Hartzler statement on White House decision to repeal Obama transgender military policy

After President Donald Trump announced significant changes to Department of Defense policy Wednesday, Congresswoman Vicky Hartzler (R-Mo.) released the following statement:

“President Trump’s decision today to rescind Obama’s transgender military policy has the best interests of the military in mind, and I thank him for taking this decisive action,” saidCongresswoman Vicky Hartzler, who serves on the House Armed Services Committee. “Our military is the most effective, efficient and well-funded fighting force in the world, and as the president notes, we cannot burden our armed forces with the tremendous costs and disruptions that transgender in the military would entail. With the challenges we are facing across the globe, we are asking the American people to invest their hard-earned money in national defense. Each dollar needs to be spent to address threats facing our nation. The costs incurred by funding transgender surgeries and the required additional care it demands should not be the focus of our military resources,” added Hartzler, who has been a proponent of changing the Obama transgender policy since its inception in 2016.

Hartzler recently offered an amendment on the House floor to end the military paying for very expensive sex change surgeries that prevents soldiers from being deployed. Hartzler noted that this current policy of providing and paying for transgender surgeries hurts readiness and is projected to cost more than a billion dollars over the next 10 years. This is a conservative estimate with other studies projecting over $3 billion in medical costs over a 10-year period.