Duckworth Blasts Tuberville for Politicizing Military, Holding Military Families Hostage and Putting National Security at Risk
[WASHINGTON, D.C.] – After U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) again misrepresented his damaging and unprecedented effort to impose his own personal political agenda—which even Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) disapproves of—on the Department of Defense, U.S. Senator and combat Veteran Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) called him out for his months-long blanket hold on military promotions that has left our Marines without a Commandant for the first time in more than a century, holds our servicemembers and military families hostage over an individual senator’s political agenda and threatens our military readiness and national security. Video of the Senator Duckworth’s remarks at today’s U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee hearing is available here.
“Our entire military readiness is slowly grinding to a halt, and it is going to get worse every single day because Senator Tuberville has injected politics into this. And let me make it clear: the DoD statute is very clear, the DoD cannot fund abortions. And the DoD is not funding abortions,” said Duckworth. “And you know who gets hurt the most on this? Our lowest ranking servicemembers. It is the youngest women in the military. It is the spouses of the youngest men in the military who have to ask for a pass from their Sergeants to leave their duty station so that they can go take care of their healthcare needs.
“What Senator Tuberville is telling them is, ‘I don't care about you. Thank you for your service, but you cannot take care of your own healthcare or your spouse's healthcare,’” continued Duckworth. “For him to say this is about the military providing abortions is absolutely categorically untrue because the military is not providing abortions in this instance.”
Duckworth served in the Reserve Forces for 23 years and retired at the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. Senator Tuberville has not served a single day in uniform.
Senator Duckworth’s full response to Senator Tuberville follows:
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I just want to correct the record here: Senator Tuberville has been given multiple off-ramps. He was offered a vote on Senator Ernst’s bill which was far—much more overall encompassing.
He has been given lots of opportunities, and he's simply refusing to lift his hold.
For the first time in over 100 years, we do not have a Commandant of the Marine Corps. Someone who can have the full power and authority of a Commandant. This is absolutely unacceptable.
We have all of these officers and their families, my colleagues talk about and laud the family members for their service. We have family members who are being pulled out of schools, unable to start a new school term. We have spouses who cannot start a new job, or who've lost their jobs.
The entire military readiness is slowly grinding to a halt, and it is going to get worse every single day because Senator Tuberville has injected politics into this.
And let me make it clear: the DoD statute is very clear, the DoD cannot fund abortions. And the DoD is not funding abortions.
The DoD is simply providing the ability for servicemembers to travel to a different state from the one in which they are assigned in order to receive reproductive healthcare.
The DoD is not paying for those abortions. It’s simply saying, “If you cannot get the reproductive healthcare you need—whether that is an abortion or IVF, or an IUD, whatever that is—then you should be able to travel someplace for that.”
And you know who gets hurt the most on this? Our lowest ranking servicemembers.
It is the youngest women in the military. It is the spouses of the youngest men in the military who have to ask for a pass from their Sergeants to leave their duty station so that they can go take care of their healthcare needs.
And what we are telling them—what Senator Tuberville is telling them is, “I don't care about you. Thank you for your service, but you cannot take care of your own healthcare or your spouse's healthcare.”
And to simply put this as a political thing, and this is about the military providing abortion, is absolutely categorically untrue because the military is not providing abortions in this instance.
Now, let me also be clear that our men and women in uniform face so many hardships. They should be able to take care of themselves and their family members. Bottom line.
And if there's anybody that's injecting politics into this, it's Senator Tuberville who is fundraising. He is fundraising off of his hold on the military leadership that is affecting the national security of this country.
If he truly cared about this, he wouldn't be fundraising off of it. That is my rant.
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