US Senator Rick Scott (R-Fl) has cosponsored legislation amending the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2024 (NDAA), the annual military spending measure.
Senate Amendment 2226 aims, in part, to deter “aggression by the Russian Federation” by "strengthening the alliance's deterrence and defense posture by denying potential adversaries any possible opportunities for aggression."
Senator Scott was one of a bipartisan group of eleven senators to cosponsor the bill.
Scott also commented on the military's endemic recruitment drought. “The military’s biggest recruitment problem is @Joe Biden and his woke agenda," said Scott.
The military's biggest recruiting obstacle? @JoeBiden and his woke agenda. pic.twitter.com/sqfw9f7B3P
— Rick Scott (@SenRickScott) July 13, 2023
Yearly reports reflect a downward spiral in officer training program attrition, applications to military academies, and enlistment. Progressives claim the recruitment struggles stem from shifting American values.
https://www.armytimes.com/news/your-army/2022/07/19/army-will-be-up-to-28000-troops-understrength-vice-chief-tells-congress/
Alternatively, Conservatives warily scrutinize the timing between recruitment drop offs and Joe Biden’s presidency. They extrapolate the correlation as proof the president’s policies dispel Citizens from joining the Military.
Conservatives have also previously criticized the left for allegedly politicizing the military in different occasions.
Last month, combat veteran and Congressman Cory Mills, who served with the U.S. Army’s 82nd Airborne Division as a medic in Iraq, took umbrage over his military unit’s embrace of Pride month instead of acknowledging the aforementioned Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Awareness Month.
"June is Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Awareness Month, but woke military command and @SecDef priorities focused on this instead. We must put an end to our military focus on DEI and prioritize military readiness,” stated Rep. Mills
Presidential hopeful and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis seized on conservatives’ worries over military politization and lackluster recruitment as well. “We're getting the military back to basics, we're going to improve morale, and we're going to get people to want to join the military again,” said DeSantis.
