'Yes Or No!': Sparks Fly As Chrissy Houlahan Confronts Pete Hegseth Over Statements About Women In Military

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At today's House Armed Services Committee hearing, Rep. Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA) questioned Defense Sec. Pete Hegseth.

Transcript

00:00Ms. Houlihan.

00:01Ms. Houlihan.

00:02Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

00:03Mr. Secretary, I have been looking forward very much to our time together.

00:07My name is Chrissy Houlihan.

00:08In addition to representing a part of Pennsylvania, the 6th District, I also am a veteran.

00:13I come from a family of veterans and service members.

00:16It is very deeply personal to me, this conversation that we are having, as I know it is to you

00:21as well.

00:22Over the last several days, I have had the opportunity to watch a bit of the hearings

00:25that you have testified at this week, and I can see and know that you have quite a bit

00:29to say.

00:30But since I only have five minutes, I'm going to try and focus my time on a concept that

00:34you talk about very frequently, and that is lethality.

00:38By definition, lethality simply means being capable of causing death.

00:42Secretary Hegseth, I have a couple of clarifying questions that I'd like very much to get through.

00:48So in the interest of time and efficiency, I would ask just simply for a yes or no from

00:52you for the answers to these questions in advance, and I thank you.

00:57So given that definition of lethality, would it be fair to say that both men and women are

01:02generally speaking capable of causing death?

01:06Yes or no, sir.

01:10Yes or no.

01:11Yes or no.

01:12Are men and women capable of causing death?

01:16It depends on the context.

01:17Yes or no.

01:18It depends on the context.

01:20It's unbelievable to me that you can't come up with an answer whether or not a man or

01:24a woman can cause death.

01:25That's an obvious yes.

01:27Would it be fair to say that the U.S. military trains our soldiers in multiple ways to be

01:31capable of causing death, whether they are men or women?

01:35That's a big part of our job.

01:37Yes.

01:38Would it be fair to say that both men and women are capable of pulling a trigger of a

01:41rifle to cause death?

01:42Yes or no.

01:43Sure.

01:44And would it be fair to say that both men and women are capable of operating an unmanned

01:50combat drone or maybe pushing a button to launch a missile to cause death again?

01:54Yes or no.

01:55I know what you're getting at, ma'am.

02:00Yes.

02:01But it is—

02:02So, lastly, sir—

02:03Men and women carry equipment differently, a 155 round differently, a rucksack differently,

02:07a 240-proble machine gun differently—

02:08Reclaiming my time.

02:09I asked about missiles and drones, sir.

02:10There are different—

02:11It is the gentlelady's time.

02:12Reclaiming my time, sir.

02:13Just pause.

02:14It is the gentlelady's time.

02:15Would it be fair, finally, to say that both men and women are capable of piloting a jet

02:20or a helicopter to combat people and to cause death as a consequence?

02:24A lot of wonderful female pilots.

02:26Yes or no.

02:28So, while I agree with you that physical fitness, as you were mentioning, is a very

02:32strong and important component of lethality, the warfighter that you have written about

02:37in your books and talked about on various podcasts is but a very, very small piece of the overall

02:42lethality picture.

02:43In fact, we estimate only about 10 percent of our military personnel are directly involved

02:47in the kind of combat that you're referring to.

02:50Rather, 90 percent—that's the math—of our troops are doing other jobs that support

02:55and enable those 10 percent.

02:57So to put it simply, lethality cannot be measured solely by the damage that a 6-foot-3,

03:03225-pound Christian male with a rifle can do to the enemy anymore.

03:08Sure, I agree he's part of that solution, but it is an incomplete and at best very dangerous

03:13and very homogenous description of that.

03:18Lethality is equal parts technical skills, tactical experience, cognitive problem-solving,

03:22and physical fitness.

03:24It's not about one person, but it's about many.

03:26It's not about blue or red.

03:28It's not about liberal or conservative, Christian, Jewish, or agnostic.

03:32It's not about North and South.

03:34Here are some statements that you have said previously about women in service.

03:38This is 2024, sir, not when you were a 19-year-old.

03:41You have said that women are life-givers, that dads push us to take risks, and that moms put

03:46the training wheels on our bikes, that we need moms, but not in the military.

03:51Secondly, you have said I am straight up just saying we should not have women in combat roles.

03:56It hasn't made us more effective, and it hasn't made us more lethal.

04:01With what's left of my time, sir, I will say to you that women have served our country

04:05for 200-plus years in our militaries and in service and protection of our nation.

04:11We are, they are watching you, what you do and what you say, and we deserve better from

04:17you.

04:18Women can and do serve with lethality today.

04:20We can and do all of the jobs that are required of us.

04:24Yes or no, do you believe military women should be in all roles in the military?

04:32Women have joined our military in record numbers under this administration.

04:36Should women be in all roles in the military?

04:40Standards should be high and equal for all positions.

04:42Yes or no, sir, we agree.

04:44Should they be in all roles in the military?

04:45Standards.

04:46Yes or no, reclaiming my time, will you agree that all women, that women should be able

04:55to perform in all combat roles, assuming they meet the standards?

05:00Generally, time's expired.

05:02It's all about standards.

05:03Before we move to this.

05:04Disappointment.

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