00:00This will be the last member before we have our break.
00:04General Lady from South Carolina is recognized.
00:06Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
00:07And just to clarify, I want everyone to know that men are not women,
00:12and I find it deeply offensive as a woman who's broken glass ceiling.
00:15So to all the women out there who are fighting their way through their track meets,
00:20their scholarships, their jobs against mentally ill men,
00:24I want you to know, Republicans, we see you and we support you.
00:28Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you to Secretary Hegseth and General Cain for joining us today.
00:33The Department of Defense and our armed forces exist to protect our country's interests and our citizens' freedoms.
00:39Under the previous administration, this mission was supplanted by divisive ideology and social experimentation.
00:47Allowing ideological advocacy to come before military readiness was an enormous mistake.
00:53At the direction of President Trump and under your leadership, the DOD is rightfully returning to its focus on lethality and readiness.
01:01Our country faces a complex array of challenges and must maintain unparalleled readiness.
01:06The changes you are implementing at DOD are critical to returning our military to its core mission.
01:11So I have a few questions for you, Secretary Hegseth, today.
01:14How much did the Biden administration spend on DEI programs at DOD?
01:19Well, when you look at directly or ancillary reflections of it, it was billions of dollars, ma'am.
01:27And did a focus on equitable outcomes rather than merit or improve our effectiveness in the military?
01:34No, I think if you look at ongoing operations under the Biden administration
01:38and also recruiting and retention under the administration, it was a distraction, not an enabler.
01:44Do DEI programs make our military more lethal?
01:47No.
01:47Secretary Hegseth, how much money did the Biden administration spend on the chemical and surgical mutilation of our service members
01:55under the guise of gender-affirming care?
01:58I don't know, but $1 is too much.
02:00I agree.
02:01Did sex change experiments in the chemical and surgical mutilation or castration of service members
02:06improve our defense capabilities and make us more lethal?
02:10No.
02:11That's what I thought.
02:12Secretary Hegseth, can a history of mental health conditions disqualify someone from military service?
02:18Yes.
02:19And is gender dysphoria a documented mental illness included in this list of disqualifying conditions?
02:25It was not, but it is now.
02:27Per an executive order from the White House and reinforced by the Defense Department, gender dysphoria is properly recognized as a mental disorder and a disqualifying one for military service.
02:37God bless America.
02:39Okay, so I welcome the announcement of the Navy that they would be ending animal testing on cats and dogs.
02:45Huge win for animal lovers and those against the barbaric treatment of cats and dogs.
02:51However, I understand there are still some active binary dog and cat tests being funded by the DOD.
02:56Secretary, do you plan to end these experiments as well?
03:00As you know, Congresswoman, we've looked at a lot of those.
03:03We've reviewed a lot of those and we've ended a lot of those.
03:06There are probably others under review and we will do that.
03:09I would love for you all to do a review and eliminate all of them and see them ended as well.
03:15Do you think you'll enact a DOD-wide ban on conducting or funding cat and dog experiments?
03:21Do you think that will be in the future under your leadership?
03:24We will review that.
03:26Right now, our focus is studies that actually add to our capability, our readiness, our warfighting ethos.
03:33So if they don't contribute to enabling better capabilities, then they will be reviewed and ended.
03:38Okay, and talk to me about recruitment.
03:40How far were we?
03:41You've already hit your recruitment numbers this year so far, right?
03:44Or close to it?
03:46In record numbers.
03:47Months and months ahead in all services.
03:49Why do you think that is?
03:51Well, I think a new commander-in-chief was elected in November and inaugurated in January.
03:55And I used to call it the Trump bump.
03:57I think you can't call it that anymore.
03:59It's a tsunami of young Americans who believe in the direction President Trump is taking the country
04:04and specifically his leadership as commander-in-chief.
04:07And they look at a fighting force that's going to be back to basics.
04:10We get accused of wanting to do ideology.
04:13It was ideology on the other side that was pushed into the military.
04:16We're pulling that out and getting back to basics, fidelity to the Constitution,
04:20focus on war fighting.
04:21Americans respond when that's the focus, and that's what we've seen.
04:24So if there's a young person watching today on C-SPAN, and I hope that there are a few,
04:28and if they're looking at they don't know what they want to do with the rest of their life,
04:31how do they get recruited into the military?
04:33What can they go do today, right now, to come work for you?
04:36Well, the menu is large of any different services, any different jobs.
04:40And contrary to the narrative being pushed by one side, we have a record number of females, minorities as well.
04:49This is not just one group of people joining the military.
04:51And we welcome all Americans who are qualified to serve our country.
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