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Lauren Boebert

Republican

“I want to keep transgender people out of the military. I say they have mental problems and they could be dangerous with weapons. I am against the last president's policy. I want to pass my amendment to support the current president's rules. I don't want any exceptions. I want to keep the military strong like I say the president and secretary are doing. I want to make this law so no future president can change it.”

Official Congressional Record

Madam Chair, I rise today in support of America's brave men and women in uniform to ensure America's warriors have the tools and environment they need to defend our Nation. Shortly after taking his second oath of office, President Trump acted to protect our servicemembers. He signed an executive order prioritizing military excellence and readiness to prevent radical transgenders from serving in the United States military. My amendment codifies this executive order, ensuring the integrity of America's great Armed Forces is not jeopardized. Gender dysphoria was considered a mental disorder by psychologists for decades until 2019. Even the leftist World Health Organization listed it as a mental illness in the international classification of diseases. According to the Williams Institute, 81 percent of transgender adults have seriously contemplated suicide. That is 15 times higher than the general population. Forty-two percent of transgender adults have attempted suicide, and 56 percent have harmed themselves. People with gender dysphoria are a danger to themselves and others. The United States military possesses the most powerful weapons known to man. We are the largest Air Force and Navy in the world, with nuclear weapons, artillery, and a host of other weapons with immense destructive capacity. Every day we trust our brave men and women in uniform to protect us and to use these weapons that we possess responsibly for the defense of America. We the people have placed our faith and trust in our Armed Forces, and they have placed their faith in this Congress to make responsible policy. The United States of America cannot allow mentally ill individuals to possess and operate these weapons, and this Congress cannot allow transgenders to jeopardize the safety and readiness of our Armed Forces. My amendment protects America's servicemembers, ensures force readiness, and prevents dangerous individuals from accessing destructive weapons. No other severely mentally ill person would ever be allowed in the Armed Forces, and this Congress should not make any exception for gender dysphoria. The risk to the American people and our Armed Forces is simply too great. Secretary Hegseth has often highlighted the need to restore the warrior ethos in the Department of War. After the Armed Forces endured 4 years of waste, fraud, and abuse under the Biden administration, President Trump and Secretary Hegseth have restored the United States military to greatness. Keeping weapons out of the hands of dangerous, mentally ill individuals is a critical step in maintaining this warrior ethos. I am proud to support the President in ensuring the United States Armed Forces remains the finest military in the world. My amendment to codify the President's executive order ensures servicemembers are of sound mind, body, and discipline, and no future administration can rescind these protections for America's heroes. Madam Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.

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Lauren Boebert

Republican 7:20 p.m.

“I want to ban transgender people from the military. I say they have mental problems. I say they are dangerous. I compare them to people who are not allowed in the military. I say it is a serious issue. I want to keep the rule the same as before. I ask you to adopt my amendment.”

Official Congressional Record

Madam Chair, since a member of this committee did not reserve the time, I reserve my right to close at this time. I would just say if gender dysphoria isn't a mental illness, then why do 42 percent of those who identify as transgender attempt suicide? We don't hand nuclear weapons and fighter jets to people in that kind of crisis. We shouldn't start now. We should be helping these people in real ways rather than handing them weapons of destruction. This is a very serious issue that we should address right now. No other severe mental disorder gets a waiver into the United States military. Schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, major depression, they are all disqualifying. Gender dysphoria is no different, except politicians changed the label. My amendment treats it exactly the same. Madam Chair, I urge adoption of my amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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Nancy Mace

Republican 7:30 p.m.

“I want to change this military funding bill. I want to ban the military from paying for transgender surgeries and treatments. I don't think taxpayers should pay for it. I think it harms people. I want the government to stop paying for it.”

