because this is actually one of the difficult areas one of our subcommittees looked into this specific issue
49:32 about recruitment into our military academies.
49:36 I just wanted to underscore that the rigor for military academies is high.
49:44 There's somehow an assumption that when you look at diversity, that means there's less rigor.
49:54 They still have to meet the minimum requirements to get in.
49:59 And I've had applicants from every background of every race who have not gotten in their first time,
50:05 their second time, their third time, but they go to prep academies,
50:10 they do the work during the interim, and they reapply.
50:16 That is how great the people of America are.
50:20 They don't give up on their hopes and their dreams.
50:23 So we have to keep these opportunities open and available in a way that's inclusive for everyone.
50:29 And again, I would urge my colleagues to reject this amendment,
50:33 and let's do the right thing and promote our military academies for everybody.
50:38 And before I yield back, I would just ask those colleagues on the other side of the aisle
50:43 who have expressed an interest in maintaining diversity in our service academies
50:49 and actually said they seek ways to increase diversity in our academies to please vote against this amendment.
50:56 Mr. Chairman, I yield back.
50:58 There's no further debate.
51:00 The question occurs on the amendment offered by Mr. Banks.
51:03 Those in favor of the amendment will say aye.
51:05 Aye.
51:06 Those opposed, no.
51:08 No.
51:09 The opinion of the chair, the ayes have it.
51:11 The recorded vote is requested.
51:13 The recorded vote will be postponed to a later date.
51:16 I had hoped we would make much more progress and have a vote series before 430,
51:21 but we just spent two hours on that amendment.
51:24 So we probably will have our next vote series after -- what?
51:32 Okay.
51:33 Mr. McCormick now has the next amendment, log number 3836R3.
51:39 For what purposes --