Major Hurricane Milton is expected to make landfall in Florida, bringing with it devastating storm surge, winds, and inland flooding. The Seminole Tribe of Florida should have access to the federal resources required for emergency response and recovery preparations on...
Major Hurricane Milton is forecasted to potentially hinder or obstruct the Port of Tampa Bay, which receives more than 40 percent of Florida’s petroleum products. It’s crucial for the federal government to expedite all requested measures to protect Florida’s economy...
Major Hurricane Milton is forecasted to impact Florida with devastating storm surge, winds, and inland flooding. After just being hit by Hurricane Helene, it’s crucial for the State of Florida to have the support of the federal government. U.S. Senators Marco Rubio...
This year marks the first anniversary of the October 7, 2023 terrorist attacks against Israel. 32 Americans died in those attacks, and four of the Americans taken hostage that day remain in captivity. U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) released a video remembering the...
Following Hurricane Helene’s catastrophic damage throughout Florida’s gulf coast, U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) met with the Florida Farm Bureau as well as local agricultural producers, farmers, and growers to discuss the storm’s impact. Photos are courtesy of...
Following Hurricane Helene’s catastrophic damage throughout Florida’s Gulf Coast, U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) met with local officials and volunteers from the barrier islands to discuss the storm’s impact and current recovery efforts. Photos are courtesy of...
The Military Recruitment Crisis Is More Dangerous Than We Know
U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL)
January 22, 2024
…Collectively, the military branches undershot their annual goals by 41,000 recruits last year…. This as our nation enters a new era of multipolar geopolitics, with a chief adversary, Communist China, more powerful than the Soviet Union ever was…. The so-called “peace dividend” is not looking good for America….
As policymakers, our response to the military recruitment crisis should be threefold. First, we must take better care of active-duty service members and veterans to rebuild people’s trust that if they sign up, they will be taken care of by their government. To this end, Congress has already made some real progress….
But enacting laws is one thing—enforcing them is another. The Biden Administration continues to erode the protections established by Congress’s reforms, and the Navy continues to slow-walk claims made by Camp Lejeune veterans, families, and civilians…. Congress needs to pass more legislation to force continued change….
The second requirement for policymakers is to keep woke politics out of the armed forces…. Some such provisions were included in this year’s National Defense Authorization Act, including a hiring freeze and salary cap on “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion” bureaucrats at the Pentagon….
Finally, we must do a better job of explaining the importance of the military. Policymakers cannot erase the legacies of Iraq and Afghanistan. To the contrary, we must accept them, for better and for worse. But we must also remind Americans that defending our country is a noble calling––and that our country is very much in need of defense….
[T]he next stage of the U.S.-China conflict could well be military in nature…. The good news is that we can keep Beijing at bay, but only if our armed forces remain appropriately staffed, equipped, and focused…. Those of us who understand these stakes have an urgent duty to make them known and inspire the next generation of American heroes….