Official Congressional Record

Mr. Chair, let me be clear. There are two biological sexes: male and female. They are assigned at conception and cannot be changed. Biology doesn't care how many hormones someone pumps into their bodies or how they mutilate their bodies. Biological reality cannot be changed by medical intervention. In the Fiscal Year 2025 NDAA, Congress prohibited TRICARE from covering medical interventions to treat gender dysphoria, which would result in the sterilization of children. This was an important step, but there is more to be done. This language failed to prohibit the Department of War from chemically and surgically mutilating our servicemembers and their children and performing a number of sick procedures on our kids. This amendment would prohibit the Department of War from covering or furnishing any chemical or surgical mutilation procedures through TRICARE--not one dime for cross-sex hormones, not one dime for taxpayer-funded puberty blockers, not one dime for taxpayer-funded surgeries, all in the name of gender-affirming care and this crazy gender woke ideology. The Federal Government and, particularly, the Department of War should not be in the business of funding the chemical and surgical mutilation of our citizens. This is not healthcare. It is the butchering of healthy bodies, and American taxpayers should never pay for it. Not only do these disgusting trans chemical, trans surgical interventions often cause permanent infertility, sterility, and sexual dysfunction, but they can actually increase depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation. They can cause cancer among those on whom these medical procedures are performed. This amendment restores common sense to military healthcare. It aligns the Department of War with the growing international medical consensus that these interventions, particularly for children, are extremely harmful. This amendment ensures that Defense health dollars are spent on advancing the health of our servicemembers and their families, not undermining it, and certainly not on advancing an ideology based on delusion. We pay for our warfighters to mutilate the enemy, not to mutilate themselves. Mr. Chair, I urge all Members to support this amendment, and I reserve the balance of my time.

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Nancy Mace

Republican 7:40 p.m.

“I don't want the military to pay for transgender surgeries. I want strong tough soldiers. I think this other plan is very bad and crazy. It will hurt the military. I don't want to do that. I want the military to fight well.”

Nancy Mace

Republican 7:40 p.m.

“I don't want the military to spend money on healthcare for those children. I think it is very bad. I think parents who do that are very bad. I think those soldiers are very bad. I think those soldiers should not be in the military. I don't want the military to spend money on them. I want the military to spend money on other things. I think this change is very bad. I want people to vote for it.”

Official Congressional Record

If you think your kid is trans and you are the parent, your kid needs to be taken out of your household. It is insane to think--you are hearing these stories this week in the news how somebody's 2-year- old knew that, when they were born a girl, they are actually a boy and all this craziness. Children have creative imaginations. They imagine that they might be a monkey. That doesn't mean you feed them bananas and leave them in a jungle because they think they are Curious George. It is insane. This is a mental health crisis. Anyone who is mentally ill should not be serving in our military, and they absolutely should not be serving in combat. Every dollar spent by the Department of War on chemical and surgical sex change procedures is a dollar not spent on preparing the readiness of America's warfighter. Mr. Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.

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Nancy Mace

Republican 7:40 p.m.

“I don't know what those big words mean. That university president said silly things. I don't think those doctors know what they're talking about. Giving people hormones can hurt them. I want doctors to use real science. Some people do bad things. I don't want them in the military.”

Official Congressional Record

Mr. Chair, you just heard it from California: cis man. I don't even know what a cis man is. That sounds ridiculous. Talking about pretend doctors, I think we had a pretend doctor testify on the Hill this week. The president of a prestigious university could not testify that only women can give birth to babies. Someone who is supposed to be training medical physicians and medical doctors here in the United States couldn't say under oath, in Congress, that only women can give birth to babies. I don't think you can trust medical doctors that say being tranny is a thing. Treating somebody's low T or thyroid, if they are a man, that seems like a natural, biological thing, but not for a woman. If you give a woman a ton of testosterone, it erodes the lining of her bladder. She eventually becomes incontinent. The other hormones are going to eventually give her breast cancer. It is just a crazy ideology. We need to follow actual science, follow biology, and not these doctors and universities that are training medical doctors, that are making millions and millions of dollars by keeping people on prescriptions, on medicines that drive them crazy, to shoot up schools, churches, and synagogues. All these tranny shootings, all these mass shootings, it is actually insane. They should not be serving in the military. Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.

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Nancy Mace

Republican 7:40 p.m.

“I don't want biological males in girls' sports in schools run by the Department of Defense. I think it's unfair to women and girls. I want to stop it.”

Official Congressional Record

Mr. Chair, women and girls have fought for so long to have equal opportunities in education and athletics. As the first female graduate of the Citadel's Corps of Cadets, no one understands this more than I do. Unfortunately, these rights are now under attack. Over 900 medals have been stolen from women and girls by biological males. This flies in the face of common sense and our most basic notions of fairness and women's rights. Even if some of my colleagues are too afraid to say it, every person in this room knows that men and women are biologically distinct. This truth has been obvious to every civilization in the history of mankind. Yet, mediocre male athletes are forcing their way into little girls' locker rooms and onto their courts and fields. Women and girls are being robbed of athletic opportunities. Make no mistake, this is misogyny masquerading as progress. This amendment would prohibit biological males from participating in schools administered by the Department of Defense Education Activity. DoDEA schools serve the children of our warfighters, and they should not have to worry about their little girls having their private spaces invaded, having their accomplishments and opportunities stolen from them, and being injured competing against men. We have seen countless women's volleyball teams across the country forfeit instead of having to face biological men and risk the same physical injuries experienced by Payton McNabb. In Massachusetts in 2023, a female field hockey player had her teeth knocked out by a biological male during a game. In 2024, a high school women's basketball team was forced to forfeit after a 6-foot bearded male athlete injured three of their players, leaving girls in pain and injury on the court. These are the predictable consequences of a policy which dresses up biological ignorance as compassion. I urge all Members to support this amendment, and I reserve the balance of my time.

