Matt Gaetz

Mr. GAETZ

Mr. GAETZ. Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk.

Mr. GAETZ. Mr. Chairman, this amendment is quite similar to the prior one, but it wouldn't just strip the cash out of the bill; it would not require further security assistance to Ukraine. I offer this amendment because the Biden administration is sleepwalking our great country into a world war. The American people did not sign up for this, and I believe Congress needs to have the solemnity to be able to stop this madness. I miss the days when Democrats used to be anti-war. I listened with great interest as the ranking member, who I have great respect for, said the goal of this entire Ukraine-U.S. enterprise is to ensure that we are not going to war with Russia. That is a bit odd to hear, after several Democrats have taken to this floor and media outlets to suggest we are at war with Russia. It was, in fact, the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer) who came to this floor and said we are at war with Russia. It was the gentleman from Massachusetts who just spoke on the prior amendment, who said, functionally, the same thing. I do not want to go to war with Russia, and I don't think the American people do either. That does not make anyone pro-Putin. I would similarly observe that part of the funding assistance that we are providing to Ukraine has nothing to do the with the military. In this country we have cops, we have firemen, we have teachers who wonder whether or not their pension fund is going to be sufficient to cover their life for the service that they have given. While that is a question in our country, it is no question in Ukraine because the American taxpayer is underwriting all of the pensions for every single government official in Ukraine, and we don't do that for the people who put out our fires and protect our streets. Similarly, how can we continue to just send all this money when there is a lack of accountability? The Pentagon has to fess up that they have multibillion-dollar accounting errors in this space. When we had the inspector general before our House Armed Services Committee, he could not testify that our country had followed our own requirements and our own laws regarding the end-use monitoring of equipment that we are sending into a combat zone. We have unfunded needs in our own military, and I support the NDAA. I am grateful that we have done a lot of work but, even with this NDAA, in America there will be hangars that are rusting out. In America there will be platforms that need upgrades, and they will go wanting while Ukraine seems to have an unlimited amount of support in this Congress that is unwarranted. Forty percent of our training aircraft can't even fly in this country because we don't have sufficient parts to be able to get it to them. This war will end any time those folks in Europe want it to. But they keep buying the Russian gas, and they keep expecting all of us in America to subsidize Europe's defense while they provide some massive social welfare state. I am not for it, and that is why I would encourage my colleagues to vote for my amendment. Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. GAETZ. Mr. Chair, may I inquire as to the time remaining.

Mr. GAETZ. Mr. Chairman, I am at a loss when my colleague asks without any response from the United States. It has already been $115 billion that we have authorized. One hell of a response, I would say. But there has to be some point in time where we put our country ahead of Ukraine, and that is what this amendment does. Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. GAETZ. Mr. Chair, they accuse this amendment of being born of weakness. Guess what, Mr. Chair? It does not make America stronger to borrow money from China to give to Ukraine. Do you know who we are appeasing? China. As we engage in this endeavor, China is doing a leveraged buyout of Russia. We see that in Eastern Russia. We see that in the Russian assets in China. We are actually helping China weaken ourselves all to figure out which guy in a sweat suit gets to run Crimea, and that doesn't seem like America's interest to me. Mr. Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. GAETZ. Mr. Chair, the funds sent to Ukraine represent a major investment in war, not national defense or building infrastructure to deter conflict. This is the active engagement in the killing of sons, daughters, husbands, and wives abroad. We shouldn't be funding these actions until the defense of our country can be reflected with some sort of tangible connection. The money to Ukraine does not fulfill this objective. There must be a threshold for funding a proxy war. How much will it take to win? What is the return? When will it end? The Biden administration does not have answers to these questions, and until they do, we should stop sending money to these misadventures. The United States of America is not the world's police force, and we are not the world's piggy bank, but they would have us become the block captains of Kyiv. My amendment is going to lose overwhelmingly when it is put up for a vote, but the American people will see who wants to represent them and who wants to represent Crimea. Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. GAETZ. Mr. Chair, I demand a recorded vote.

Mr. GAETZ

Mr. GAETZ. Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk.

Mr. GAETZ. I have a parliamentary inquiry.

Mr. GAETZ. Mr. Chair, it is worth acknowledging the great bipartisan work on this issue with my colleague, Ms. Jacobs, and my colleague, Mr. McGovern, who have been speaking on these issues with clarity for some time. The opponents of the amendment made the principal argument that we have to do anything for Ukraine to win the war. Why not just send the nukes? If the standard is we will do anything for Ukraine to win, then send them tactical nuclear weapons. Of course, we are not going to do that, which means there has to be a line somewhere. I would hope that we could draw that line somewhere on the humane side of the cluster bomb question. These bombs are indiscriminate. For goodness' sake, we are still cleaning up cluster bombs in Laos because civilians are being killed. When my colleagues say, well, civilians won't be killed, tell that to the people in the places where cluster munitions have been deployed, and people are still being killed because that is, in fact, the case. It is also an argument that has been made that Ukrainians are only going to use this in their own country. How depraved to use these bombs in your own country? That is not a reason to vote against the amendment. It is the reason to vote for it.

