(Transcript below)
“Mr. Speaker,
When our bravest men and women raise their hand and volunteers to defend our nation, they defend all of her people: rich and poor, young and old, Democrat and Republican, gay 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 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 woman serving today in uniform, please know the great nation does not take your service, your patriotism for granted. You deserve better from the president, you deserve better from your government, you deserve better from your country.
Thank you. I yield back. “