Republicans will seek to amend the National Defense Authorization Act to ban critical race theory from military institutions.
Rep. Mark Green, a Tennessee Republican, who spent time in the military prior to serving in Congress, told the Washington Examiner that this would be the “strategy” to curb critical race theory in the military.
US TROOPS ‘WILL TEMPORARILY DEPLOY’ TO AFGHANISTAN TO HELP EVACUATE DIPLOMATS
“Those amendments will be heard, I believe 1 September, as amendments to the NDAA, and by asking for a vote on it, folks like [Rep. Abigail] Spanberger and [Rep. Elissa] Slotkin, who are on the committee, are going to have to basically say what they believe. They’re in tough swing districts,” he said. “I think there’s a chance they would vote for it, and [it would] get on. And then, when it’s on the bill on the floor, the NDAA typically passes.”
“There’s a chance I could get that amendment attached,” Green added, noting that “we only need two or three Democrats” on the House Armed Services Committee to vote in favor of the amendment to get it out of the committee and to the House floor.
Critical race theory dates back to the 1970s, and it provides an alternative perspective on the country and its history regarding race, though it has gained national prominence in recent months. The theory posits that institutions in the country are implicitly designed to keep white people ahead of minorities, and thus, the only way to get to a fully just society is to dismantle the system.
Conservatives have repeatedly denounced the teaching of the theory in both military academies and in schools nationwide, arguing that it instills division. But it will be difficult for them to legislate on the issue, as Democrats control both houses of Congress.
Opponents of critical race theory argue that it is divisive because it considers all white people oppressors and all people of color victims.
The ranking member of the committee, Rep. Mike Rogers of Alabama, who has previously indicated support for plans like Green’s, told the Washington Examiner on Thursday, “I will absolutely support amendments to the NDAA to ban critical race theory from being forced onto students studying at our military academies. We must ensure that our military academies [are] focused on preparing our future military leaders for confrontation with China and Russia.”
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE IN THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said the Department of Defense does not “teach” or “embrace” the theory during a House Armed Services Committee budget hearing in June. At the same hearing, Gen. Mark A. Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, gave an impassioned speech defending the merit of teaching the theory, comparing it to Mao Zedong and Karl Marx.
Rep. Michael Waltz of Florida, a former Green Beret and Afghanistan War veteran, was one of the first to bring up the topic in April, when he sent a letter to the United States Military Academy’s superintendent, Lt. Gen. Darryl Williams, saying, “Information has recently come to my attention from unsettled soldiers, cadets, and families that raises serious concerns about the U.S. Army’s introduction of elements of critical race theory into cadet instruction.”