Mr. GAETZ. Mr. Chair, there is a time in every debate where everything has been said but not yet by everyone and that may be where we are in the DEI debate. But what I bring to the House now is the most fulsome amendment to completely remove DEI from the DOD. Even if my amendment doesn't pass, I want my colleagues to know that this NDAA, in the base bill, takes a meat cleaver to DEI. The amendments that we have adopted in the last round of voting have certainly ensured that DEI, regardless of the passage or not of my amendment, will not be a principal feature of our military service if this bill becomes law, and that would be a great thing for our military. That said, it is important to note that in the name of DEI our military has done some pretty strange things. Secretary Austin, in his first act, ordered a 24-hour stand-down so that everyone could reflect on their extremism. The reality is even majority-minority units in the military found this divisive. They complained to my office and certainly it did not create a more lethal force. Also, in the name of DEI, we have hired some rather strange people in the government. There is one DEI officer named Kelisa Wing and she actually, if you can believe this, worked in the DEI's Department at DoDEA, the education system within DOD. She put out the following inclusive tweet: ``I'm so exhausted at these white folx in these PD [professional development] sessions this lady actually had the CAUdaacity to say that black people can be racist too . . . I had to stop the session and give Karen the BUSINESS . . . '' This was the person that we had hired to create a more inclusive environment, and I think it is indicative of the inherently divisive culture that has permeated radical racial ideology. My amendment gives us the opportunity to pull it up by the root, and I hope my colleagues support it. I would add this final point before yielding back. We have standards in the military that allow the military to expel racists and white supremacists completely in the absence of DEI programs. We have had those standards in the military for quite some time. So even if my amendment were to become law, I don't want anyone in the body to think that we would be stuck with people in the military that didn't meet longstanding preexisting standards of personal conduct. Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. GAETZ. I want to be recognized for a parliamentary inquiry.

Mr. GAETZ. I am not recognized for a parliamentary inquiry? I am not recognized for a parliamentary inquiry?

Mr. GAETZ. Mr. Chair, excuse me. I demand a ruling on my point of order.

Mr. GAETZ. Excuse me. Point of order, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. GAETZ. No, Mr. Chairman, I made a point of order. You have to rule on the point of order.

Mr. GAETZ. The gentleman has an obligation to address the Chair, not other Members. He did not do that. He was out of order, violating the decorum of the House.

Mr. GAETZ. Parliamentary inquiry then. I seek recognition to make a parliamentary inquiry.

Mr. GAETZ. What is the parliamentary mechanism that requires an individual to address the Chair because if it is not that, we can address each other, let's do that for the rest of the debate.

Mr. GAETZ. Mr. Chairman, the childish antics that we just observed indicate that we have got a lot of work to do both in this House and the military, not to have radical, racial ideology governing our discourse and governing the policy choices that we make in these bills. The policy choice that my amendment seeks to make ensures that we do not have the cancer of DEI harming our military. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Florida (Mrs. Luna).

Mr. GAETZ. Mr. Chairman, I reserve and I thank the Chair for that acknowledgement.

Mr. GAETZ. Mr. Chair, I can answer the gentlewoman's question. If her question is, when will we stop debating DEI, the answer is when we get rid of DEI in the military. We will be here fighting this fight each and every day because what fashions itself as an inclusive ideology is, in fact, inherently divisive and harmful. I acknowledge that we have many minorities that serve in our military, and we are so grateful for their patriotism, but it is the very minority groups, it is the very minority servicemembers in my district, who come and complain about these initiatives. This isn't an affront to our servicemembers. It is something we are doing for our servicemembers. Do you know what they really complain about? A lot of this DEI training takes away from their jumps, their live fire time, their time in the cockpit. We need to spend more time ensuring that we can protect the homeland and less time on pronoun training and the rest of this nonsense. Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. GAETZ

