The first West Point graduate to represent the academy in Congress has a slate of issues he wants to tackle but is starting off with a warning to Republicans: Stop criticizing the military.
“I have zero time for the political distractions and BS, and I will very aggressively call that out,” Rep. Pat Ryan (D-NY) told Military.com. “The ultimate irony to me, a lot of people calling this out haven’t spent a single day in uniform, and I think that certainly shows in how they’ve conducted themselves.”
Ryan said he doesn’t like infighting by the GOP over perceived wokeness in the military, which includes accusations of critical race theory being taught to new recruits.
Comments by the freshman congressman come almost two years after Space Force Cmdr. Matthew Lohmeier was stripped of his command for criticizing Marxist and critical race theory teachings in military academies. He wrote a book talking about how the teachings are found in libraries and are part of curriculum, which is a danger to America.
However, Ryan says the global challenges are more important and is calling for colleagues to be “the adults in the room.”
“Especially at a time of great global risk and change and uncertainty between China and Russia … we need to be the ones thinking not about scoring political points or what’s gonna get you more likes on Twitter or hits on Fox News,” he added.
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Ryan won a special election in August for a vacant seat, then ran in November to represent a newly redrawn district. Ryan was nominated to West Point 20 years ago by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), who officiated Ryan’s swearing-in at the school.
Ryan’s platform in Congress is consumed with military issues — helping veterans who are exposed to toxins, expanding home loan eligibility, and looking for creative ways to tackle emerging threats by China.
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“I have a 3-year-old and a 1-year-old, two boys, and at the end of the day, if we don’t get this right, this being the competition with China, I fear that they could fight in a world war-style conflict with China that would be devastating for the whole world,” he said.
