During a House Appropriations Committee hearing prior to the congressional recess, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) spoke about the need to prioritize military quality of life.
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00:00I now yield to Ms. Wasserman-Schulz for opening remarks.
00:05Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
00:06And what I can say is that if you look, gentlemen,
00:11up in the dictionary, your photo is representative
00:15of all the meaning of that word.
00:20And my alma mater and our fans have a reputation,
00:26rightfully so, for being extremely devoted and enthusiastic
00:31about our school and our school's success.
00:36I am a very proud Gator, three generations,
00:39seven immediate family members that are Florida Gators.
00:44And before I begin my opening remarks,
00:47I will just tout that we are now the only Division I
00:50school that has three football national championships,
00:55men's football national championships,
00:57and three men's basketball national championships.
01:00The only one.
01:01Quite proud.
01:02Go Gators.
01:04And there are lots of SEC schools represented here
01:07on this subcommittee.
01:08So most of us root for an SEC school
01:11when our own teams are not in it.
01:13And it was fun one-sidedly sparring with you.
01:18And thank you for yielding, Judge Carter.
01:21Thank you once again for holding this essential hearing.
01:23And thank you for the years of cooperation and mutual respect
01:29in which we engage.
01:30And I know that that will continue going forward.
01:35We all know the importance of the quality of life,
01:37recruitment, and retention to the military services
01:40that are this committee's responsibility.
01:44Our committee on a bipartisan basis has always advocated for
01:47and defended our service members' quality of life
01:49during their active duty.
01:50And I trust that that will continue.
01:53But this administration's continued callous disregard
01:55for service members, veterans, and their families threatens
01:59to overturn any progress that the services have made
02:01in their efforts.
02:03The administration has fired at least 6,000 veterans
02:05across the government, including at the VA,
02:07which provides essential promise benefits to our veterans.
02:11They are also targeting deep cuts to programs
02:13across the federal government that veterans
02:15and service members rely upon, including SNAP, WIC,
02:18and financial aid, while deploying an economic strategy
02:21that has started a trade war and sent global stocks tumbling.
02:24At the Department of Defense, the plan to fire 5,400
02:27probationary employees and the civilian hiring freeze
02:30has sent the agency into chaos,
02:32while unfairly making the lives of our service members
02:35more difficult.
02:36The chaotic rollout of this hiring freeze
02:38has also left current civilian employees in limbo
02:41and essential jobs unfulfilled, often falling
02:43to our service members to take on double duty.
02:46We have heard reports that barracks managers
02:48and sexual assault prevention teams
02:50are among those included in this freeze,
02:52which will directly harm quality of life
02:54and increase the workload of active duty service members.
02:57Unfortunately, a similar pattern of a chaotic rollout
03:00of DOD's remote and telework policy
03:03has hampered opportunities for military spouses to telework.
03:06This telework made it easier for service members
03:08and their families to adjust to frequent moves.
03:11This chaos does not make it easier for people
03:14to serve their country, and we certainly
03:15should not be actively denigrating those
03:17who do choose to serve, such as is the case
03:19with Secretary Hegseth's ban on transgender individuals
03:22openly serving in the military.
03:24This order is not only cruel and pointless,
03:26it is counterproductive to the DOD's own goals
03:29of increasing recruitment and retention
03:31by needlessly reducing the recruiting pool
03:34for reasons which have nothing to do
03:36with an individual's qualifications
03:38or whether their skills are needed by the services.
03:41Another example of this administration's misplaced
03:43priorities is its push to erase history
03:45when DOD should focus its energy on real issues
03:48like holding privatized housing companies accountable
03:51for lead paint in family housing
03:53or addressing the deficit of housing
03:54for unaccompanied service members,
03:56not on purging websites honoring the Air Force's
03:58first female fighter pilot, who was a constituent, by the way,
04:02or World War II Women's Air Force service pilots.
04:06The administration's history purge also apparently extends
04:08to the Tuskegee Airmen as the Air Force removed training videos,
04:11including them, until public outcry forced the department
04:14to reverse course.
04:16How do these actions show service members
04:18that we value their service and the sacrifices
04:20their families make?
04:21What effect do you think these actions will have
04:23on the efforts of military recruiters across the nation?
04:26We should honor the service of those in uniform
04:28and fight for the quality of life of all of our service members.
04:31To truly improve the quality of life of those service members,
04:34we must address the continued deficiencies in barracks
04:36and privatized family housing,
04:38we must address sexual assaults in the military,
04:40we must address shortages in childcare,
04:43and we must invest in the mental health of our troops.
04:45These actions are essential so that service members
04:48can focus on their important jobs
04:50instead of worrying about who will watch their children,
04:52whether they will get sick from the mold in their homes,
04:54or whether they are safe in their workplace.
04:57This subcommittee has recognized the value
04:59of these investments on a bipartisan basis,
05:01and I look forward to working together with my colleagues again
05:04for fiscal year 2026 to address these issues.
05:07I was incredibly disappointed
05:08by the way the fiscal year 2025 process ended
05:11and the missed opportunity for this committee
05:13to make the necessary investments
05:14to build on our progress in recent years
05:17addressing quality of life projects.
05:19Nevertheless, we will be closely monitoring
05:21the spend plans DOD submits
05:23for the full year continuing resolution funding,
05:25and I want to make it clear to everyone here today,
05:27my expectation is that the services prioritize those funds
05:31in a way that delivers on the promises made
05:32in the FY25 budget requests,
05:35and in consideration of the bipartisan advocacy
05:37from members of the subcommittee
05:39to invest in quality of life.
05:41The spend plans must reflect the need for
05:43and importance of child development centers, barracks,
05:46schools, and other quality of life projects.
05:49The Army's FY25 budget request contained robust funding
05:52for barracks construction
05:53to tackle the service's housing deficiencies.
05:56The Marine Corps has a comprehensive plan
05:58called Barracks 2030 for barracks investments.
06:01We cannot backtrack and sideline these types of projects.
06:04Even great plans to improve quality of life will fail
06:07if they are not accompanied by appropriate funding.
06:10Moreover, I hope the FY26 budget request,
06:13when we get it, contains a robust request
06:16for quality of life projects.
06:18I hope to hear from all of our witnesses today
06:19on how you and your service have worked
06:21since the hearing last year
06:22to address the inadequacies and oversight
06:24of privatized military housing providers,
06:26improve the maintenance of unaccompanied housing,
06:29and address the root causes of sexual assault
06:30within the military.
06:32And I want to thank the five witnesses
06:33for being here today, for your service,
06:36and for your valuable testimony.
06:37Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I yield back.