WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Roger F. Wicker, R-Miss., ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, took to the Senate floor to slam the Department of Defense’s abortion travel policies and urged the Biden administration to reverse course.

In his remarks, Senator Wicker disputed claims from the Biden administration and Department of Defense that there is any linkage between overall military readiness and changes in abortion policy.

“Our precarious situation makes it irresponsible for anyone to fear monger about readiness in order to advance a political agenda. Yet that is what we must conclude the president’s appointees at the Department of Defense have done,” Wicker said. “They contend that the Dobbs decision hurts readiness. So, in response, Republicans have repeatedly asked for proof that Dobbs harms readiness… And the administration has refused to provide that evidence. In truth, that is because the evidence does not exist.”

As further evidence undermining claims from the Biden administration that there is a connection between readiness and abortion policy, Senator Wicker also noted that he has obtained information suggesting only 12 women have used the authorities available from the abortion policy change.

“Despite the administration’s stonewalling, I obtained information indicating that just twelve women during this entire time have taken advantage of the reimbursement. Just twelve,” Wicker said. “Over a million Americans serve in our armed forces, but twelve – not twelve thousand or even twelve hundred, but twelve – have so far used this abortion travel reimbursement program.

So, the Biden administration cannot provide proof that Dobbs precipitated a crisis for our national defense.”

The Mississippi senator additionally raised the illegal and wrongheaded abortion policy in the context of growing politicization of the armed forces and noted Republican efforts to reverse that trend in this year’s National Defense Authorization Act.

“We do, Mr. President, have evidence that other administration priorities are harming our armed forces. The United States military faces a recruiting challenge. But the Biden administration is making it worse. The president has instituted a woke diversity, equity, and inclusion bureaucracy at the DOD that is souring service members’ views of the military…In this year’s national defense legislation, Republicans successfully included provisions curbing that woke agenda.”

Read Senator Wicker’s remarks as delivered below. Watch them here.

Mr. President, a major item in the news last week was that the senior senator from Alabama, Senator Tuberville, released holds on over four hundred military promotions.

As usual, media reports framed the situation in the same way that the Biden administration had. Both the president and the press focused on the holds instead of the policy the holds protested.

They claimed my colleague manufactured a crisis. The truth is that it has been the President’s political appointees that have been manufacturing a crisis from the start.

Let’s go back. In the summer of 2022, the Supreme Court handed down its landmark Dobbs ruling. Almost immediately, the then-Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel claimed the decision would have, and I quote, “significant implications...for the readiness of the force.”

Again, he claimed that the Supreme Court’s decision, which essential returned abortion decisions to the states, would have, “significant implications…for the readiness of the force.”

Let’s all agree that readiness is vital to our success. Military readiness is our number one job. The United States faces the most dangerous national security situation in decades. China’s military strength is growing at an alarming rate. Russia has brought war to Europe. Iran is actively attacking our troops, and North Korea continues to develop dangerous weapons.

In the face of such a complicated web of threats, we must take military preparations seriously. Our precarious situation makes it irresponsible for anyone to fear monger about readiness in order to advance a political agenda.

Yet that is what we must conclude the president’s appointees at the Department of Defense have done. They contend that the Dobbs decision hurts readiness. So, in response, Republicans have repeatedly asked for proof that Dobbs harms readiness. I, as ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, have personally asked for proof that Dobbs harms readiness. And the administration has refused to provide that evidence.

In truth, that is because the evidence does not exist.

At this point, it is pretty clear that Biden officials are avoiding the question because they do not like the answer. It is difficult not to see that the president, not my colleague from Alabama, is the one trying to manufacture a crisis.

To solve this imaginary emergency, the administration released what they called a “reproductive health policy.” The creative title failed to disguise what is a clear attempt to illegally use taxpayer dollars for abortion, contrary to the Hyde Amendment.

Under the rule, service members are granted compensated time off, as well as reimbursement for travel costs incurred, to receive an abortion.

This policy violates popular opinion just like it violates the law. Most Americans oppose late-term abortion. But a DOD official begrudgingly admitted to me in testimony that the policy would facilitate abortion at the very latest stages of pregnancy, in the eighth or ninth month. The provision applies to abortions conducted mere days before a child’s due date. That’s just a fact.

Again, the administration claims this policy is necessary to solve a readiness problem created by Dobbs. But if Dobbs is such a threat, we could reasonably expect wide usage of the travel policy.

Despite the administration’s stonewalling, I obtained information indicating that just twelve women during this entire time have taken advantage of the reimbursement. Just twelve. Over a million Americans serve in our armed forces, but twelve – not twelve thousand or even twelve hundred, but twelve – have so far used this abortion travel reimbursement program.

So, the Biden administration cannot provide proof that Dobbs precipitated a crisis for our national defense. We do, Mr. President, have evidence that other administration priorities are harming our armed forces. The United States military faces a recruiting challenge. But the Biden administration is making it worse.

The president has instituted a woke diversity, equity, and inclusion bureaucracy at the DOD that is souring service members’ views of the military. A survey of active duty troops found that seven in ten are concerned about politization of the military. The same percent said that politicization would affect whether or not they encourage their children to enlist.

We know family ties are the number one way we recruit new service members. When the Biden administration injects politics into the armed forces, it weakens that recruiting channel. And we see the results of that weakening.

In this year’s national defense legislation, Republicans successfully included provisions curbing that woke agenda. But regrettably, Democrats blocked our efforts to end the DOD’s illegal abortion travel policy. We will continue in future Congresses to resist that travel policy.

Last year’s Dobbs decision was a monumental victory for the Constitution, our country, and the unborn. It was the culmination of decades of dedicated work by pro-life groups, and I salute them.

These groups understood how the framers built our political process, and they patiently used their voices to advocate for their unborn in our democratic system. They were rewarded for their faithfulness that they exhibited nearly fifty years after Roe.

During this time, the Biden administration refused to play by those rules. And they it grasped for ways to circumvent the Supreme Court’s ruling. We intend, in the next phase of our effort, to promote a culture of life and refocus the Pentagon on its national defense mission.

The pro-life movement has always been a coalition of energetic volunteers, resilient advocates, and elected officials. We will continue to work together to fight for the unborn.

And one final bit of very good news, Mr. President – since the Dobbs decision was announced in 2022, approximately 30,000 babies have been born that would have otherwise not had an opportunity to experience life. That, in essence, is what this fight has been about and what it will continue to be about.