Mike Rogers Interrupts Sara Jacobs After She Calls Out Barracks Conditions At Forts In GOP Districts

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During a House Armed Services Committee hearing in July, Rep. Sara Jacobs (D-CA) was interrupted by Rep. Mike Rogers (R-AL) after she said some barracks at Fort Bragg had mold, noting that the fort is two hours away from Rep. Pat Harrigan (R-NC)'s district.

Transcript

00:00We will now consider log number 5628R1 by Ms. Jacobs.

00:05For what purposes does the General Lady seek recognition?

00:08Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk.

00:09Will the clerk please distribute the amendment without objection.

00:13The reading of the amendment is dispensed with.

00:15The chair now recognizes the General Lady for the purpose of explaining her amendment.

00:18Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

00:19This amendment is similar to the last one.

00:22It would prohibit FY26 FSRM funds for barracks and child development centers

00:27from being diverted to fund deployments to the United States

00:29in order to support civilian immigration enforcement.

00:33I know that everyone on this committee is incredibly grateful

00:36to our service members who sacrificed so much for us.

00:40They've earned a clean and a safe place to sleep and work

00:43because that's what we owe them

00:44and because it's crucial for them to be able to do their jobs,

00:48focus on their missions, and protect our national security.

00:51But we've all seen and heard about the horror stories in barracks across the country.

00:55Like the mold at Fort Bragg in North Carolina,

00:58which is just two hours away from Congressman Pat Harrigan's district

01:01that made barracks unlivable.

01:03Or the mold in the HVAC system's closets and even bedding

01:06at Fort Stewart in Georgia,

01:08which is right next to Congressman Austin Scott's district.

01:12Last year, a soldier at Fort Carson in Colorado,

01:14where Congressman Jeff Crank represents,

01:16reported an air conditioning unit leaking so badly

01:19that the floor was soggy.

01:20I would ask the gentlelady to not refer to other members of the committee,

01:23address her comments to the chair.

01:25Okay.

01:26I am addressing them to the chair.

01:28I'm just telling you who represents places.

01:31The same soldier from this Fort Carson in Colorado

01:36was then relocated due to black mold

01:40only to find the new room so filthy

01:42that it required extensive cleaning.

01:44Or the 10 barracks at Fort Cavazos in Texas

01:47that had broken AC for six weeks earlier this year

01:50and temperatures inside the barracks got up to the high 80s.

01:53These are huge problems.

01:56And I know all of my colleagues care about this.

01:58We've talked about it.

01:58But we don't put nearly enough money towards fixing them.

02:01And that's why we shouldn't divert any of the scant money

02:04we do have toward anything else,

02:06and especially not toward funding deployments

02:08on American soil to support civilian immigration enforcement.

02:11Deploying troops against our own communities

02:13is wasteful, dangerous, and fundamentally un-American.

02:16I've put forward a simple amendment

02:18to ensure that this doesn't happen.

02:21It would prevent any FY26 FSRM funds

02:24for quality of life infrastructure

02:25from being diverted to fund deployments

02:27to support civilian immigration enforcement

02:29in the United States.

02:31This is simply saying that the money

02:33that we allocate as Congress

02:35for barracks and child development centers

02:37and quality of life infrastructure

02:38should be used for barracks

02:40and child development centers

02:42and quality of life infrastructure,

02:44not anything else.

02:46And if my colleagues would like

02:47to send troops to the southern border

02:48or send troops to American cities,

02:50then I don't think they should,

02:52but they should find that money

02:53and actually authorize that money

02:55instead of taking it from what we all agree

02:57is a really big problem that needs to be solved.

03:00So with that, Mr. Chairman,

03:02I urge all of my colleagues to support my amendment,

03:04and I yield back.

03:05General Lee yields back.

03:06The chair now recognizes himself.

03:08Again, this money is not being spent

03:10on immigration enforcement,

03:12and it cannot be reprogrammed

03:14for those purposes

03:14without congressional approval.

03:16The Trump administration

03:17is doing the right thing

03:18by enforcing our immigration laws.

