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November 16, 2023

FULL STATEMENT ON VIDEO, PART OF SENATOR MIKE LEE'S DEFENSE OF SENATOR TOMMY TUBERVILLE ON HOLD OF WOKE AGENDA NOMINATED U.S. MILITARY APPOINTMENTS

SENATOR MIKE LEE COMMENTS (TRANSCRIPT IN PART) (FULL TRANSCRIPT HERE)

Mr President the American people are
sharply divided on some issues one of
those issues is abortion
one group of people has a different idea
about one human life begins and is worth
protecting and needs to be protected
under law it's difficult to reconcile
the views of those who
are in sharp contrast with each other
given that one group thinks that human
life begins earlier much earlier than
the other group

as difficult as it can be to reconcile
those competing viewpoints where
Americans are so sharply divided there
is an issue related to abortion on which
Americans are overwhelmingly and
refreshingly United

that is because both sides tend to
recognize that a number of Americans are

uncomfortable with abortion to the
extent that
we are
Americans overwhelmingly agree
with that vast super majority in
agreement that the federal government
should not use U.S taxpayer funds
for abortions

to that end Congress has passed laws
providing just that one specific law
deal specifically with the U.S
Department of Defense
codified it 10 USC section 1093 this
statute which has been on the books for
decades
says that you may not use
Department of Defense funding or
facilities for abortions
well

late last year rumors started
circulating to the effect that the U.S
Department of Defense was considering
adopting policies policies that would
fund abortion travel specifically
allowing U.S military personnel seeking
abortions in a neighboring state or in a

to receive three weeks of paid leave

time and compensated travel air travel
or otherwise lodging accommodations per
diem Etc

specifically to have an abortion
my friend and colleague the
distinguished senior senator from the
state of Alabama senator tuberville
is concerned about this sitting on the
armed services Committee in the Senate
which he does he visited with defense
secretary Lloyd Austin and expressed his
concerns about this rumored policy
and he said you shouldn't do this this
is inconsistent with the spirit of not
also the letter of 10 USC 1093 and if
you do this there will be consequences
including among other things I Senator
Tuberville will be forced into a
position in which I will delay the
confirmation of flag officer military
promotions

regrettably a couple months later
secretary Austin completely ignoring
federal law completely ignoring
what Senator tuberville had told them
proceeded with the policy anyway

by so doing they made a decision to
openly flout federal law the sole
purpose of this policy
is to try to find an all too cute way
too tricky Route Around what Federal Law
requires flatly inconsistent with the
spirit if not also the letter of federal
law

now since then there has been debate on
this on the senate floor Awards have
been exchanged people have strong views
about this approach but make no mistake
all Senator tuberville is doing is
saying that

in the past I along with every other
Senator have typically moved Heaven and
Earth to expedite the confirmation of
these military promotions to allow them
to occur quickly most of them are not
controversial

that is the norm but these things
require unanimous consent and there's
something about unanimous consent it
requires as the name implies actual
unanimity meaning any one senator can
raise an objection that makes expedited
confirmation not possible this doesn't
stop the confirmation all it does is it
requires additional steps to be taken it
takes more time

yesterday we had a statement a statement
that was unfortunate a statement that
brings me to the senate floor today a
statement made by secretary Carlos Del
Toro the secretary of the United States
Navy

secretary Del Toro with whom I've worked
on other matters in the past and for
whom I've had great respect made it very
unfortunate and inappropriate statement
here's what he said quote

I would have never imagined that one of
our own Senators would actually be
aiding and abetting Communists in other
autocratic regimes around the world
close quote

this statement to be clear was talking
only about Senator tuberville saying in
light of this policy which I believe is
incompatible with federal law I'm not
going to facilitate the expedited
confirmation of the nominees in question

that's all he said
and yet for that he was accused by the
secretary of the United States Navy
of quote aiding and abetting Communists
and other autocratic regimes around the
world
strange
this is unacceptable and this body
should emphatically unambiguously reject
the ad hominem attack against Senator
tuberville by secretary del Toro.

ENTIRE TRANSCRIPT HERE