Washington, D.C. – House Armed Services Committee Ranking Member Adam Smith (D-WA) made the following statement about President Trump’s order on transgender military service:

“This Presidential order is a cravenly opportunistic act of discrimination against men and women who volunteer to defend the United States. 

"President Trump has no credible information suggesting that transgender service undermines military readiness. Yet he is willing to ruin lives and deface our government’s commitment to equality in an apparent attempt to secure funding for his border wall. Apparently, if Mexico won’t pay for the wall, President Trump has decided that honorable men and women in uniform should pay instead as their service is traded away for funding. I oppose this decision in extremely strong terms, and we will fight for its reversal.”

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