03:20We should be supporting them,

03:21not trying to raise red flags

03:23and confuse the public

03:24about how the DOD is assisting

03:25in that effort.

03:26I urge all members to oppose the amendment.

03:28Does any other members seek recognition?

03:30The gentleman from New York, Mr. Ryan.

03:34Thank you, Mr. Chair.

03:35I want to speak in support of

03:37and thank my colleague from California

03:39for raising and introducing this amendment.

03:42Two additional points

03:44that I think are important

03:45that this amendment brings out

03:47that also bolster the important points

03:49that she and my colleagues made

03:51in the previous amendments.

03:53First, and I say this

03:54with great respect to the chair,

03:56I strongly disagree

03:57that the deployment of U.S. troops

04:00against U.S. citizens

04:02is in any way right or constitutional

04:05and I think is un-American.

04:09That is a line that is a long-standing precedent

04:12going back to the revolutionary roots

04:14of our country

04:15and one that many, many Americans,

04:18including thousands of my constituents

04:20that have called, emailed, texted,

04:21and even brought it up in town halls

04:24have raised that concern with me.

04:27And so I commend my colleague

04:28for introducing that point

04:29and one that is very important.

04:31That is related to

04:32but separate from the diversion of funds

04:36which is the second point

04:37that I want to raise.

04:39I know that these discussions

04:41as I just did in the first part

04:43of my remarks

04:43often feel hypothetical

04:45or philosophical even

04:47but I want to bring to light

04:49in my own district

04:49what the impacts are

04:51of the shifting of FSRM funds

04:53both towards border operations

04:55domestically

04:56and in this case

04:57towards the deployment of U.S. troops

04:59both in California

05:01and now we've also seen

05:02concerning similar mobilization

05:04in Florida

05:05and I think many of us are concerned

05:07which is the point of this amendment

05:08that this could go further

05:09in other states domestically.

05:13The documentation of over a billion dollars

05:16diverted by the Army

05:17from personnel and facilities accounts

05:19to pay for these deployments

05:21specifically from barracks restoration projects

05:24in my district

05:26in addition to the items

05:27noted by my colleague Ms. Jacobs

05:29and I think this really speaks volumes

05:34about our priorities

05:35in a disturbing way.

05:37There are two soldier barracks

05:39enlisted soldier barracks

05:40at West Point in my district.

05:43They were both severely damaged

05:45by an unprecedented storm

05:47in the summer of 2023

05:48two years ago.

05:50One of them was literally

05:51a week away

05:52from having the ribbon cut

05:53on a brand new beautiful

05:55enlisted barracks soldier

05:57showing through our actions

05:59that we in our great United States military

06:02and in our country

06:03we put our enlisted soldiers first

06:06who risk so much for our country.

06:08That barracks was unfortunately

06:10devastated by this storm

06:12and now we were just briefed

06:14by the academy leadership

06:16that that project

06:17has been slowed down

06:18both in building 620

06:20and building 624

06:21on the grounds of West Point

06:22both of those products

06:23projects have been slowed down

06:26now multiple years

06:27due to diversion of funds

06:29including this diversion

06:30and I think it's

06:31it's unacceptable

06:33not only for cadet barracks

06:35which are also affected by this

06:36and certainly

06:38you know for senior officers

06:40but specifically

06:40for our junior enlisted

06:42barracks

06:44cannot stand

06:46so I proudly support this amendment

06:48and encourage my colleagues

06:50to do the same

06:51and I yield back Mr. Chair.

06:52Gentleman from New York yields back

06:54the chair now recognizes

06:55the gentleman from Wisconsin

06:56Mr. Van Orden.

