National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2027

Floor Speech

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Ms. HOULAHAN. Mr. Chair, I claim the time in opposition to the amendment.

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Ms. HOULAHAN. Mr. Chair, military readiness is not just physical. It is, indeed, mental. It is emotional. It is financial, and it is spiritual. That is why every branch of our Armed Forces maintains a Chaplain Corps.

Our chaplains are indispensable. They are counselors, advisers, and trusted members of the units and the families they serve. They strengthen the resilience of our force every single day, but chaplains are also servicemembers themselves.

They have assigned duties and responsibilities. Among those responsibilities are two sacred obligations. One is to faithfully practice their own religion and to faithfully protect every servicemembers' right to practice theirs.

A chaplain's faith belongs to their religion, but their duty belongs to every servicemember. That is how the Chaplain Corps serves the entire force without ever asking a chaplain to violate the tenets of their own faith.

A Catholic priest, a Presbyterian minister, or a Jewish rabbi is not expected to lead a Muslim prayer, but they are expected to ensure their Muslim servicemembers have a place to worship and help them identify a lay leader if one is, in fact, needed.

That principle has guided our military for generations because it protects every servicemember and because it respects every faith and even those who have none.

This amendment abandons that principle. It doesn't strengthen the religious liberty. It, indeed, narrows it. It transforms a chaplain's duty to care for every single servicemember into permission to turn some of them away.

Under this amendment, a commanding officer who expects a chaplain to carry out that longstanding responsibility could face punishment under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. That is, in fact, a profound departure from how our military has always understood religious liberty.

The military asks Americans of every faith and those of no faith to serve shoulder to shoulder with one another. Our Chaplain Corps exists to ensure that every one of those servicemembers can freely exercise their beliefs.

This amendment weakens that mission. It weakens the trust that holds military units together and ultimately it, therefore, weakens the force itself.

Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to oppose this amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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Ms. HOULAHAN. Mr. Chair, I demand a recorded vote.

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