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Nancy Mace

Republican 7:50 p.m.

“I want to keep trans girls out of girls' sports and locker rooms. I think trans women are men. I think they hurt girls' safety. I want the military to keep trans girls out of girls' spaces. I will talk about bathrooms and prisons to make people afraid. I think high-T male soldiers want this. I am a survivor. I want to protect girls.”

Official Congressional Record

Mr. Chair, trans girls aren't real girls. Trans women aren't real women. Cis women, nobody knows what that is. It is not actually a thing. There are significant physical, biological differences between men and women. Biological men generally have greater muscle mass, bone density, cardiovascular capacity, physical strength than women, and the risk of physical injury is real. The irony and the hypocrisy to say that banning biological men from girls' locker rooms and sports makes them less safe is ludicrous. It is actually the trannies that are going into prisons or going into schools, going into locker rooms, going into bathrooms. The LGBTQ-plus-plus-plus whatever it is, queer, these are the people that are putting women at risk. They are raping them in our prisons. They are assaulting them at schools, in the locker rooms, in the bathrooms. This is the kind of thing that we don't want our very masculine, high-T warfighter having to worry about his little girl when he is out there killing the real bad guys. We want to keep them safe. As a survivor, I know what the vulnerabilities are for women in private spaces and how vulnerable we are at all ages. This bill would protect the little girls of our warfighters across the country. Mr. Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.

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Nancy Mace

Republican 7:50 p.m.

“I don't like the other side. I say they are bad. A famous tennis player said confirming her gender was easy. I think trans girls should not be on teams with other girls. I think trans girls should not be in locker rooms with other girls. I worry about what could happen with them there. I think they are sick men. I think they make fun of women. I don't like it.”

Official Congressional Record

Mr. Chair, I would encourage my colleagues on the left side of the aisle to read Martina Navratilova's X account today, talking about how confirming she was a woman was not invasive. It was a simple cheek swab. This is the fear politics of the left, and that says a lot about how far they have gone. To say that trans kids just want to be on a team with our little girls, if there is a tranny on a team with our daughters, they need to be kicked right off. If they are in a locker room with our girls, they need to be kicked right out. We have seen some really crazy stories of grown men with beards shaving at the sink with little girls in towels in the corner of the locker room scared to death and vulnerable to sexual predators. We all know the tranny thing really is about sexual gratification. Sexual attraction to being dressed as a woman has nothing to do with them thinking that they are a woman. In fact, they are mocking being a woman. They are mocking our femininity, and they are mocking the rights that we fought for for hundreds and hundreds of years. It has not been long since women actually got the right to vote. There are still ceilings to be broken in this country. It is not going to be done by some mentally ill man in a skirt. Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.

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Addison P. McDowell

Republican 8:00 p.m.

“I want taxpayers to pay for military parents' school choice. Some military families can't use school choice. I want a pilot program so active duty families can use it too. I think parents who serve our country should decide where their kids go to school.”

Official Congressional Record

Mr. Chair, today I rise to offer an amendment to H.R. 8800. My amendment would authorize the Secretary of War to establish a school choice pilot program for members of the Armed Forces. Over the past 5 years the number of States that have chosen to prioritize education freedom for parents has skyrocketed. On this issue, Americans have spoken. Parents must have a bigger say in their children's education. Despite overwhelming support, many military families are barred from participating in school choice initiatives because they are either stationed in States without school choice or they are located in one State but domiciled in another. This amendment would authorize the War Secretary to establish a school choice pilot program for full-time Active-Duty military members. Mr. Chair, there is no reason why parents who are dedicating their lives in service to our country should not have the same rights as other parents to decide where their kids go to school. This honors a provision in the Department's budget request. Mr. Chair, I urge all my colleagues to support my amendment, and I reserve the balance of my time.

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Addison P. McDowell

Republican 8:00 p.m.

“I want military parents to have vouchers. Parents should decide where their kids go to school. This bill starts a program to let them choose. I want my colleagues to support this bill. Military parents should have the same rights as other parents.”

Mike Rogers

Republican 8:10 p.m.

“I want this defense bill to pass. It will spend money on the military.”

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