Rep. Cory Mills, R-Fla., said Monday on Newsmax that the U.S. military shouldn't focus on initiatives that promote diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Mills, who sits on the House Armed Services Committee and who served for about five years in the U.S. Army, said on "John Bachman Now": "I served in the military, the United States Army with people from Puerto Rico and Chicago, people from Florida, people from all over the country, and what we understood was that we were there to focus not on pronouns, not on diversity, equity, and inclusion, but increased … readiness and being properly equipped. That is the job of the United States military and our armed forces."
Mills added: "That is the role in which I play sitting on the Armed Services Committee, to get us back there. And I can tell you that our prioritization will not be on those types of things, and I certainly will not put a single penny towards that and our National Defense Authorization Act, but I will put it towards improving our improvement numbers, which … has fallen by 25,000, not to mention the 8,600 who were unconstitutionally purged, in my idea," over COVID-19 vaccination requirements.
Mills said he's backing legislation to reinstate those service members and provide them with back pay.