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Unanimous Consent Requests--Executive Calendar

Floor Speech

By: Tommy Tuberville

Date: Nov. 1, 2023

Location: Washington, DC

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Mr. TUBERVILLE. There is no institution in this world I honor more than the U.S. military. I am thankful to every veteran in this country.

I also want to note that I respect my colleagues' strong pro-life voting record. The Republican Party has been the pro-life party for half a century. We ought to be proud that we stand for life. We stand for the most vulnerable of our society: the unborn. I know my colleagues here share that conviction. The disagreement we are having today is about tactics.

Let me explain why I am doing it, how we got here, and where we go from here. Nine months ago, the Pentagon announced that they would start using our taxpayer dollars to facilitate abortion. Let me say that one more time. Nine months ago, the Pentagon announced--announced by memo-- that they would start using our taxpayer dollars to facilitate abortion. The Pentagon is now paying for travel and extra time off for servicemembers and their dependents to get abortions.

Congress never voted for this. We also never appropriated the money for this. There is no law that allows them to do this. In fact, there is a law that says they can't do this. One more time: There is a law that says they can't do this, created in this room. It is 10 USC, Section 1093. It says the only time the Pentagon can spend taxpayer dollars on abortion is in cases of rape, incest, and threat to the health of the mom. So this is a policy that is illegal and immoral. This is about life, and it is also about the rule of law. It is about our Constitution. It is about whether we make laws at the Pentagon or whether we follow the Constitution.

This is also about the integrity of our military. The only thing in this world I honor more than our military is the Constitution. We all swore to uphold the Constitution. I also feel very strongly about the obligation to uphold it every day in this room. I cannot simply sit idly by while the Biden administration injects politics in our military--again--injects politics in our military from the White House and spends taxpayers' dollars on abortion.

The only power that a Senator in the minority has is to put a hold on a nomination--the only thing. I am not the first person to do this. Holds on nominations happen all the time. Holds on military nominations have happened many, many, many, many times before. Typically, they don't last as long because the administration will work with a Senator until the issue is resolved. But that has not happened this time. Zero negotiation.

Abortion is the most important thing to the Democrats that they have, and they won't negotiate. One more time: Abortion is the most important thing the Democrats have, and they will not negotiate.

This has been going on for 9 months. Every day this continues is a day that Democrats think abortion is more important than the nomination at our military. I support many of these nominees, and I agree that these are very, very important jobs. But we could have been voting on these nominees the entire 9 months.

The Senate has had more than 90 days off this year, not including weekends. Each nomination could take as little as 2 hours. In fact, tomorrow we will be voting on three of the most important nominees that we forced the leader of the Senate to bring to the floor. The nominees at the very top ought to be voted on anyway. These jobs are too important not to receive the advice and consent of the Senate.

I have to respectfully disagree with my colleagues about the effect of my hold on readiness. My hold is not affecting readiness. The Biden administration has been saying this for months, but nobody has an explanation. Nobody. The fact is, no jobs are going unfilled. Every job is being done. In fact, GEN Mark Milley said recently that our readiness is the best it has been in years. Time and again, generals and servicemembers have assured me that they are ready to go. I believe them.

I am going to keep my holds in place. If Senators want to vote on these nominees one by one, I am all in. I am happy to do that. But I will keep my hold in place until the Pentagon follows the law or the Democrats change the law. This is about our Constitution. This is about the rule of law. That is what we are about in here. It is about the integrity of our military. It is about keeping politics out of the military. I did not put it in the military. Joe Biden and Secretary Austin put politics in the military. And it is about the right to life. These are some of the most important things in the world to me.

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Mr. TUBERVILLE. Senator, that was the type of negotiation I have been looking for, for the last 9 months. Nobody--zero--has come to me with any alternatives to bypass to get this done.

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Mr. TUBERVILLE. It would; it would be a good starting point. We can sit down and work this out, but we can't do it without negotiations. That is what I was saying earlier. There have been zero negotiations. There has been no give. It has all been take--three 1-minute calls with the Secretary. I haven't talked to him since June. There has been no more conversation. So how do you work out a problem without communication?

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Mr. TUBERVILLE. Not one time in my life have I ever said anything about anybody in our military was a desk jockey. I don't know where he got that from. I guess that is a military term. I would not do that. I would not disrespect anybody in any job in the military that they have ever done. So I just want to set that story straight with people who will write a little bit about this disagreement tonight.

But with that,

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