[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 119 (Wednesday, July 12, 2023)]
[House]
[Pages H3214-H3215]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        IT IS TIME TO END THE BLOCKADE OF MILITARY APPOINTMENTS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
North Carolina (Mr. Jackson) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. JACKSON of North Carolina. Madam Speaker, a Senator from Alabama 
is now many months into a blockade of all the generals and admirals in 
our military who are scheduled to advance in their leadership. This is 
no longer just a political statement from him. This is a national 
security issue for all of us.
  He has taken a personal crusade and made it an impediment to our 
entire

[[Page H3215]]

military. We are at 250 nominations blocked so far. By the end of this 
year, it will be 650.
  These are our military's top leaders. The notion that all of these 
positions should remain vacant because one Senator objects to the 
Defense Department's travel policy regarding servicemembers who get an 
abortion is a perfect example of letting culture war politics impact 
our military.
  This year, we have been treated to countless speeches about whether 
politics has infected our military and whether that has impacted its 
readiness. Now, the single clearest example of culture war politics 
colliding with our military is this blockade of our top military 
leaders, a blockade built by one man in defense not of our Nation but 
of his politics on the issue of abortion.
  The clearest price yet was paid this week as the leader of the Marine 
Corps retired and then Congress tried to replace him with his appointed 
successor, General Eric Smith, and the Senator from Alabama blocked 
that replacement. The Marine Corps is now without a confirmed leader 
for the first time since 1910.
  Up next, we have several members of the Joint Chiefs with scheduled 
retirements, including the Chair of the Joint Chiefs. Half of those 
positions will be vacant by the end of this year if the Senator from 
Alabama decides to maintain his blockade.
  Asked about this, the Senator from Alabama expresses indifference. He 
says everything will be fine. He is wrong. We have leaders in place for 
a reason. When they are not there and crisis strikes, we get chaos.
  We are the world's most powerful Nation, and when one Senator chooses 
to sideline hundreds of nominations for military leaders, he chooses to 
reduce our power knowingly, willfully, and in the face of our enemies 
who are delighted by the self-inflicted wound.
  When in doubt, act in a way that frustrates your enemy. This does the 
opposite.
  I respect everyone's sincere beliefs on matters of culture and 
policy. That does not extend to respecting any and all tactics in 
pursuit of those goals. Those who disagree with the Defense Department, 
as the Senator does, do their cause a disservice by adopting extreme 
tactics that carry with them such collateral damage.
  The Senator from Alabama is in his first term in Congress, as I am. 
He is in the minority party in his Chamber, as I am. I have lost 
several battles here. I will lose several more. But when you can't get 
something done that you very much care about, how you conduct yourself 
in that moment matters. Even people who don't follow politics every day 
can tell the difference between standing on principle and a very 
powerful man throwing a temper tantrum.
  I think he sees that there is no endgame where this tactic works. He 
is now all the way out on a limb. That limb is starting to crack. I 
don't think he knows quite yet what to do.
  I have been in the military a long time. One of the things you learn 
is that hopeless strategies produce disastrous results. The strong move 
for him is to change course, not to recommit to a path that will lead 
to nothing except chaos and danger for our country, as seven former 
Secretaries of Defense, from both administrations, are strongly urging 
him to do.

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