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Floor Speech

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Mr. BEYER. Mr. Speaker, I am proud to support Ms. Sanchez' amendment on malign disinformation spread within the Department of Defense and the VA.

Within the military, a 2019 Military Times survey found that 36 percent of Active-Duty servicemembers have personally witnessed white nationalism or ideology-driven racism within recent months, a 12 percent year-over-year increase.

This is not about vaccinations. This is about extremism, and specifically about racism. Witnessing extremist views is more common among enlisted members than among officers, and a majority of minority servicemembers, 53 percent, reported some experience with extremist ideology in the military.

We know this ideology is fomented through mis- and disinformation. Our enlisted people need to be ready to work as a unit with very diverse peers, and our military needs to able to engage globally at all times. That means we need to have a view of the world based in reality, not disinformation.

This is even more paramount when we know that Russia intentionally engages in disinformation to sabotage our country and our troops.

We can't let our troops be susceptible. I can't think of a more important effort to help our troop readiness.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes.''

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