OPINION:
One year after President Biden’s disgraceful Afghanistan withdrawal, the Republican National Committee is proud to open its first-ever Veterans Community Center in Virginia Beach, home to the largest naval base in the world.
It’s been 12 months since 13 U.S. service members were needlessly killed in Kabul, and this center represents a commitment of respect, honor and gratitude for the sacrifice of our more than 19 million veterans across our country. It is a message that no, their courage is not taken for granted, and that, yes, the Republican Party is united behind our incredible veterans.
Thus, we must work together to save our country in November. While Mr. Biden vacationed during the one-year anniversary of Kabul’s fall to the Taliban — wanting to forget that one of the biggest foreign policy disasters in American history happened under his leadership — it’s clear that our country sits at a crossroads, with two very divergent paths ahead. Under Mr. Biden, our country is less respected around the world with one foreign policy crisis after another, alienating allies and emboldening enemies. Here at home, freedom is under assault, our border is wide open, and our children are being taught to hate our country in their schools.
To see what went wrong, look no further than Mr. Biden’s first day in office, when he axed an executive order by former President Donald Trump that prevented the teaching of critical race theory in our military. He even accused veterans of fueling the growth of “white supremacy.” The Navy followed suit, including far-left radical and critical race theorist Ibram X. Kendi’s book “How to Be an Antiracist” on its 2021 reading list. The Air Force Academy admitted that “tenets of critical race theory” are taught in its classrooms. This isn’t just anti-American, it’s dangerous. Any member of the military will tell you that unity is a matter of life and death in combat. The Biden administration didn’t get that memo.
And as Mr. Biden sows division where there should be cohesion, he’s greenlighting radical-left ideologies in our military. The Navy mandated gender-sensitivity training, and Air Force leaders issued guidance discouraging the use of gender-specific pronouns in award citations. Not even the children of our service members serving overseas have been spared: the library at the Air Force’s Ramstein Air Base in Germany had planned a sexually-explicit “Drag Queen Story Hour” before it was canceled. This isn’t the military’s fault. It’s a product of the far-left worldview seeping down from Mr. Biden and other prominent Democrats who prioritize remaking America in their own radical image over ensuring its defense.
The sad thing is that our military members and their families have sacrificed so much, yet Mr. Biden and Democrats have given them so little — if anything at all. When it comes to the economy, military families are struggling with Democrat-fueled inflation and food insecurity. When it comes to priority-setting, Mr. Biden wanted to give illegal immigrants more money than Gold Star families. And our military currently faces some of the lowest recruitment levels ever — in spite of the fact that 40,000 National Guard members and 22,000 Reserve soldiers refusing to get vaccinated against COVID-19 have been cut off from their military benefits.
Mr. Biden doesn’t care. That’s the point. He failed to commemorate D-Day last year and slow-walked it this year, a storied day in our nation’s history when brave American soldiers stormed the beaches of Normandy and shifted the tides of a World War in favor of freedom. Why can’t Mr. Biden enthusiastically commemorate, like previous presidents have, a legendary day in American history?
This follows a general theme among Mr. Biden and Democrats of destroying American greatness. They’ve thrown the winning American playbook out the window in favor of their radical agenda.
I’ll say this: Republicans don’t forget the sacrifice of our American heroes. When we talk about the love we have for our country and our Constitution, we are talking about the men and women who’ve donned the uniform, faced down danger, and in many cases given the ultimate sacrifice in their very lives. They and their families deserve better than what Biden and Democrats are doing to our country.
That’s why we need Republican veterans in Congress. There are 63 Republican veterans currently serving in Congress, and earlier this year, Winsome Sears, who previously served in the Marine Corps, was elected lieutenant governor of Virginia in a teaser of what’s to come. Ahead of November, there are 252 Republican veterans running for Congress. Right in Virginia Beach, where the new RNC Veterans Community Center is located, Navy veteran and State Sen. Jen Kiggans is running for U.S. Congress. We’re going to get her elected — and every single Republican veteran running for office.
This conversation is only beginning, so I’ll end on a note of urgency. Earlier this year, Hershel W. “Woody” Williams, the last remaining Medal of Honor recipient from World War II, passed away. But his memory and bravery are alive and well. That’s what we’re fighting for in November. Let’s put in the work now, like never before, to save our country. Only then can we rest.
• Tommy Hicks Jr. was elected to serve as co-chair of the Republican National Committee in January 2019.
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