Mr. GAETZ. Mr. Chair, I thank the chairman and the ranking member for their model of good work and focus on our military. I would speak now to any House conservatives who have apprehension about voting for the NDAA. If you vote against this NDAA or the rule authorizing it, you are voting to continue critical race theory in our military. If you vote against the NDAA, you are voting for the continued embrace of DEI in the military. If you vote against the NDAA, you are voting to keep the chief diversity officer at the Department of Defense, and you are voting to continue some of the strangest radical gender ideology that we have observed, whether it is the trans ambassadors or the drag shows intended for children that have been held on military bases. This NDAA showcases a bold embrace of the technologies the United States will need to hold the high ground, whether that is hypersonics, whether that is AI. This NDAA moves us away from older legacy systems that have been protected by political patronage and instead ensures that we are making the investments to vanquish every foe every time it is absolutely necessary to preserve America's interest. So if you don't want your children and grandchildren one day having to speak Mandarin as some purple-haired, genderless ideologue at the Department of the Defense raises the white flag of surrender, I would suggest voting for this bill. Mr. Chair, I am grateful for all who have made that decision.

Mr. GAETZ

Mr. GAETZ. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to commend Deputy William Hollingsworth for his selfless and heroic acts on Friday, June 16, 2023. Deputy Hollingsworth was helping stranded drivers amid the rapidly rising water early that Friday morning when he saw a motorist disappear beneath Highway 98. Deputy Hollingsworth rushed toward the motorist to provide aid without regard for his safety. He and the motorist were then swept into a flooded storm drain and traveled nearly 100 feet under the four-lane highway. Despite this traumatic turn of events, Deputy Hollingsworth emerged on the other side, spotted the motorist, and continued to wade toward him to continue his rescue attempt. His courageous actions cannot be overstated. I, along with the entire Northwest Florida community, thank Deputy Hollingsworth for his devotion to duty and commitment to excellence. His valiant actions exemplify the very best of Northwest Florida's law enforcement. I am proud to have him serving in Florida's First Congressional District. On behalf of the United States House of Representatives, I am privileged to recognize Deputy William Hollingsworth for his unwavering commitment to upholding the values of our local law enforcement agencies. I thank him for his service and offer my warmest regards and best wishes to him and his family.

Mr. GAETZ

Mr. GAETZ. Mr. Speaker, today I rise to recognize the outstanding military service of Major General (MG) Trevor J. Bredenkamp of Niceville, Florida, for his tenure as Chief, Legislative Liaison (CLL) from June 9, 2021 to June 8, 2023. He has demonstrated a devotion to America by honorably representing the United States Army and bringing credit to Florida's First District while assigned to Capitol Hill. The job of CLL is a critical one as he is charged with effectively and efficiently bridging two branches of government as an advocate of the United States Army to Congress. In 1992, MG Bredenkamp received his commission from the United States Military Academy at West Point, graduating with a Bachelor of Science in Automotive Engineering. MG Bredenkamp's previous command assignments include the United Nations Comand/Eighth Army Honor Guard Company; A Company, 1st Battalion, 506th Infantry; 2nd Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, Fort Bragg North Carolina and deployed as part of OPERATION IRAQI FREEDOM; Deputy Commander, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division; Commander, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division; Deputy Commander-Support, 3rd Infantry Division at Fort Stewart, Georgia; and Commander of Train, Advise, Assist Command- South and Kandahar Airfield while deployed as part of OPERATION FREEDOM's SENTINEL. His previous staff and special assignments include Platoon Leader, Scout Platoon Leader, and Battalion S-1 in the 3rd Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division; Platoon/Company/ Battalion Observer/Controller at the Joint Readiness Training Center; C3 Training Officer, 82nd Airborne Division, at Fort Bragg and deployed as part of OPERATION IRAQI FREEDOM; Operations Officer, 2nd Battalion 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment; Operations Officer, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg and deployed as part of OPERATION ENDURING FREEDOM; Aide-de-Camp to the Commander, U.S. Army Forces Command and subsequently the Commander, International Security Assistance Force, North Atlantic Treaty Organization; Deputy Director, Soldier for Life, Executive Officer to the Secretary of the Army; and the Chief, Programs Division, Office of the Chief, Legislative Liaison, Office of the Secretary of the Army. MG Bredenkamp's awards and decorations include the Defense Superior Service Medal, four Legions of Merit, four Bronze Stars, six Meritorious Service Medals, five Army Commendations, and five Army Achievement Medals. He is authorized to wear the Combat Infantrymen Badge, the Combat Action Badge, the Expert Infantryman Badge, Master Parachutist Badge, Air Assault Badge, Pathfinder Badge, Ranger Tab, and the Army Staff Identification Badge. He holds a Master of Liberal Arts from Louisiana State University and a Master of National Security and Strategic Studies from the National War College. He has been happily married to MG Michele Bredenkamp for more than 26 years, and they are proud parents of two children.