WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) introduced two measures to the FY 2023 NDAA committee markup to make the U.S. Military less woke by preventing military children from being indoctrinated by Department of Defense (DoD) teachers and keeping the force focused on lethal threats rather than servicemembers’ pronouns. Senate Democrats on the Armed Services Committee voted down both amendments.

“The U.S. military must focus on confronting the New Axis of Evil –Communist China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea. These regimes do not care how woke our military is or what our soldiers’ pronouns are,” said Senator Blackburn. “Pentagon leaders should be spending their time learning lessons about their disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan, not promoting critical race theory and wokeism. When our brave men and women are fighting on the battlefield, their children must be protected from government-funded indoctrination. These proposals are not controversial. Democrats should be happy to support them and help refocus the energy and effort at the Defense Department where it belongs – on fighting our adversaries.”

Stop Manipulating Military Children

When our brave men and women in the military are fighting to protect our freedom on the battlefield, the last thing they should be worried about is their children being indoctrinated at taxpayer funded Department of Defense Education Activity schools. Parents, not woke teachers, should be in the driver’s seat and empowered with all the information they need to help best support their child.

Activist teachers have encouraged children to pursue gender transition and worked to keep that information from parents. There are numerous examples of DoD teachers claiming it is appropriate to hide information on a child’s gender transition from parents.

Senator Blackburn’s Amendment To The FY 2023 NDAA Would De-Wokeify Our Military And Empower Military Parents By:

• Requiring that DoD schools notify parents of any matter relating to their child’s mental, emotional, or physical health or well-being.

• Ensuring that legal adults are aware of the healthcare support that their minor dependents receive.

Keep Our Military Focused On Lethal Threats

The United States military should be focused on one objective – creating the most lethal fighting force on planet Earth. Instead, Joe Biden’s military leaders are secretly attempting to turn our brave warfighters into social justice warriors.

Since Biden took office, the U.S. military has spent at least 5,889,082 man hours on climate change and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) related activities among other programs, and the Air Force spent at least $68 million on DEI initiatives just in 2021. The Pentagon is demanding a blank check from Congress to fund its woke progressive agenda and refuses to detail how these funds are being used. DEI related initiatives do not promote cohesion in the ranks, and instead focus on what divides servicemembers rather than what unites them.

Senator Blackburn’s Amendment To The FY 2023 NDAA Would Keep The Department Of Defense Focused On Real Threats By:

• Requiring the Under Secretary of Defense to brief Congress on specific spending with respect to DEI and counter-extremism initiatives of the DoD.

• Promoting transparency in the DoD’s efforts and re-assert Congress’s “power of the purse” by not providing a blank check to the Department to simply spend on DEI initiatives as it sees fit.