WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Anthony Brown (MD-04), Vice Chair of the House Armed Services Committee and 30-year combat veteran, released the following statement after the Department of Defense announced it would deploy 3,750 additional active duty soldiers to the southern border.
“It is outrageous that President Trump is sending thousands of active-duty personnel back to the border to shovel manure, change tires and lay concertina wire. This has always been a dubious mission that hurts morale and degrades readiness. President Trump’s use of the military is clearly for a sole purpose: to create the optics of a crisis in order to circumvent Congress and the will of the American people, in order to justify building an ineffective wall. The President is using servicemembers as his toy soldiers in a fraught political game.
“We face critical challenges at home and abroad, and the unprecedented use of active-duty soldiers on the southwest border hurts our ability to respond to real emergencies. We are taking servicemembers away from important missions and training. It’s reprehensible, irresponsible, and reveals just how little the current Commander-in-Chief understands our Armed Forces and the national security challenges that we are faced with.”
