STRICKLAND URGES DEFENSE SECRETARY AUSTIN AND GEN. MILLEY ON HOUSING IMPROVEMENTS & CITES IMPORTANCE OF DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION
Washington, D.C.— Congresswoman Marilyn Strickland (WA-10) questioned Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Mark Milley at a House Armed Services Committee (HASC) hearing on the Fiscal Year 2024 Defense Budget Request. Strickland advocated for servicemember quality-of-life issues, namely on achieving 100% BAH restoration for servicemembers. She also cited the importance of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion policies to recruiting and retention in the Armed Forces and the DOD’S effort in promoting these policies. Rep. Strickland’s remarks are below, and a video of the full committee hearing is available here.
Strickland: Thank you Chairman. This is for Secretary Austin. I continue to be concerned about housing costs for servicemembers and their families and serving Joint Base Lewis McChord, which is in the metropolitan Seattle Tacoma area, one of the fastest growing regions in the entire United States and housing is at a premium. The department currently gives service members 95% of their calculated housing allowance. Last year, I was pleased to introduce the Basic Allowance for Housing Restoration Act, which will ensure that service members receive their full BAH. I’m encouraged by your recent memo to strengthen our support to servicemembers and their families, as you know, they have to have their basic needs met at a minimum because it’s directly tied to readiness. So can you please discuss your current thinking on how we fully restore BAH to 100% and your work to support servicemembers and their families?
LLoyd J. Austin III, U.S. Secretary of Defense: Oh, thank you. And yeah, I’ve heard you, I’ve heard our troops, our families and I know this is important, and this is a thing I’ve asked for, you know, our panel that will do the review of military compensation to look further into to see what’s in the realm of possible. But, I know that this is a concern, and I would say that we’ll do everything we can to make sure that we’re taking additional stress off our families and off our troops.
Strickland: Great, thank you very much. And I have one more question to talk about the role of diversity and inclusion in readiness. So I grew up as an Army brat, my father joined the military, an army that was segregated, and when President Truman desegregated the troops in 1946, that was controversial at the time. People met it with a lot of skepticism and given some of the language that I’ve heard around this conversation in the military, some people would call that “woke”. But we also know that there was a very strategic and specific reason that President Truman did that. So can you talk specifically about how DEI is good for the military, recognizing that 40% of those who are enlisted are people of color, but making sure that we are doing what we can to help them with promotion, with military justice and to make sure that they are treated fairly just like my father wanted to be.
Secretary Austin: I remain grateful for your father’s service. We are a diverse nation. Our military should look like the nation that it defends. And it does. And I think, you know, I truly believe that diversity makes us stronger. It brings different cultures, different ideas together and we set a great example for the world wherever we go. As you know, Congress with the 2020 NDA directed the Secretary of Defense to develop a strategic diversity and inclusion plan. And that was done in 2020. We’re following that plan. And again, as we follow that plan, we allocate resources to make sure that we’re doing the right thing. In terms of promotions, we promote the best qualified. The question is always whether or not, you know, we have the processes and procedures in place to ensure that you know, we have a competitive space (that) remains just that, competitive. If you have a talent, if you’re willing to work, then you will achieve your goal and you should understand what that pathway is to success as well. So we not only have to provide opportunity, but leaders should be mentoring and coaching along the way. So.
Strickland: Thank you very much, Secretary Austin, and for me when I talk about diversity and inclusion in promotion opportunity, it goes without saying that the people who are seeking those promotions are in fact qualified. Thank you, sir. I yield back.
U.S. Representative Marilyn Strickland serves on the House Armed Services Committee and the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. She is the Congressional Black Caucus whip, a member of the New Democrat Coalition, one of the first Korean-American women elected to Congress, and the first African-American elected to represent the Pacific Northwest at the federal level.
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