[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 8]
[House]
[Page 11657]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1045
                      OUR MILITARY DESERVES BETTER

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Massachusetts (Mr. Kennedy) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. Speaker, when our bravest men and women raise their 
hand and volunteered to defend our Nation, they defend all of her 
people, rich and poor, young and old, Democrat and Republican, gay and 
straight, Americans of all races, religions, ethnicities, beliefs, 
gender identities.
  Our soldiers do not discriminate. They do not offer to pay the 
ultimate sacrifice for some Americans and not for others. Their 
government owes them that same courtesy, that same decency in return.
  Instead, this morning, our President has told thousands of American 
soldiers that they will fight for us, but we will not fight for them; 
that their deeply personal medical decisions are somehow the public's 
business; that although they are willing to sacrifice their lives to 
protect our freedom, we will not offer them the most basic freedom in 
return.
  Today, the President of the United States looked American soldiers in 
the eye and dared to question their patriotism, their courage. He 
doubted their commitment to their brothers and sisters in uniform. He 
said that our military couldn't or wouldn't stand for all of us.
  To the thousands of brave transgender men and women serving today in 
uniform, please know that a grateful Nation does not take your service, 
your patriotism for granted.
  You deserve better from your President. You deserve better from your 
government. You deserve better from your country.

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