06:58Thank you Mr. Chairman

06:59I rise in opposition

07:01of this amendment

07:03and I just

07:03I have to say this

07:05many of my Democrat colleagues

07:10are waxing poetically

07:12about how they care

07:13so much about our junior

07:14enlisted living in barracks

07:15when several of them

07:17voted against last year's NDAA

07:19which had the largest increase

07:20of pay for junior enlisted

07:22in the history of the country

07:23so that's just disingenuous

07:26and that dog will not hunt

07:28so this amendment

07:32again is specifically written

07:35to try to prevent

07:37the President of the United States

07:38who is the Commander-in-Chief

07:40of the military

07:41and Secretary Pete Hegseth

07:44from doing their job

07:45again

07:46I took an oath

07:48as did they

07:48to support and defend

07:49the Constitution

07:50of the United States

07:51against all enemies

07:52foreign and domestic

07:54more Americans have died

07:56from fentanyl poisoning

07:57than died in World War II

08:01and the only way

08:03to stop this

08:04is by

08:04the actions taken

08:06by the President

08:07of the United States

08:08during the last administration

08:09they said they needed more

08:10authorities

08:11and new laws

08:11and all this stuff

08:12and it turned out

08:13that that wasn't true

08:13you just needed new leadership

08:15you needed a Commander-in-Chief

08:17that actually cared about

08:18the United States of America

08:19and American citizens

08:20we're putting the lives

08:22of American citizens first

08:23you have a Secretary of Defense

08:25who actually cares

08:28about the members

08:28of the United States military

08:29making sure that

08:30when they do deploy forward

08:32to the southern border

08:33to help protect

08:34the United States

08:35from criminal illegal aliens

08:37coming into the United States

08:39that they are treated

08:42in the best way possible

08:44in some very difficult circumstances

08:47and I know this

08:48because I spent

08:49my entire adult life

08:50either training for war

08:52training other people

08:53for war

08:54or at war

08:54and if you don't think

08:55for a second

08:56that we are at war

08:58with the Chinese Communist Party

08:59that is responsible

09:00for producing this fentanyl

09:02that was being smuggled

09:03across the border

09:04you're wrong

09:05so I understand

09:08what Ms. Jacobs

09:09has written

09:10in this amendment

09:12and I applaud the fact

09:13that she wants to make sure

09:16that the quality of life

09:17for our enlisted

09:18and others

09:20spending time in barracks

09:21helps them

09:24perform their duties

09:25because we know

09:25that when you have a happy home

09:26you can actually work better

09:28but this is not how you do that

09:30it just simply is not

09:31and with that

09:33I urge my colleagues

09:35to vote against this amendment

09:36as I will be doing

09:37I yield back

09:38gentleman yields back

09:39chair now recognized

09:40gentleman from Massachusetts

09:41Mr. Keating

09:42thank you Mr. Chair

09:43just to follow up briefly

09:44on the very instructive dialogue

09:47that's occurred back and forth

09:48on this issue

09:49the fentanyl issue is real

09:51but this administration

09:55took two helicopters

09:57vital resources

09:58vital assets

09:59fighting fentanyl

10:00in South America

10:01and took them out of service

10:03against the fight

10:04in fentanyl

10:05only to give them

10:06to the dictator

10:08of El Salvador

10:09Bukele

10:10because he's housing

10:12people

10:13some of them

10:14innocent Americans there

10:15so

10:15this points to one issue

10:18Congress has a voice in this

10:20this is why it's important

10:22and this is why

10:22I support the amendment

10:23Congress has a voice in this

10:25our voice should be heard

10:26and to use

10:27the issue of fentanyl

10:29I just couldn't help

10:30but bring back the point

10:31that the administration

10:33is doing something

10:33against that fight

10:35on fentanyl

10:35in support of their effort

10:37to house people

10:39some of them

10:40inappropriately or illegally

10:42in El Salvador

10:43so

10:44again I'm supporting

10:46this amendment

10:46and Congress

10:48should have a voice

10:48in this

10:49and this amendment

10:50is a strong part

10:52of that voice

10:52I yield back

10:53gentleman yields back

10:54does any member

10:55seek recognition

10:57on Ms. Jacobs' amendment

10:58there being no further debate

11:01the question occurs

11:01on the amendment

11:02offered by Ms. Jacobs

11:03so many of you

11:04are in favor

11:05we'll say aye

11:05aye

11:06those opposed

11:07no

11:08in the chair

11:09the ayes have it

11:10there's recorded votes

11:12requested

11:13recorded votes

11:13postponed

11:14and

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