VIDEO: Kaine Holds Senate Floor in Veterans Day Push to End Tuberville Military Blockade
VIDEO of Kaine’s floor effort is available here.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, in recognition of Veterans Day and Military Day in the state of Alabama, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, held the Senate floor for over an hour in an effort to end Senator Tommy Tuberville’s (R-AL) blockade of 364 military promotions. During his floor action, Kaine individually called up all 364 promotions being blocked by Tuberville and asked for the Senate to approve them by unanimous consent. In response, Tuberville publicly denied each and every one of those servicemembers the promotions they’ve earned.
“On the evening before Veterans Day, on the evening before the Marine Corps 248th birthday, and on the day that the state of Alabama is celebrating its ties to the military, I wanted to offer these unanimous consent requests so that I can have a chance to say the name of each individual as a way of letting them know that there are many in this body who will not forget about them until they are confirmed,” Kaine said in conclusion of his remarks.
Since February 2023, Tuberville has placed holds on servicemembers’ promotions as a means to protest a Department of Defense policy regarding servicemembers’ access to health care—despite the fact that those servicemembers have nothing to do with that policy. As a result, those servicemembers and their families have been put in limbo and positions critical to America’s national security have been left vacant. The blockade is projected to impact as many as 650 servicemembers and their families by the end of the year.
Kaine, who is also Chair of the SASC Subcommittee on Seapower overseeing the Navy and Marine Corps, has been vocal about how the blockade hurts America’s national security, military readiness, and military families. Kaine has spoken on the Senate floor various times to highlight how Tuberville’s blockade impacts servicemembers in Virginia and across the country. Video of Senator Kaine discussing Tuberville’s blockade during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing last month is also available here.
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