Rep. Keith Self, R-Texas, told Newsmax on Wednesday that the U.S. military must focus on its "lethality" in dealing with America's enemies instead of diversity, equity, and inclusion.
"I just signed a letter with Congressman [Rep.] Wesley Hunt [R-Texas] asking [President Joe Biden] to rescind the [executive] order that establishes these DEI people because I have one criteria for the military: it is the lethality of the military to win our next war," Self said during "The Chris Salcedo Show" on Wednesday. "We need to be focused on that because I don't know when, I don't know where, that our young Americans will go in harm's way again at some point. Frankly, we need to be prepared to deter China from their aggressive actions, now to include the Gulf of Oman with Russia and Iran. So, we've got a lot of deterrence to do against China. We need to be ready because deterrence needs to be backed up."
Biden signed an executive order in June 2021 making diversity, equity, and inclusion a priority for all federal entities, including the military.
In February 2022, the Department of Defense's secretary for human capital and diversity called DEI a "necessity" for the military.
Self said that other than the letter to Biden on the issue, there is not much Congress can do about it right now because of the recently passed $1.7 trillion omnibus package last year that basically takes the new GOP-led House out of budget funding solutions until September when next year's spending plan is voted on.
"Defunding would require the president's signature and we're not going to get it," Self said. "So, we need to study the toolbox to make sure that we are using every tool in the toolbox to make sure that we can withhold funds as much, and as long as we can."
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